FGCU To Visit UMass In 2014-15 Season

Florida Gulf Coast will visit UMass on Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. for the first game of a two year home and home series, the school announced Monday.

The Minutemen finished last season with a 24-9 record, including a 10-6 mark in the Atlantic 10. They grabbed an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament and fell to Tennessee in the first round. UMass was ranked multiple times in the AP Top 25, but lose senior guard and leading scorer Chaz Williams (15.6 ppg).

In addition, a source informed the FGCU Eagles Nest that FGCU and Murray State are "in discussions" of the Racers coming to visit Dunk City this season.  It is also "very likely" that the Eagles will play Ave Maria this year as well.

Check out FGCU's non-conference schedule, as of now:

Nov. 17: vs. UCSB 
Nov. 24-26: Gulf Coast Showcase (three games) 
Nov. 30: at South Dakota State 
Dec. 7: at UMass 
Dec. 14: vs. FIU 
Dec. 18: vs. Furman 
Dec. 28: at Xavier 
Dec. 30: at Pittsburgh 
Jan. 5: at UCSB 
TBD: at Iona

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FGCU Eagles Nest Joins Palmetto & Pine Sports Network

The FGCU Eagles Nest is proud to become a charter member of the Palmetto & Pine Sports Network, a coalition of communities from the Atlantic Sun, Big South, and Southern Conference. Our goal as a network is to bring collaborative coverage of the schools and conferences in the South that we all know and love.

The charter members of this network include the following sites:

Coastal Fans - Coastal Carolina
FGCU Eagles Nest - Florida Gulf Coast
HPU Panthers Message Board – High Point
KSU Owl Howl - Kennesaw State
LancersBlog - Longwood
Liberty Flames Nation – Liberty
MocFans – Chattanooga
Purple & Gold - Western Carolina
SamfordBulldogs.com - Samford
SoCon John's Statistical Research Bureau - Independent
Spartan Fans Nation - UNC Greensboro
Swoop Hoops - North Florida
Talkin’ Terriers – Wofford
The Sports Arsenal – The Citadel
WinthropFans – Winthrop

The Eagles Nest will remain autonomous and its own unique fan community. What the Palmetto & Pine Sports Network provides is a collaborative effort that you’ll be able to find on all of our member sites and here on PalmettoAndPineSports.com. The sites will collaborate on efforts like pregame previews while also voting on regular features such as power rankings and awards that includes all the schools from the three conferences.

We look forward to being a part of P&P Sports and adding to our network with even more fan sites from the ASun, Big South, and SoCon.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter @PalmPineSports and feel free to e-mail us if you would like to get
involved at palmettoandpinesports@gmail.com.

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FGCU Recruiting Notes: First Live Period Of July

The first men's basketball "live" recruiting period began on Wednesday, July 9 and ended Sunday. If you're unsure of what the live period entails, check out a fantastic explanation by NBC Sports. It is basically a time frame in which college coaches can watch potential recruits at events. Although coaches can evaluate during these periods, they are not allowed to make in-person contact with prospects.

As expected, Florida Gulf Coast was very busy during the first of three live periods in July. Below are some important notes on FGCU's activity.

•FGCU was in attendance at the Battle of the Best, in Lithonia, Ga. Multiple Florida-based grassroots teams were present, including the Florida Vipers (CJ Williamson, Keith Stone) and Team Speights (Sajon Ford, Avery Brown, Mark Matthews). They all have offers except Matthews, who has been putting up impressive numbers ever since the start of FGCU team camp.

#DunkCity is watching @TeamSpeights5, with FGCU prospects @mmattscore2015 @sajonford @Avery_brown5, at Battle of the Best (Lithonia, Ga.)
— FGCU Eagles Nest (@FGCUEaglesNest) July 11, 2014

•#DunkCity was also in Philadelphia, Pa. for the Breakout Classic. Jeantal Cylla (Lake Worth HS), Jake Silpe (Cherry Hill East HS), and Tim Rowe (Berkmar HS) rounded out the list of known Eagles recruits at the event.

#FGCU is recruiting at @BreakoutClassic, among other events, this week...Eagles prospects @JCylla @SilpeSmooth @timrowe_42 competing there.
— FGCU Eagles Nest (@FGCUEaglesNest) July 10, 2014

•Florida Vipers teammates CJ Williamson (Evans HS) and Keith Stone (Zion Lutheran) want to become a package deal, according to AllMetroHoops. Florida Gulf Coast has offered both prospects but plenty more teams are in the mix, including Alabama. The Crimson Tide extended offers to the two recruits on Sunday.

The Eagles also offered seven new recruits over the last week:
Justin James - 6'7 / SG / 2015 of Oldsmar Christian HS (Port St Lucie, Fla.)
Derric Jean - 6'2 / PG / 2015 of McArthur HS (Hollywood, Fla.)
Rayjon Tucker - 6'5 / SF / 2015 of Northside Christian Academy (Charlotte, NC)
Dakota Quinn - 6'8 / PF / 2015 of Davidson Academy (Nashville, TN)
Aric Holman - 6'9 / PF / 2015 of Owensboro HS (Owensboro, Ky.)
Jake Silpe - 6'2 / PG / 2015 of Cherry Hill East HS (Cherry Hill, NJ)
Jonathan Laurent - 6'6 / SF / 2015 of Dr. Phillips HS (Orlando, Fla.)

Check out the full 2015 FGCU Recruiting Board.

The next live recruiting period begins on Wednesday, July 16 at 5 p.m. and extends until Sunday, July 20 at 5 p.m.

Follow @FGCUEaglesNest

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FGCU Basketball Adds Hawaii To 2014-15 Schedule

UPDATE: 1:00 p.m. ET Wednesday, July 9

According to the News-Press and NDN, FGCU has said they do not have a scheduled game against Hawaii on Jan. 3, or any other date. Also, Hawaii has removed the Eagles from their official 2014-15 schedule.

END UPDATE

The Florida Gulf Coast men's basketball team added Hawaii to its 2014-15 non-conference schedule, the school announced Tuesday. The Eagles will travel to Honolulu to battle the Rainbow Warriors on January 3.

Hawaii finished last season with 20-11 record, including a 9-7 mark in conference play. Cal State Northridge ended the Rainbow Warriors' year in the Big West quarterfinals. They lose leading scorer Christian Standhardinger but retain double digit contributors Isaac Fotu, Garrett Nevels, and Brandon Spearman.

This game will assumably be part of a West Coast trip for FGCU, in which they will also play at UC Santa Barbara on January 5. The Blue and Green now have 12 confirmed non-conference games, and 14 TBA Atlantic Sun contests.

The Eagles will look to build on an Atlantic Sun regular season title and NIT appearance in 2014. Although Chase Fieler, Eric McKnight, and Dajuan Graf have departed, FGCU brings in a wealth of transfers and commits. Veteran guards Brett Comer and Bernard Thompson lead one of the best backcourts in the country, as well.

2014-15 Non-Conference Schedule
Nov. 17: vs. UCSB
Nov. 24-26: Gulf Coast Showcase (three games)
Nov. 30: at South Dakota State
Dec. 14: vs. FIU
Dec. 18: vs. Furman
Dec. 28: at Xavier
Dec. 30: at Pittsburgh
Jan. 3: at Hawaii
Jan. 5: at UCSB
TBD: at Iona

Follow @FGCUEaglesNest

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