CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina University men's basketball program will open the 2023-24 season Monday, Nov. 6, as the Chanticleers will host Piedmont (Ga.) at the HTC Center at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be the first of 19 home games the Chants will host this season.
CCU will play their first nine games at home, and that includes three games in the Myrtle Beach Invitational and will play 11 of its first 12 games in the HTC Center.
The Chanticleers are coming off an 11-20 season and a 5-13 record in the conference.
Piedmont is coming off a season which saw them finish 13-14 overall and 5-7 in the Collegiate Conference of the South (NCAA III).
COACHING LEGEND
Head Coach
Cliff Ellis is beginning his 17th season at the helm of the Chanticleers and he enters the season as the top active coach in wins with 906. He is the only coach to win at least 170 games at four different NCAA D-I programs. He is also one of two coaches (Dana Altman, Oregon) to be named a conference coach of the year at four different schools.
His 828 NCAA D-I wins is 10th all-time and with three more wins will move into the ninth place. That number also makes him the active leader in NCAA D-I wins heading into the season. Among all coaches on the D-I level, both active and non-active, he is 14th in career wins.
ABOUT THE CHANTS
Ellis will have five returning players on the roster led by Conway native
Jimmy Nichols. Starting point guard
Henry Abraham also returns as does
Kylan Blackmon,
Marcus Saunders, and
Joey Kahn.
There are nine new players in a Chanticleer uniform for the first time when the Lions come to town. Transfers include
Jon Sanders,
Ginika "John" Ojiako,
Miroslav Stafl,
Kevin Easley, and
Ian Granja. CCU also has three true freshmen making their debuts for CCU, including
Braeden MacVicar,
Jacob Meyer, and
Trevor Barrett.
Jaland Whitehead will also be looking to make his first appearance after redshirting last season.
ABOUT PIEDMONT
The Lions have 19 players listed on its roster and 10 of those are returners. Among those returners happens to be the top-three scorers from last season.
Ryan Jolly averaged a team-best 14.6 points per game while shooting 45 percent from the field, 38 percent from beyond the three-point line and 81 percent at the free throw line. He led the team in assists with 125 and in steals with 51.
Noah Reardon was the team's second-leading scorer last year averaging 10.3 points per game and Dean Devin was the third-leading scorer, averaging 9.7 points per game, a number that increased to 10.6 points per game in conference action.
Piedmont had plenty of bad luck last season as eight of their losses were by three possessions or less, with six of those by three points or less.
CCU and Piedmont can be heard on WRNN Hot Talk 99.5 FM and can be watched live on ESPN+. Links for both along with live stats can be found at www.GoCCUSports.com.
For complete coverage of CCU men's basketball, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalMBB (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com.
