ALBANY, Ga. (November 7, 2018) – Under the leadership of Patrick Gayle in his second season, the Albany State University men's basketball program will tip-off this weekend with a pair of games in the GSC/SIAC Basketball Challenge hosted by Valdosta State University at the Complex on Friday, Nov. 8 and Saturday, Nov. 9.
The Golden Rams will face the University of West Florida on Friday at 3:00 p.m. and take on the host Valdosta State on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Albany State finished the 2018-19 campaign with a 14-16 overall record. The Golden Rams finished second in the Eastern Division with a 12-5 SIAC conference record.
This year's 2019-2020 program returns five players including starters Mario Young (6-3/Guard/Mansfield, Ohio), Randy McClure (6-5/Guard/Forward/Paulding, Georgia) and Napoleon Harris (6-8/Forward/Albany, Georgia) who have started and played significant minutes. ASU also returns Juwan High (5-11/Guard/Americus, Georgia) and Titus Burns (6-1/Guard/Havana, Florida) will all be key players.
Four of the top five scorers return for the Golden Rams this season, including Jared Harrington who averaged 15.7 points per game last season on 151 of 321 from the field (.470). Also returning is Tyrell Williams who averaged 13.7 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per game. He went 143 of 225 from the field last season (.636) to lead the team in field goal percentage.
We also have a great recruiting class coming in the 2019-20 season that includes Kamil Brown (6-7/Guard/Elizabeth, New Jersey) a transfer from the St. Thomas University, Joshua Jerome (6-6/Guard/Pembroke Pines, Florida) a transfer from Lincoln Memorial University and Jarmarcis Nunally (5-10/Guard/Albany, Georgia) a transfer from Albany Technical College. Also added to the roster is freshman Khalif Napoleon (6-8/Forward/Brooklyn, New York) who has a chance of having a tremendous career here at Albany State University.
Albany State was recently picked to finish 2nd overall in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The University of West Florida, a member of the Gulf South Conference (GSC) opens the 2019-20 slate coming off a 12-16 overall record in last season's campaign. Head coach Jeff Burkhamer's team was chosen fifth in what appears to be a very wide-open race in the Gulf South Conference. UWF welcomes back reigning GSC Freshman of the Year Jon Brown who averaged 14.6 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 44 percent from the floor. They also added eight newcomers to the roster this year, along with redshirt post players Conor Flanagan and Chinedu Okonkwo. The Argos won the GSC Tournament and making the program's first NCAA Tournament in 2017-18.
Friday's clash will mark the fifth consecutive time that both Albany State and West Florida will meet with the score last season in favor of the Argos 63-59.
Host Valdosta State enter the season picked third in the Gulf South Conference Preseason, which was release last month. VSU senior Clay Guillozet was named to the GSC Preseason All-league team. Guillozet, a native of Greenville, Ohio, averaged 13.1 points per game and finished second on the team in scoring, while leading the team in rebounding at 6.8 rebounds per game last season. For his career, Guillozet has played in 62 games with 54 starts and averages 12.8 points per game. He is averaging 6.4 rebounds per game and is 302 of 582 from the field for a .519 average. Guillozet has knocked down 58 shots from beyond the arc in 169 attempts, while recording 174 assists with 67 steals and 24 blocks.
For the most up-to-date information on ASU men's basketball please visit www.asugoldenrams.com and follow the Golden Rams Athletics on Twitter @ASUGoldenRams.
