Samford Basketball Season Preview: Part II
If you missed it, here is part one of our preview recapping last season and our projected starters.
Reserves
G - Julian Brown
2023-2024 stats (Wagner): 30.9 MPG, 10 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.8 APG, 37% FG, 36% 3P, 85% FT
Brown comes to Homewood with two years to play and brings starting and NCAA Tournament experience. He started 19 games for Wagner and scored in double figures 15 times. Two of those came in the NCAA Tournament with 15 points in the First Four win over Howard, then 18 points against North Carolina in the round of 64. He is excellent at the free throw line. Brown probably cannot wait to play in this system as Wagner played at one of the slowest paces in the country last season.
G - Josh Holloway
2023-2024 stats: 12.7 MPG, 4.2 PPG, 1.9 APG, 1.3 RPG, 25% 3P, 38% FG
Holloway will get another year to learn behind Jones while seeing his minutes increase this season. He has all the athleticism in the world and it seemed like the game moved a little fast at times in his freshman campaign. Holloway has to cut down on the turnover rate from last season of 28.7 percent but when it is all said and done, Holloway could be better than Ques Glover ever was. He did spend a lot of time in the gym this offseason with assistant coach Neb Exantus working on his three-point shot. If that improves this season, then you will definitely see more of Holloway and Jones together at the guard spots.
F - Jaden Brownell
2023-2024 stats (University of Illinois-Chicago): 14.0 MPG, 6.1 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 44% FG, 36% 3P
Along with Allenspach, Brownell adds even more pick-and-pop three-point shooting to this frontcourt. This staff loves big men who can space the floor and knock down the outside shot. Brownell can also attack the rim and take somebody off the bounce. He was who Samford pivoted to after losing Achor Achor to Kansas State. On the defensive end, he is an underrated rim protector who averaged 2.3 blocks per 40 minutes. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
G - Lukas Walls
2023-2024 stats: 9.1 MPG, 3.0 PPG, 1.2 RPG, 46% 3P, 75% FT, 48% FG
Walls is back for his sophomore campaign and is another depth piece for Samford on the wing. He should see his minutes increase this season with the losses of Jermaine Marshall and AJ Staton-McCray. Walls did shoot 50% from three on just 24 attempts and should see more opportunities to show that off this season. He is a bigger guard at 6’5” 203 pounds and uses that to his advantage to attack the rim.
F - Hamed “Larry” Olayinka
2023-2024 stats (Utah Tech): 16.1 MPG, 5.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 1.6 BPG, 59% FG
Olayinka brings elite rim protection to Homewood. In just 16 minutes per game, Olayinka finished with 51 total blocks (Former Purdue C Zach Edey had 79 blocks in 32 MPG). He finished 12th in the country in block percentage per KenPom and brings an element that Samford has not had as much of the last few years. On the offensive end, he is raw but excels at attacking at the rim and finishing. Olayinka can also put you on a poster should a defender not make a business decision and get out of the way. I am interested to see how Samford uses him as his offensive game continues to grow. Samford’s staff can just pull out the Achor development playbook and use it on Olayinka. He will be fun to watch.
G - Brody Boyer
2023-2024 stats: N/A (missed due to injury)
Boyer is back healthy after a knee injury sidelined him for all of last season. His minutes are to be determined after missing all of 2023-2024. Boyer shot 35% from three-point land a couple seasons ago so he is another piece that brings that element. It remains to be seen how Samford will use Boyer this season but is just another weapon off the bench for this team
C - Brody Davis
2023-2024 stats (Birmingham-Southern): 30.4 MPG, 10.5 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 49% FG
Davis comes to Samford from Bucky McMillan’s alma mater and is a true center. He started every game for BSC last season and led the Southern Athletic Association in blocks with 50. Davis is an excellent rebounder as he had six games with double digit rebounds including a 17-rebounding performance. He is a big, physical presence inside and will be called upon to get those tough rebounds and put in work on the defensive end.
G - Zion Wilburn
2023-2024 stats: N/A (Freshman)
Wilburn comes to Samford from California and played at AZ Compass Prep School in Arizona. He was a former 3-star prospect by 247 Sports. Wilburn reminds me of a younger AJ Staton-McCray with more length. He is further along than Staton-McCray was as a freshman so it will be interesting to see if he can crack his way into the rotation. The physical tools are there, it’s just a matter of finding your role in a chance to get minutes.
F - Caleb Harrison
2023-2024 stats: N/A (Freshman)
Harrison played under Christian Schweers, a former Mountain Brook assistant under McMillan, at Huntsville High School. Harrison has a great high school resume finishing with over 1,000 career points and over 900 rebounds. He chose Samford over Belmont (like that) and Chattanooga (like that even more). Harrison did have 27 points in a game against number one overall recruit Cooper Flagg and Montverde Academy. Harrison will need time to get stronger in the weight room at 6’9” 205 pounds. Do not be surprised should he redshirt if the staff decides to go that route.
Samford’s non-conference schedule is highlighted by two big-time matchups against perennial NCAA Tournament teams. On Tuesday November 19, Samford will travel to East Lansing to take on the Michigan State Spartans. The Spartans have not missed the NCAA Tournament since 1997 and lost this past season to North Carolina. Then on Wednesday December 18, Samford will play the Arizona Wildcats who are in their first season as members of the Big 12. Arizona lost in the Sweet 16 to Clemson last season.
Michigan State is #35 on KenPom’s preseason rankings while Arizona sits at #8 and #10 in the Preseason AP Top 25.
Those two games definitely grab your attention first as Samford, just like other good mid-major programs, struggle to get quality non-conference games. The NET, which is a tool the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee uses to evaluate teams, does not reward teams for playing good mid-major teams and losing. So there is no incentive for them to schedule those games. Good on Michigan State and Arizona for scheduling Samford.
While those two matchups are attention grabbers, one other intriguing game is at Cornell. This matchup is in the first week of the season. Samford tested themselves in the second game of the year at VCU last season and this will be another challenge.
Samford opens the 2024 season at home against Mississippi College on November 4th instead of starting at Purdue like last year. Then the Bulldogs hosts Rhodes College in the third game of the season on November 12th.
I double-checked, Mississippi College does NOT have a 7’4” center. So we are good there.
Samford will play two games against the Atlantic Sun Conference as part of the SoCon’s scheduling alliance with the ASUN. Samford will play at in-state foe North Alabama on November 15th and then host Austin Peay on December 8th.
The Samford hosted multi-team event over Thanksgiving week is back as Samford will play North Dakota State, Utah Valley, and West Georgia. Alabama A&M rounds out the non-conference on December 21st.
For Samford to repeat, they will have to do it again in another tough conference. The general consensus is that the top tier of the SoCon is Samford, Chattanooga, ETSU, Wofford in some order. That is how the top four sit in the Preseason Coaches Poll.
Chattanooga returns their top two leading scorers from last season in Honor Huff (17.4 PPG) and Trey Bonham (16 PPG). The Mocs do lose two key frontcourt pieces in Sam Alexis and Jan Zidek. They did bring in a highly touted Division 2 transfer in Frank Champion who will vie for SoCon Newcomer of the Year.
ETSU returns key pieces from last year’s SoCon Tournament runner-up in Jaden Seymour and Quimari Peterson. Meanwhile Wofford returns almost every key piece highlighted by Corey Tripp and Kyler Filewich.
Obviously you cannot forget about Furman even though they did lose JP Pegues to Auburn and Marcus Foster to Xavier.
Samford opens SoCon play on New Year’s Day at home against The Citadel. Then the first road game is at Western Carolina on Saturday, January 4th. Their first game against the top tier of the conference is hosting ETSU on Saturday, January 18th. That will be a nationally televised game on CBS Sports Network.
One interesting thing about this schedule for Samford is that they play the same stretch of teams in that same order twice. They play that ETSU game, then followed at Chattanooga, home against Wofford, then at Furman. Then just a month later, Samford plays that same stretch of teams.
Former Samford F Jermaine Marshall
Those eight games will decide if Samford can repeat as Southern Conference champions. In the last two seasons, Samford has gone 30-6 in conference play. These Bulldogs will get everybody’s best shot. How quickly does this team gel with so many new additions? It is not easy in this portal era but if there is a coach that can figure this out, it is Bucky McMillan.
Samford is officially on the map and everyone in the basketball world knows what Bucky Ball is all about. Can Samford stay atop the mountain? The Winter Soldier is prepared to lead his team into battle and ready for everything that lies ahead.
“And Here. We. Go.” - The late Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight, circa 2008
