Last season, the Elon University men’s basketball team had shirts made that read “Elevate Elon.” The idea was to remind the players that the Elon program needs to be on the rise in college basketball circles.
A tough schedule loomed, including games against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and San Diego State University, and the Phoenix ended the season with a 15-16 record, one shy of a .500 record.
This year, the schedule is near the same level of difficulty.
They’re going to play Duke University. And the University of South Carolina.
Mix in a two-time national championship runner-up from the last three years and the always difficult Southern Conference schedule, and Elon will have quite a year to walk through.
“This may or may not be the strongest beginning-of-the-season schedule that I’ve had since I’ve been here,” said senior guard Josh Bonney. “We’ve got some really good teams that are really going to come and play. That will give us a good gauge of where we’re at as a team and where we need to be by the time the Southern Conference tournament starts.”
The season opens Nov. 10 in Indianapolis against Butler University. The opener is a homecoming of sorts for junior guard Jack Isenbarger, who is from nearby Zionsville, Ind., 30 minutes from Hinkle Fieldhouse, Butler’s home court. The Bulldogs were national championship runners-up in 2010 and 2011.
“We’re going to treat it just like any other game, but at the same time, there’s the external factors,” Isenbarger said. “Playing back home, near home, playing at a gym that I grew up going to basketball camps and playing in tournaments and playing AAU (Amatuer Athletic Union) games there, that’s going to be a ton of fun. I’m really excited that our guys get to go and see what Indiana basketball looks like as far as the history of Hinkle Fieldhouse goes.”
There could not be many better starts for freshman guard Tanner Samson.
“That’s definitely an exciting feeling,” he said. “It will be a good challenge for us as a team. Playing at Butler, they have a lot of history there, so that will be a fun game. We’re looking forward to it.”
The game against Butler is part of the EA Sports Maui Invitational. The Phoenix will host the Mainland Games, a portion of the tournament that’s not in Hawaii, Nov. 17-18. Other teams involved are Colgate University, Florida Atlantic University and Coppin State University.
“I think it’s a big step for our program to be able to host the Maui Invitational,” Isenbarger said. “It’s a nationally recognized tournament and it’s going to put Elon on the map a little bit. That being said, we’ve still got to step up and perform.”
The Phoenix will also take on several Ivy League teams during the season, as well as Virginia Military Institute Nov. 24 and Div. III opponent Bridgewater College Nov. 13.
But perhaps the most intriguing match-ups are the rematches with South Carolina and Duke.
Last season, the Phoenix defeated South Carolina 58-53 Nov. 15, Elon’s first win over a Football Championship Subdivision conference opponent. The victory was featured as the No. 10 play on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 the next day. But South Carolina brings a new coach into the mix, former Kansas State University head coach Frank Martin, who is 117-54 as a head coach.
“They’ll have our number, that’s for sure,” Isenbarger said. “With the new coach, I think he’ll have them fired up and ready to go. We’re going to go out there and fight just like we did last year and see what happens.”
The Phoenix will take on Duke Dec. 20 at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, a place where Elon lost 98-72 to the then-No. 1 Blue Devils in 2010. Bonney was in the middle of a medical redshirt season, so he was not able to participate in that game.
Needless to say, he’ll be fired up for this one.
“With the whole aura that Duke has, as a basketball player, it’s the mecca of college basketball, UNC, Duke places like that,” he said. “You try not to be in awe, but there’s always that kind of dynamic in those situations. I’m just going to embrace the opportunity to play against one of the best teams in the country, play as hard as I can and hopefully things will work out for us.”
[box]Key Men's Basketball Matchups Nov. 10 @ Butler University - 2 p.m. *Nov. 17 vs. Colgate University- 2 p.m. *Nov. 18 vs. Florida Atlantic University/Coppin State University Nov. 21 @ University of South Carolina - TBD ^Nov. 28 @ Georgia Southern University - 7 p.m. Dec. 20 @ Duke University - 7 p.m. #March 2, 2013 vs. UNC-Greensboro - 7 p.m.
*EA Sports Maui Invitational Mainland Games in Elon, N.C. ^Southern Conference opener #Last regular season game[/box]
The SoCon schedule begins with a Nov. 28 matchup against Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Ga., followed by College of Charleston visiting Alumni Gym Dec. 1.
Elon head coach Matt Matheny sees the conference as growing in intensity and competition.
“What I’ve seen in the Southern Conference the last four or five years is that the conference is getting better and better,” he said. “And a lot of it stems from the success in ’08 that Davidson (College, a fellow SoCon team) made with the Elite Eight run. I think programs have elevated as a result of that run in ’08. It will be really balanced.”
The fight for the SoCon crown will begin Oct. 13, when the first practice takes place for the Phoenix. The players have been focused on conditioning and workouts to get prepped for the season.
“As a team overall, we’ve had a good fall,” Matheny said. “Evan Brown, our strength coach, who’s new here to Elon, has done a tremendous job pushing our guys. Our guys are gaining good strength and weight.”
Elon is recovering from several injuries to players such as Isenbarger, sophomore guards Austin Hamilton and Kevin Blake and sophomore forward Ryan Winters. Along with the rehabilitation, there has been a large focus on conditioning, prompting Bonney to say it “sucks.” But there have been positives from that.
“As far as the team, we’re really cohesive, everybody’s together, everybody’s really working hard,” Bonney said. “I feel like you all will definitely see that pay off for us later on.”
Something Matheny wanted to see improved was the size of his players. Several of them have picked up what the head coach called “good weight,” pointing out junior forward Lucas Troutman and junior guard Sebastian Koch.
Isenbarger is finishing up rehabilitation on a dislocated shoulder he injured in the first game of the 2011-2012 season against the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He spoke to the importance of building up weight and how it leads to strength and stamina.
“If we can keep building on that and have that stamina last through the season, it can give us an advantage on a lot of teams,” he said. “The stronger you are, the quicker you are, and the better you’re going to be able to perform. Performance is increased and the endurance at that ability lasts longer.”
With the beginning of practice just two weeks away, the Elon men’s basketball team is confident in how much more improved this team is compared to last year’s.
“I think we’re making leaps and bounds in our weightlifting,” Isenbarger said. “Guys are getting stronger. Our conditioning coach is pushing us and we’re definitely seeing improvements from over time. We’ll be ready to go when the first practice comes Oct. 13.”