Ball State Team Report

GETTING INSIDE

   Ball State graduated four of the five players that averaged more than 4.1 points per game for last season’s MAC West co-champs. In total, the Cardinals no longer have the guys who produced 60.1 percent of their points and played 53.7 percent of their minutes.

That sounds bad until you realize Ball State retains sophomore big man Jarrod Jones, the MAC’s reigning Freshman of the Year who racked up 11.2 points, 7.3 rebounds per game and 1.1 blocks per game. He gives third-year coach Billy Taylor an excellent building block as the Cardinals sort out their perimeter plan—essentially the opposite situation Ball State dealt with as the 2008-09 season unfolded.

“I was glad we had some seniors around him to take some pressure off him,” Taylor said. “He really came on the scene in a hurry.”

Now Jones needs some help in a hurry. He and junior power forward Malik Perry (4.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg) are the only returning starters on a roster that features just 10 scholarship players. Perry, lightly used senior point guard Brawley Chisholm (1.7 ppg) and senior forward Terrence Watson (a transfer from Mississippi) are the only Cardinals who aren’t freshmen or sophomores.

Taylor’s first order of business throughout preseason practices figures to be settling on who’ll play the “1.” Sophomore Randy Davis is the top returning assist man with 42 in 26 games. Davis won the point guard job last year during the preseason, but injured his ankle and never became quite right. Chisholm, meanwhile, played just 122 minutes last season as he made the transition from Western Texas Junior College. Taylor hopes Chisholm takes the big jump that so many other juco transfers make.

Ball State has nothing but youngsters at the other perimeter spots. The only guys with experience are sophomore guard Pierre Sneed (2.3 ppg) and sophomore forward Maurice Hubbard (3.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg).

  

NOTES, QUOTES

• If bloodlines count for anything, then sophomore forward Maurice Hubbard and freshman guard Jauwaun Scaife are destined for good things. Hubbard, who averaged 3.2 points and 3.4 rebounds last season, is the son of former NBA veteran Phil Hubbard. Scaife, a Muncie (Ind.) Central product, is the cousin of former Ball State great Bonzi Wells.

• After leading Ball State to a share of the MAC West division title, Billy Taylor was rewarded with a two-year contract extension. His deal now runs through the 2013-14 season.

   —With just 10 scholarship players on the roster, Ball State has added five walk-ons to build depth for practice. Freshman guard Zach Harrison is a “preferred” walk-on. Freshmen John Green and Will Hauser, as well as junior transfer Dusty Mills (Kentucky) and sophomore transfer Franklin Henderson, joined the team after school began.

Last Year:   14-17 overall, 7-9 in the MAC West; lost in semifinals of the MAC Tournament.

   HEAD COACH: Billy Taylor (career 101-110); 3rd year at Ball State (20-41).

   QUOTE TO NOTE: “We’ve reallly made a mark. We’ve preached defense, primarily man-to-man. We first talk defense.”—Ball State coach Billy Taylor, whose Cardinals finished second in the MAC with 59.7 points allowed per game.

 

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

   SCOUTING THE NEWCOMERS: Billy Taylor didn’t have to leave town in order to land freshman guard Jauwan Scaife, an explosive 6-foot-2 shooting guard from fabled Muncie Central High. Then Taylor couldn’t have traveled much further to land 6-4 swingman Myron Green Jr. from Dominguez (Cal.) High School. Both will see immediate time on the wings. Then there’s Mississippi transfer Terrence Watson, who sat out last year and has just one season of eligibility. Watson averaged 6.7 minutes during his lone season for the Rebels, but Taylor expects him to make an impact at both forward spots.

   KEY EARLY-SEASON GAMES: Highlighted by a Dec. 5 trip to Purdue, the Cardinals will take on most of Indiana’s other Div. I programs during the first month of the season. Valparaiso (Nov. 13) and Butler (Dec. 2) come to Worthen Arena while Ball State visits Indiana State (Dec. 9). The other big pre-holidays game is a Nov. 24 visit to Temple.

   PROGRAM DIRECTION: The Cardinals lost almost all of their perimeter firepower, so there might be some initial dropoff as some young players feel their way. But Taylor loves the fact that they’re his youngsters and believes they’ll help return Ball State to glory.

   PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP: PG Randy Davis, SG Pierre Sneed, SF Maurice Hubbard, PF Malik Perry, C Jarrod Jones.

   ROSTER REPORT:

   —PG Huzie Hambrite signed with Ball State during the November letter-of-intent period last year, but the junior-college transfer didn’t make the academic cut and won’t be with the Cardinals. Coach Billy Taylor hoped he would play some minutes at the point.

• PG Skylar Case, a preferred walk-on from Muncie (Ind.) Delta High School, left the team before official practice. According to the Star-Press, Case cited a chronic back injury as the reason for his decision.

• F Eric Wormely transferred to Div. II North Alabama for his final year of eligibility. Wormely averaged 12.6 minutes last year and contributed 1.9 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.