2012-13 Roster
SPARTANS
A Look Ahead - The Spartans in 2012-13
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fter coming off the program’s best season since entering the Division I ranks, the USC Upstate men’s basketball team is primed to make a run at its first Atlantic Sun Conference Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2012-13. A bid to the 2012 CollegeInsider.com Tournament a year ago gave the Spartans their first NCAA Division I postseason berth, and a victory over Kent State in the opening round gave Upstate momentum as it looks to pick up right where it left off last season. The Spartans return all five starters, including defending A-Sun Player of the Year and Associated Press All-American honorable mention Torrey Craig. The rising junior led the league in scoring at 16.4 points per game and was second in rebounding with 7.7 boards per contest. He will have plenty of help with Ty Greene returning for his sophomore campaign after collecting A-Sun Freshman of the Year honors last season and finishing the year in double-digit points per game and shooting 40-percent from behind the arc. The supporting cast of Ricardo Glenn, Jodd Maxey and Mario Blessing combined to start 80 games and average 7.3 points per contest last season, bringing plenty of experience to an already star-studded lineup. Glenn’s 9.5 points per game ranked third on the team, while Adrian Rodgers played key minutes off the bench and averaged 8.2 points per contest and added 59 assists. Big man and shot blocker Babatunde Olumuyiwa
has swatted over 100 shots in two seasons and will once again receive valuable minutes in the middle after playing in all 34 games last year.
comer David Lighty has two years of experience under his belt, having spent the last two years at nearby Spartanburg Methodist College.
Head coach Eddie Payne will begin his 11th season at the helm of the Spartans after picking up his 400th career victory on the final day of the regular season a year ago. Currently sitting at 401 wins in 27 seasons as a head coach, Payne is coming off his best season in 25 years, where he was named the A-Sun Coach of the Year and picked up the Hugh Durhman Award as the top midmajor coach in the country.
Upstate will have some early tests on the road in 2012-13, with nine of its first 11 games on the road. The Spartans will open the year at Saint Louis as part of the 2012 CBE Hall of Classic.
The Spartans notched a win over NCAA Tournament participant Belmont at home last season, using a tip-in from Craig at the buzzer to complete a comeback from 16 points down. The win fueled a streak of eight conference wins in nine games to propel Upstate to receive votes in the mid-major top 25 poll for the first time in school history. In the Spartans first postseason appearance of the D-I era, Upstate played host to Kent State in the opening round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament and pulled away early to take down the Golden Flashes and advance to the second round. Upstate never trailed in the game and placed four players in double figures, led by 17 points from Craig. Four incoming players that include three freshmen and one transfer make their way to Spartanburg and look to add a spark to a team in search of some lofty goals. With the Spartans home to back-to-back A-Sun Freshman of the Year honors it will be up to Dee Washington, Zach Lillie or Michael Buchanan to make it a three-peat. New-
After the team’s home opener against Hiwassee College on Nov. 13, Upstate will play its next six games on the road, including a contest at Texas San Antonio and three games in Santa Clara, Calif., as part of the Sub-Host Round of the CBE Classic. Upstate will put a lid on the road swing with a matchup at UNC Asheville on Nov. 29, before traveling to Kansas State on Dec. 2 to battle the Wildcats. Following a home contest against Texas San Antonio on Dec. 8, the Spartans will hit the road again, traveling to Waco, Texas to battle Baylor University on Dec. 17 and to Nashville, Tenn. to take on Tennessee State on Dec. 21. A pair of home games on Dec. 30 and Jan. 2 against Coastal Georgia and Hampton, respectively, will put a lid on the non-conference slate as the Spartans will open A-Sun play away at Northern Kentucky on Jan. 5 and Lipscomb on Jan. 7. Upstate will wrap up the 18-game A-Sun schedule with a trio of road games, traveling to Jacksonville on Feb. 21, North Florida on Feb. 23 and ETSU on March 1, before the 2012 Atlantic Sun Championship will commence March 6-9 in Macon, Ga., on the campus of Mercer University.
2012-13 USC Upstate Men’s Basketball Media Guide 19