Lions Faced With Replacing Heavy Losses
UNA looks to build on South Region title and run to the Elite 8

As the University of North Alabama prepares for the 2008-09 season, excitement for the program is on the rise. The Lions are coming off one of the most successful seasons in school history, winning 27 games and earning their 8th trip to the NCAA Elite 8. All of this was accomplished while playing one of the most difficult schedules in the nation.

But to achieve a similar level of success during the 2008-09 campaign, UNA will have to replace three valuable players (Quinn Beckwith, Casey Holt and Thomas Morris) who made valuable contributions to the men’s basketball program. Morris electrified the fans with fantastic dunks while Beckwith bombed long-range threes. Quinn holds school records for most three-point attempts in a game (16), most three-point attempts in a season (287) and highest free throw percentage for a season (89.3) Holt, Gulf South Conference East Division Player of the Year, leaves UNA as the 9th leading scorer in school history (1,220) , most career games played (123) and the second player in school history to be named GSC player of the Year in the east division.

The Lions return nine letter winners, including three starters, from last season’s squad. Seven players will be playing for their first full season for the lions including two true freshmen, two junior college transfers and three Division I transfers.

North Alabama will try to maintain its high-powered offense that averaged 87 points per game without its top two scorers from last year’s Elite 8 team. The returning lettermen should be able to pick up the slack with a host of veterans who are back in the rotation. The returners are lead by senior forward Thomas Fraise (15.4ppg 7.2rpg) and senior point guard Kenny Johnson (13.8 ppg 5.4apg). Fraise returns for his senior season after a much decorated junior campaign. The big fellow from New Orleans, LA was named player of the week in the Gulf South Conference on two different occasions, he was named to the GSC All-Tournament Team and he was named the Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA Division II South Regional. He has also received some pre-season attention being named as a pre-season honorable mention all-American by the Division II Bulletin as well as a GSC pre-season all-conference selection. Johnson enters his third season in a Lion uniform having started all 36 games and played in all but 180 minutes on the season. Despite the yeoman’s work and solid statistics the junior from Plaquemine, LA was left off of the GSC All-Conference teams but earned a spot on the South Regional All-Tournament Team. Kenny has also been select to the pre-season all-conference team.

Seniors Isaac Gay and Andrew Chesney will be called upon for leadership as well as adding to their point and rebound production. Gay averaged 10.3ppg to go along with 4.8rpg while Chesney added 8.7 ppg and 3.7 rpg. Both players will be called upon for consistency throughout the season. Gay was selected by the GSC coaches on the pre-season all-conference team.

Phil Collins, a 6’3” guard, Joe Deegan 6’0” guard and Dusko Stojnic a 6’10” post player round out the returning seniors who will be called upon for leadership throughout the rugged schedule.

Doug Hunter, a 6’6” junior forward from Maryland and Trent McCants, a 6’0” sophomore guard from Valley, Alabama will also bring experience from last season to the court for the Lions.

UNA added seven new players to its roster. Marquel Darrington, 6’1” guard from Montgomery, AL and Horace Warren, 6’2” guard from Prattville, AL are the incoming freshmen. They will join junior college transfer Jacobe Shannon, 6’0” guard from Antelope Valley CC as well as the trio of Division I transfers. Edvaldo Lima, a 6’9” forward from Cal-State Fullerton, Jarelle Redden, 6’1” guard from Ball State University and 6’2” guard, Corey Speight from University of Texas-El Paso, will add much-needed depth and athleticism to the roster.


Following is a Q & A with sixth-year UNA coach Bobby Champagne entering the 2008-09 season:

How do you replace Casey Holt and Quinn Beckwith in the lineup?

“We prepared for the loss of Casey and Quinn. They have been such a huge part of the success the past few years. Opponents started their game plan with how to deal with those guys and we relied on them for much of our offense.

“With so many new personnel this is going to be a very challenging preseason. We will have to figure out a way to have our veterans improve from where they were last season and the newcomers will need to learn quickly. Hopefully they will pick things up and adjust to their roles.”

UNA has been one of the top scoring teams in the conference they past few years. How will moving the three point line back affect the team and its ability to score?

“We finished 4th in the nation in scoring last season and used the three-point line to our advantage. Losing Casey and Quinn who were very good three-point shooters, will affect us some but I don’t think we will see much drop off if any.

“Moving the line will only affect the guys who wouldn’t normally shoot that many threes.”

What are the strengths of this year’s team?

“I think our depth and our experience will be key. We should have depth at every position and that should translate well on both ends of the court. We have the talent to achieve similar goals as last season. However, chemistry will play a major role in how good this team will be.”

UNA played one of the most difficult schedules in the nation over the past few seasons and this year appears to be no different. Is this by design?
“The schedule is designed to send a message to our players that we have confidence in them to play against the best in the country. We do not want to put them in a position, that when we start GSC play, the feel overwhelmed. We want them to feel prepared. Keeping their confidence will be a factor early on with so many tough road games. I think as the season progresses and everyone finds and accepts their roles we will get better.”

What are your concerns entering this season?

“Complacency will be something we have tried to avoid. With so many returners who were successful, the natural tendency is to think that it will automatically happen again. My hope is that our newcomers will push the veterans to get better each day. Another key will be guys buying in to what we are trying to do and accepting their roles. With so many new players, our team may take some time to grow and evolve.”

Who do you see stepping into a leadership role?

“Naturally, Kenny and Fraise will be a leaders but I would hope that several other players would accept that role as well. Leaders are very hard to replace and Casey Quinn and Thomas each lead our team in different ways last season. That is one thing that is difficult to replace with recruiting, the talent is here but someone has to lead that talent on the floor.”

Kenny Johnson started every game last season and played almost every minute of every game. Do you see him playing that much this season?
Kenny had a great year for us and did everything we asked of him both on and off of the court. He was one of the more underrated players on our team even though he was a big part of everything we did. I see him doing whatever it is we need to win games. He can score or get someone else a shot if that’s what we need.”

Thomas Fraise was somewhat of a surprise last season. Do you see him improving on what he accomplished last year?

“Fraise probably had a little better season than what the coaching staff was expecting but we believe he can be even better this season. He has come into the pre-season in much better shape which I think will allow him to be a better defender and rebounder. If he improves in those two areas and continues to score, he should live up to the pre-season attention that he is receiving.”

Isaac Gay showed signs of what he was capable of last season. What do you look for out of him this season?

“We would like for Ike to be more consistent on the offensive end. We relied on him to defend the best player most nights and I think that took away from his scoring. He also knew that Casey and Quinn would score. We will definitely count on him to be a consistent player for us.”

Andrew Chesney was often overlooked with all of the scorers on last year’s team. Do you look for him to be more of a scoring threat this season?

“Andrew accepted his role on last year’s team and was a complimentary player many nights. He also had games where he was the difference in the outcome of the game. He is the kind of player who can step out and make the outside shot and also score in the paint. We would hope that he would continue his improvement and be a major key to our success this season.”

How will experience of some of you other players affect this year’s team?

We have several players who experienced the excitement of our Elite 8 run. Hopefully, those experiences will keep guys like Joe (Deegan), Phil (Collins), Doug (Hunter), Trent (McCants) and Dusko (Stojnic) hungry to get back to that level. Each of those players played a part in our success and would think that their experience will only help this team.”

Which newcomer do you see making the biggest impact on this team?

Everyone of our new players will have an opportunity to play a major role on this team, we wouldn’t have recruited them if we didn’t think they could make an impact. Eddie (Edvaldo Lima), should give us some size, another scoring option in the paint and someone who can get a rebound or two. Jarelle (Redden) is a very strong guard who can defend and rebound but also has the ability to get to the basket. We really didn’t have that last year so he should be very valuable. Corey (Speight) has the ability to shoot the basketball and we always need someone like that in the line-up. Each of these guys were successful in high school and junior college but did not have that same success at the Division I level. Hopefully their hunger to get back to their earlier successes will help this team achieve their goals. Jacobe (Shannon) and Marquel (Darrington) will give us more depth on the perimeter and give us some added quickness on both ends of the floor.”