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University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Know Your Opponent: Elon
November 20, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers
By Bobby Hundley
Elon (ElonPhoenix.com)
Location: Elon, N.C.
Rankings: No. 325 KenPom, NR AP
Record: 2-2
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): Carolina leads 19-4 (Carolina 116, Elon 67, Nov. 9, 2018, Elon, N.C.)
The promise of a season in a new arena with a senior-laden roster quickly evaporated for Elon in 2019. The Phoenix slumped to its worst record in nearly a decade and head coach Matt Matheny was not retained after 10 years at the helm.
Enter Mike Schrage (pronounced SHRAWG-ee), a career assistant with stops at Duke, Ohio State, Butler and Stanford who cut his teeth as a student assistant under Bob Knight at Indiana. Schrage inherited a very green roster that features just two upperclassmen in the rotation, including Stanford graduate transfer Marcus Sheffield. Sheffield, a 6-5 wing from Georgia, saw regular minutes off the bench for Jerod Haase last season and is Elon's leading scorer through four games.
A pair of freshmen have handled the bulk of the point guard duties, with 6-3 Hunter McIntosh getting the starting nod thus far. McIntosh scored in double figures in a pair of wins over Division II foes Mars Hill and Milligan, but shot just 3 of 25 from the field in losses to Georgia Tech and Michigan.Â
Junior Simon Wright is the only other eligible upperclassman in the rotation - Butler transfer Jerald Gillens-Butler will sit out and have two years left to play - and he leads the team in rebounding. Hunter Woods, a 6-6 freshman from California, and Federico Poser, a 6-8 sophomore from Italy, round out the Elon starting five. Schrage has shown a willingness to go to the bench in November, with nine total players averaging at least 17 minutes per contest.
Road games against high-major competition are always going to be challenge, and the numbers reflect that for this young Elon team. In D-I games only, the Phoenix are the worst shooting team in the country, ranking last in both effective FG% and 3-point percentage, while faring only slightly better from inside the arc. It figures to be a season of growing pains for Schrage's club, but with a coach of his pedigree and a state-of-the-art facility to recruit to, there is reason for optimism around the Elon program.
Elon (ElonPhoenix.com)
Location: Elon, N.C.
Rankings: No. 325 KenPom, NR AP
Record: 2-2
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): Carolina leads 19-4 (Carolina 116, Elon 67, Nov. 9, 2018, Elon, N.C.)
The promise of a season in a new arena with a senior-laden roster quickly evaporated for Elon in 2019. The Phoenix slumped to its worst record in nearly a decade and head coach Matt Matheny was not retained after 10 years at the helm.
Enter Mike Schrage (pronounced SHRAWG-ee), a career assistant with stops at Duke, Ohio State, Butler and Stanford who cut his teeth as a student assistant under Bob Knight at Indiana. Schrage inherited a very green roster that features just two upperclassmen in the rotation, including Stanford graduate transfer Marcus Sheffield. Sheffield, a 6-5 wing from Georgia, saw regular minutes off the bench for Jerod Haase last season and is Elon's leading scorer through four games.
A pair of freshmen have handled the bulk of the point guard duties, with 6-3 Hunter McIntosh getting the starting nod thus far. McIntosh scored in double figures in a pair of wins over Division II foes Mars Hill and Milligan, but shot just 3 of 25 from the field in losses to Georgia Tech and Michigan.Â
Junior Simon Wright is the only other eligible upperclassman in the rotation - Butler transfer Jerald Gillens-Butler will sit out and have two years left to play - and he leads the team in rebounding. Hunter Woods, a 6-6 freshman from California, and Federico Poser, a 6-8 sophomore from Italy, round out the Elon starting five. Schrage has shown a willingness to go to the bench in November, with nine total players averaging at least 17 minutes per contest.
Road games against high-major competition are always going to be challenge, and the numbers reflect that for this young Elon team. In D-I games only, the Phoenix are the worst shooting team in the country, ranking last in both effective FG% and 3-point percentage, while faring only slightly better from inside the arc. It figures to be a season of growing pains for Schrage's club, but with a coach of his pedigree and a state-of-the-art facility to recruit to, there is reason for optimism around the Elon program.
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