FGCU Women's Soccer Dominates A-Sun Honors

Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

Just like this season, the FGCU Women's Soccer team (12-3-3) dominated the Atlantic Sun awards. The following are Eagles who received honors:

Goalkeeper of the Year: Brittany Brown
Freshman of the Year: Tabby Tindell
Coach of the Year: Jim Blankenship

All-Atlantic Sun First Team
Emma Blackwell- D*
Tabby Tindell- F*
Brittany Brown- GK
Tessa Berger-D
Ally Kasun- MF
Paulina Speckmaier- MF

All-Atlantic Sun Second Team
Melissa Arnold - D
Shannen Wacker - F

All-Atlantic Sun Freshman Team
Tabby Tindell - F*
Paulina Speckmaier - MF*

*=unanimous selection

Since the Eagles captured the A-Sun regular season title, they will be hosting the semifinals and finals. Following a first round bye, FGCU will face the winner of No. 4 Mercer and No. 5 Stetson on Friday, Nov. 8. The Championship, which will be held at the FGCU Soccer Complex, will be broadcasted on ESPN3.

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Eagles Take Titles At FGCU Fall Invitational

Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

The FGCU Men's Tennis defended Dunk City last weekend as they took both the singles and doubles title at the FGCU Fall Invitational.

Jordi Vives (Barcelona, Spain) and Tianya Bao (Tianjin, China) took the doubles title after a 8-6 win over Barry University's Ahmed Tricki and Fabian Groetsch. The same two Eagles took the court again in the blue singles finals.

Vives, the No. 1 seed, crushed his opponents on the way to the finals. As did the 13 seeded Bao. Once the Eagle on Eagle competed started, Vives dropped the first set 6-4. In a set two tiebreak, Vives topped Bao 7-6 (5). The 2nd set apparently gave him some more gas in the tank as he won the 3rd set 6-1.

Full Results
Video Highlights

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Sherwood Brown Cut By Maccabi Haifa

Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

Sherwood Brown, after signing with Maccabi Haifa in July, was cut by the defending Israeli Winner League Champions. This came after Haifa choose not to register Brown for the Winner League and benched him for their Euro Cup games.

As outlined in this previous article, his non registration and now release was the culmination of many factors. These include roster restrictions that put foreign players at a disadvantage.

It was rumored back in September that Haifa coach Danny Franco wanted to cut Brown but nothing came of it until now. After Brown's senior season at FGCU, in which he led the team in rebounding and scoring, he worked out with many NBA teams including the Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies.

In Haifa's NBA tour, Brown scored eight points against the Suns, was benched against the Pistons, and ended with two points against the Grizzlies and familiar foe Jamaal Franklin.

For more on FGCU make sure to follow us on Twitter (@FGCUEaglesNest)

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FGCU Women's Soccer Clinch Four-Peat

Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

Tonight FGCU Women's Soccer clinched its fourth A-Sun title. They didn't even step onto the field. With Jacksonville losing, the Eagles captured the four-peat and the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Sun tournament.

With the No. 1 seed, FGCU, along with the No. 2 and 3 seeds, will host the first round. Dunk City will also play host to the Championship Round or Final Four.

In their regular season finale tomorrow (Oct. 26), the Eagles will battle Stetson and look to defend their undefeated conference record.

For more on the FGCU make sure to follow us on Twitter (@FGCUEaglesNest)

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FGCU Volleyball Tops Mercer In Five Sets

Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

FGCU started off a three games in four day stretch off right with hard fought five set victory over Mercer. The Eagles captured the first set 25-21 before slowing down in the second set and dropping it 25-14. After they split the third and fourth sets with the Bears (25-16, 25-18), FGCU won the fifth set 15-7.

Senior and Ft. Myers native Kaitlin Holm led the Eagles in kills with 21 while fellow senior Karina Mambuca led the squad in digs (17). On the night, FGCU record 57 kills and 10 blocks. Excluding the second set, they recorded 10 or more kills in every set. The hitting percentage ended at .214.

That was the Eagles fourth win in five set matches this season, the others coming against FAU, USC Upstate, FIU, and UNK. They are now undefeated on the season when it comes to these grueling contests.

With this win, the Blue and Green now own a 7-3 record (4th) in Atlantic Sun play and move only one game under .500 for the season. FGCU stays on the road as they take on Kennesaw State tomorrow (Oct. 26) at 3:00 p.m. After battling UNF on Monday (Oct. 28), the Eagles will return home to Alico.

For more on FGCU make sure to follow us on Twitter (@FGCUEaglesNest)

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Eagles In The Classroom: NCAA Release GSR

Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

Today the NCAA released its annual Graduation Success Rate (GSR) reports. This is the class that began college in 2006 and is calculated by students who graduated within six years. Headlining FGCU sports are Women's Soccer and Women's Tennis, both of whom had a 100% GSR rate. Here is FGCU's full list.

Men's Sports
Basketball: 53%
Baseball: 60%
Cross Country: 38%
Golf: 80%
Tennis: 73%

Women's Sports
Basketball: 40%
Cross Country: 56%
Golf: 83%
Soccer: 100%
Softball: 72%
Swim & Dive: 67%
Tennis: 100%
Volleyball: 89%

Overall, the Atlantic Sun conference had 26 perfect scores, including every Women's Tennis team (for the 2nd year in a row). Fifty-one A-Sun schools posted a score equal to or higher than the national average.

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The Sherwood Brown Dilemma

Sherwood Brown dunks in Haifa pre-game warmups

Sherwood Brown was passed up by NBA teams and as you may know, signed with Maccabi Haifa of the Israeli Winner League. His contract is one year with a team option for the second.

But the Israeli Winner League has started, and Haifa did not register to play Brown in these league games. However, he is registered to play in the EuroCup, or European competition.

This decision to leave him off the Winner League roster was a culmination of many factors. First of all, Israeli teams are only allowed to register eight foreigners the entire season. Haifa kept four, not including Brown, in order to leave their options open for future signings.

In addition, the Israeli teams have numerous other restrictions they must meet. Among them, teams must have two Israeli players under 22 years of age, and one between 22-25. With all of these limitations, there was simply no room for Brown on the roster.

In a David Pick article on One.co.il, Sept. 22 (might want to brush up on your Hebrew), it was said that Brown "may be cut unless something unusual happens". This was shown during Haifa's NBA tour when Brown was benched the entire game against the Pistons. The owner, Jeff Rosen, however supports Sherwood Brown and the foreigners.

While this is the case, in a Seth Soffian News-Press article (Oct. 11) Brown's agent Seth Cohen said "He's not getting cut."

In Haifa's first two Euro Cup games, which Brown is on the roster for, the former FGCU star saw no playing time. Now, the Greens will face Maccabi Ashdod (Oct. 27) in Winner League play before going back to the Euro Cup to battle VEF Riga (Oct. 30).

H/T David Pick

Follow us on Twitter (@FGCUEaglesNest) for the latest on this situation.

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Former FGCU Volleyball Star Brooke Sweat Wins AVP Huntington Beach Championship

Former FGCU Volleyball standout Brooke (Youngquist) Sweat won her first AVP Championship this weekend. After Sweat and her partner Jennifer Fopma lost in the first round, they pulled off four wins in the contenders' bracket before defeating Ross-Day in the semifinals to land them a spot in the championship match.

Then in the finals, Sweat and Fopma defeated Lauren Fendrick and Brittany Hochevar 21-9, 15-21, 15-9.

The Fort Myers native still holds school records for most career kills, service aces per set, and points.

In a fitting manner, Sweat sent an ace down the line to capture her first AVP victory: the Championship. On the weekend, the former FGCU Volleyball standout had 15 aces (.88 avg), 140 digs (8.24 avg) and 111 kills (39% hitting).

For more on FGCU make sure to follow us on Twitter (@FGCUEaglesNest)

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Zach Johnson Commits To Florida Gulf Coast

Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

Today Zach Johnson, guard at Norland High School in Miami, verbally committed to Florida Gulf Coast. Johnson who had a phenomenal summer in the AAU circuit with Team Breakdown, will be joining Christian Terrell and Eric Moeller next season at FGCU.

The 6-2 guard is ranked 37th in the state of Florida in 2014 by ESPN and is given three stars by Rivals. He is ranked three stars on Scout and has a 89 overall ranking on Verbal Commits. Johnson, who can play either guard position, chose Dunk City over the likes of USF, LaSalle, Butler, and more.

Both Johnson and fellow commit Christian Terrell (Jacksonville, FL) were in attendance at Friday's FGCU Midnight Madness: Dunk City After Dark.

"It was amazing. The fans were really hyped. The atmosphere was crazy. It looks like a wonderful place to be playing at," Johnson said. Clearly Alico Arena, the Dirty Birds, and an upward looking program was too much for Johnson to pass up.

This was before Johnson's commitment. I think Terrell has some sort of sixth sense.

@Cterrell35 lol 👌
— Zach Johnson (@Trust_TheHype) October 20, 2013

@Cterrell35 lol you'll know
— Zach Johnson (@Trust_TheHype) October 20, 2013

For more on Dunk City make sure to follow us on Twitter (@FGCUEaglesNest)

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Recruits Talk Dunk City After Dark

Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

While Midnight Madness quenches fans thirst for college basketball, and provides some nice highlight ready dunks, its biggest use is as a recruiting tool.

FGCU's Dunk City After Dark saw a plethora of recruits in attendance at Alico Arena. Rodney Hunter (Mariner HS), Zach Johnson (Miramar HS), Malik Maitland (Father Lopez HS), Jonathan Jean (Gibsonton HS), and lone 2014 FGCU commit Christian Terrell (Providence HS) were all watching the Dunk City antics at Alico.

The high flying dunks, one if which landed on SportsCenter's Top Ten Plays, didn't go unnoticed.

"It was amazing. Just seeing different types of things I can learn from. Just having fun. It was great," said Malik Maitland, 2015 point guard.

Nearby recruit and Mariner HS player Rodney Hunter enjoyed it as well. "It was a great environment. The way it was set up. Overall it was just a good time," Hunter said.

Miramar High School guard Zach Johnson commented as well. "It was amazing. The fans were really hyped. The atmosphere was crazy. It looks like a wonderful place to be playing at." he said.

As usual, the Dirty Birds and FGCU faithful were loud all night. Including during Joe Dooley's interview on ESPNU when a "Christian Terrell" chanted sprouted up. Terrell, who threw down this nasty dunk back in June, committed to Florida Gulf Coast in July.

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FGCU To Rely On Veteran Leadership

Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

Based on his play down the stretch last season, no one would have guessed that Brett Comer was a sophomore guard playing under a coach just as new at Florida Gulf Coast.

But sure enough, Comer averaged over 10 points and 8 assists per game over the A-Sun postseason and NCAA Tournament. ESPN analyst Skip Bayless even said that the Winter Park product was playing better than any other point guard in March Madness.

Now with new coach Joe Dooley under the helm, Dunk City has four returning starters, including Comer, that will bring veteran influence to a squad that is hungry for more.

"We've got a bunch of guys that are older. Brett Comer,  Bernard Thompson, those guys of age need to be better," Dooley said, "Chase Fieler, I think can be a terrific player. He was at the end of last year. He's got great potential."

FGCU's Golden Boy put up an average of 13 points and 6 rebounds during those last six games. A-Sun Defensive Player of the Year Bernard Thompson averaged 15 ppg during the postseason, while snatching 14 steals.

Although Dooley also said that fourth returning starter Eric McKnight "has really improved", Dunk City fans won't be able to see this until Dec. 1 against Iona (ESPN3). Reported by Seth Soffian, McKnight was suspended for the first six games of the season due to an undisclosed violation of team/school policy.

Most likely stepping into his place for the first six games will be Georgia Tech transfer Nate Hicks. Hicks, who sat out last season due to NCAA rules, was already challenging McKnight's starting role but will now see even more time. Marquette transfer Jamail Jones also becomes available.

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ESPNU Drops The Ball On Dunk City After Dark Coverage

Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

Florida Gulf Coast was excited for Dunk City's appearance in ESPNU's Midnight Madness showcase that extended from 9:00 p.m ET to 1:00 a.m. The opportunity to be featured on ESPN, for a team that was just recently Division I eligible, was something coveted throughout the FGCU fan base.

"I was really looking forward to our guys being on a national platform with ESPNU coming to the school," said Bryan Cooney, FGCU senior.

When the coverage started at 9:00 p.m ET, ESPNU briefly went to each school, including FGCU, for a 30 second introduction. After that, ESPNU traveled from school to school, but mostly stuck to Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse, Memphis, and UConn. But after much hype for Dunk City After Dark, 11:00 p.m passed and ESPNU had yet to broadcast from FGCU, excluding the short intro.

It seemed that ESPNU had tunnel vision, only worrying about Kentucky's amazing recruiting class and if they would mesh together, and other story lines from Duke and Syracuse.

As FGCU captured America's hearts in the Sweet Sixteen last year, there are Dunk City fans from all over the country. Most of whom couldn't make it to Alico Arena. Some FGCU students also couldn't make it out to Alico. These fans were counting on ESPNU.

"I know the big name schools get the coverage for good reason but they need to give equal time to all the schools that they said would be showed tonight," Cooney said.

At 11:30 p.m, ESPNU had still yet to go to FGCU, and even Wichita State. The Shockers, another mid-major squad, made it to the Final Four. Kentucky, a major feature in the Midnight Madness coverage, lost in the first round of the NIT.

"Wichita St a final four team last year hasn't been shown once either... I'd think the school [FGCU] should have an issue with this bringing in extra equipment, screens all for naught," Cooney said.

Finally, at about 12:30 local time, ESPNU headed to Dunk City to broadcast FGCU. It featured a Joe Dooley interview and some highlights. Then, they cut to an Andy Katz interview with Andy Enfield.

In a four hour broadcast, there was approximately 10 minutes of FGCU air time. Later though, Brian Greene's dunk contest winning dunks were shown on SportsCenter.

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FGCU MBB To Host 'Secret Scrimmages' Against Florida Southern & Lynn

Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

'Secret scrimmages' have been a topic of hush hush talk in the college basketball world. Behind closed doors, these not so secret scrimmages are between CBB teams wanting to size up with another team before the season officially begins. These scrimmages are closed to the public and media; also the NCAA prohibits coaches from talking publicly about them. They're a tradition and a poorly kept college basketball secret.

According to Jeff Goodman, Florida Gulf Coast will host Florida Southern on Oct. 27 in one of these secret scrimmages. The D-II Moccasins went 27-6 last year, including 12-4 in Sunshine State play.

Five days later, the Eagles host Lynn, another Sunshine State Conference member. The Fighting Knights went 11-16 on the season last year, 3-13 in conference play.

Last season FGCU was close to scrimmaging the Florida Gators.

"We tried to scrimmage them [Florida] early in the season in the preseason,'' Enfield said. ''Now we get our shot.''

The Gators, instead, scrimmaged against Rollins who had a playing style similar to Georgetown, their opening game opponent.

More in a Palm Beach Post article by Jason Lieser

“Andy had called me probably back in September or October, wanting to try to get together to scrimmage. And at that time, we were looking at a couple of different options. They were one. One of the things I was looking at as a coach going into our season this year was our first game of the year was against Georgetown. And just going against that Princeton style of play and also having Air Force on our schedule as well, that’s a unique system and style of play that you don’t normally see. And at that time, I decided that we needed to play against Rollins to get us prepared for the Georgetown game.” -Billy Donovan


More On Secret Scrimmages

According to Mark Zeigler's article in the San Diego Union Tribune:

“Only athletics department staff members and those individuals necessary to conduct the practice scrimmage may be present during the scrimmage.

 NCAA guidelines state. “Further, the institution must ensure the scrimmage is free from public view and media are not in attendance.” 

 The rule book continues: “An official score and/or statistics for the practice scrimmage may not be kept. However, an institution may keep score and/or statistics for private use … An institution may not provide the score and/or any statistics to any type of media outlet.”

With these scrimmages, coaches can receive honest feedback from opposing coaches and players can experience some 'real' game action before the regular season starts.

The NCAA gives college basketball teams the option to play two games before the regular season. These two games can be a combination of either 'secret scrimmages' or exhibitions. An example of an exhibition game is Florida hosting Florida Southern on Nov. 1 in Gainesville. Unlike secret scrimmages, these exhibitions are open to fans and media.

The NCAA tries to keep these free forms scrimmages secret but many have already been released for the 2013-14 season.

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Women's Basketball Preseason News & Notes

Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

The FGCU Eagles Nest brings you some news and notes in a busy day for the FGCU Women's Basketball team.

Today the A-Sun released the women's basketball preseason polls and awards. Representing FGCU on the preseason First Team All Atlantic Sun is senior guard Sarah Hansen, a unanimous choice, and redshirt sophomore guard Whitney Knight. Hansen, a McKean, Pa. product, was also chosen as the preseason A-Sun Player of the Year (in addition to being fan voted as POY). Also, the fans voted the Eagles' DyTiesha Dunson as the A-Sun Defensive Player of the Year.

FGCU, in both the coaches and media polls, landed at the top of the A-Sun. In the Coaches Poll, the Eagles had 97 points with 7 total first place votes. With 327 points and 30 place votes, they also topped the Media Poll.

Full polls:

Preseason Women’s Basketball Coaches Poll
1. FGCU (7) 97
2. Stetson (2) 86
3. Mercer (1) 83
4. Northern Kentucky 66
T-5. ETSU 49
T-5. North Florida 49
7. Jacksonville 43
8. USC Upstate 41
9. Lipscomb 22
10. Kennesaw State 14

Preseason Women’s Basketball Media Poll 

1. FGCU (30) 327 

2. Stetson (2) 285 

3. Mercer (1) 244 

4. Northern Kentucky 183 

5. USC Upstate 163 

6. North Florida 158 

7. ETSU 151 

8. Jacksonville 132 

9. Kennesaw State 89 

10. Lipscomb 83 

In other FGCU WBB news, the NCAA denied a wavier, in order to play immediately, for VCU transfer Kaneisha Atwater. Atwater, a Ft. Pierce native, averaged 6.2 ppg in 30 games for the Rams last season. Per Seth Soffian & News-Press, she wanted to be closer to her one year old son Andarios.

In the same News-Press article, FGCU women's basketball Karl Smesko coach had this to say.

"In my opinion, Kaneisha’s case is exactly why you need to have exceptions to rules. That’s why the NCAA has these waiver opportunities in place. It seems pretty simple when you look at the facts: a young mother transfers solely for the purpose of being more involved with the raising of her son."

FGCU is planning on appealing the NCAA's denial.

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FGCU Extends Men's And Women's Basketball Coverage With Use Of ESPN3

Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

Thanks to a partnership between the A-Sun and ESPN, FGCU Men's Basketball will have 24 games broadcasted either on T.V or ESPN3 this season, including the first 11 games. The new release scheduled the 10 remaining Eagles' home games to be on ESPN3, allowing viewers to watch all of the Eagles' home games in the comfort of their own home.

In addition, three of FGCU's away games (Sat. Jan 25 @ Kennesaw State, Sat. Feb. 15 @ USC Upstate, Thu. Feb. @ Lipscomb) will be broadcasted on ESPN3. Each of those three opponents were A-Sun members who were already utilizing the ESPN3 system.

So now, 10 of FGCU Men's Basketball's home games will be on ESPN3, one on ESPN2, one on ESPNU, one on WINK CBS, and one on CSS. Away games includes broadcasts on Big Ten Network, Fox Sports 1, and other networks previously mentioned. The Men's A-Sun semifinals will also be broadcasted on ESPN3.

Also the FGCU Women's Basketball team will now have all 15 of its home games on ESPN3. They will also broadcast the semifinals and finals of the A-Sun women's tournament.

Excluding on air personalities and production positions, the system will be entirely student run.

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FGCU Men's Soccer Turning Season Around

Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

Dunk City didn't look so bright for Bob Butehorn's squad on Mon. Sept. 23. They were 0-5-1 on the season and had just returned from a West Coast trip with two demoralizing losses. The Eagles were blown out by No. 6 Washington 5-0 and then lost an OT nail-biter to Seattle.

"We'll take the lessons we learned this weekend and continue to work on moving our game forward," Butehorn said after the loss to Seattle.

Three weeks later, FGCU is standing atop the Atlantic Sun standings with a 4-0-0 conference record and a pep in their step that isn't unusual when on a six game winning streak.

Interestingly enough, their six game streak started in none other than Philadelphia, Penn., the site of FGCU's historic upset over Georgetown.

After the Eagles' inability to capitalize in overtime before Philly, Felipe DeSousa, with the help of some fancy footwork, was able to send one in the bank of the net, capturing FGCU's first win of the season.

Then staying on the road, the Blue and Green traveled to Princeton and went into another overtime period. This time it was freshman Will Suedois who netted the Eagles' winning goal. It was the first of his young collegiate career.

“I think the most important item for us was that we shut a team out at its home venue where it hadn’t lost this year," Butehorn said.

Now, FGCU has ripped off four A-Sun wins in a row, two in Dunk City and two on the road. While this phenomenal feat is definitely the product of a great team effort, the Eagles have had special help from freshman Isaiah Madrid.

The Albuquerque product scored three goals, one game winner, on only eight shots in FGCU's two matches this weekend. This, along with tallying an assist, landed him as the A-Sun Co-Player of the Week.

Now the Eagles will look to defend their winning streak and undefeated conference record as they host A-Sun foe Mercer on Thursday, Oct. 17 at 7:00 p.m.

All quotes courtesy of FGCUAthletics.com

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Sherwood Brown and Maccabi Haifa Wrap Up NBA Friendlies

Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

Sherwood Brown and Maccabi Haifa, before entering league play, faced off against the Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons, and Memphis Grizzlies.

In the first game against the Phoenix Suns (Mon, Oct. 7), Brown recorded 8 points, on 3/6 shooting (2/4 3 point FG), 3 rebounds (2 def, 1 off), 1 block, 1 turnover, and 1 personal foul. During a two minute period during the 4th quarter, Brown scored 8 points straight for Haifa. Two of Brown's shots during that period were 3 point FGs and the 3rd was a 3-foot jumper. He was fouled on the jumper but could not complete the three point play. His -3 was also the best on the Haifa squad.

Brown did not see any playing time in Haifa's second game against the Detroit Pistons.

In the third and final friendly in the U.S, Sherwood Brown saw a familiar face on the Memphis Grizzlies. Memphis rookie Jamaal Franklin went head to head with Brown in FGCU's battle against San Diego State in the NCAA Tournament round of 32. Brown saw 13:59 min. in which he went 1/4 from the field, scoring two points, and snagging two rebounds. He matched up with Franklin a couple of times, and the Memphis rookie went 1/2 from the field and scored 4 points.

Haifa begins the Israeli League on Oct. 21 against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

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Atlantic Sun Men's Basketball Preseason Release

Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

Today, the Atlantic Sun Conference released men's basketball preseason awards and rankings.

Representing FGCU on the A-Sun Preseason All Conference Team is Jr. guard Brett Comer (Winter Park, Fla.), Sr. forward Chase Fieler (Parkersburg, W. Va.), and Jr. guard Bernard Thompson (Conyers, Ga.).

Fieler was a unanimous choice to the Preseason All Conference Team and was fan voted as the Player of the Year. Bernard Thompson was fan voted as the Defensive Player of the Year.

In addition, FGCU topped both the Preseason Coaches and Media A-Sun Polls. Full polls:

Preseason Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll
1. FGCU (6) 95
2. Mercer (3) 92
3. USC Upstate 75
4. Jacksonville 63
5. North Florida (1) 58
6. ETSU 55
7. Stetson 37
8. Lipscomb 29
9. Northern Kentucky 24
10. Kennesaw State 22

Preseason Men’s Basketball Media Poll
1. FGCU (16) 306
2. Mercer (15) 305
3. USC Upstate (1) 255
4. Jacksonville (1) 212
5. ETSU 161
6. North Florida 157
7. Stetson 132
8. Lipscomb 102
8. Northern Kentucky 102
10. Kennesaw State 83

For more on FGCU, make sure to follow us on Twitter (@FGCUEaglesNest)

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Dunks Of The Day: Video Edition (10.10.13)

There has been a lot of hype over FGCU's appearance in ESPNU's Midnight Madness. Over social media, many teasers have been released of the filming going on in preparation for the event.
If this teaser doesn't get you pumped for Dunk City After Dark and the beginning of the season, I don't know what will. H/T to David Alpert. If this is the teaser, the actual video will be amazing.


Dunk City at its finest. The smoke makes this look even cooler.

.@FGCUCoachDooley getting in on the production with the Coconut Point Ford #DunkCity Mustang. pic.twitter.com/JPDaNTA5Wb
— FGCU Men's Hoops (@FGCU_MBB) October 9, 2013

Classy Joe Dooley getting out of the Dunk City Mustang. Enfield who? (There was no video of this, but how can you not include this?)


I know it is not Midnight Madness related, but this outtakes video is hilarious. Must watch:
For more on FGCU make sure to follow us on Twitter (@FGCUEaglesNest)

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Dunk City After Dark (FGCU Midnight Madness)

Photo courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

In September, ESPN announced that Florida Gulf Coast, on Friday Oct. 18, would be featured, along with eight other teams, in their annual ESPNU Midnight Madness.

The ESPNU broadcast on the 18th (from 9 p.m to 1 a.m) includes Duke's "Countdown to Craziness" and others events at Kentucky, Memphis, New Mexico, Oklahoma State, Syracuse, UConn, and Wichita State. And of course FGCU, which has been named "Dunk City After Dark". ESPN's press release does not state the start time of FGCU's event, but FGCU says it will occur from about 9:30 - 11:00 p.m at Alico Arena.

The event will be broadcasted by ESPN CBB analyst LaPhonso Ellis. But what what does Dunk City After Dark entail? Well, this:

•Intro video
•3-point contest
•Scrimmage
•Player skits
•Dunk contest

Alico Arena should already be full by the time that even starts; FGCU Volleyball takes on Lipscomb at 7:00 p.m.

Here is an example of ESPNU's Midnight Madness coverage from last year.

For more on FGCU make sure to follow us on Twitter (@FGCUEaglesNest)

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35 Days: Dajuan Graf

Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

Dajuan Graf (G 6-0)
Sophomore

Stats (2012-13): 2.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.4 apg, 38.8 FG% (13 min/g)

Blurb: As a freshman in 2012-13, Graf scored 11 points, a season high, against Kennesaw State. He saw time at point guard, which will prove valuable come this season. While Dooley has done a good job bringing in walk ons and transfers, the Eagles still don't have great guard depth. Graf, with his experience, will be able to help immensely with the PG duties. The Charlotte, NC product had a nice 1.75 assist-turnover ratio last season. Look for Graf to take advantage of more playing time and possibly mentor some younger guards like Armand Shoon and Tejai Allen.

As the countdown until FGCU men's basketball takes on Nebraska on Nov. 8 continues, the Eagles Nest will be previewing each player.

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