FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Nova Southeastern University head men’s basketball coach Gary Tuell has released the schedule for the upcoming 2012-13 season. Along with the always-tough Sunshine State Conference schedule, Tuell has added several national-contenders to this year’s slate.

Tuell has a simple philosophy when it comes to scheduling: “Nothing great can be accomplished without great challenges.” Since taking over the NSU men’s basketball program, Tuell has never shied away from putting his team against the best in NCAA Division-II. “Of course,” he chuckles, “a lot of coaches playing this kind of schedule end up as greeters at Walmart.”

NSU’s 2012-13 basketball schedule includes at least four non-conference opponents who are routinely ranked among the nation’s top-10: Bellarmine, Southern Indiana, the University of Charleston (W. Va.) and Benedict.

Bellarmine, the 2011 NCAA D-II national champion, is coming off a 29-4 season that saw the Louisville, Ky. school advance to the 2012 Final Four in an effort to repeat as national champs. Southern Indiana, which beat Bellarmine twice during the 2011-12 regular season, posted a 24-7 record a year ago. Charleston looks to improve on last year’s 26-7 record, while Benedict – with back-to-back SIAC tournament titles in its pocket – expects to improve on last year’s 19-11 mark. All four of those teams advanced to the NCAA tournament last season and are favorites to return again.

“Obviously Bellarmine, with a national championship and a Final Four appearance in the past two years, is at the head of the class in NCAA D-II basketball,” says Tuell. “Coach Scott Davenport has been a friend of mine going back to the days when we grew up in Louisville. He is an exceptional coach and a great friend and we are grateful for the opportunity to play his outstanding Bellarmine team. It will be a wonderful experience for our guys to have a chance to compete in that kind of environment, where basketball is king. They finished the season ranked No. 1 in the country, and I see no reason why they won’t start there this year.

“Southern Indiana has been a perennial power in the D-II ranks forever. To beat Bellarmine twice during the regular season says all you need to know about them. But they have their own national championship history (1995 champs) and ranked No. 1 in the nation more than any team in D-II history. They were ranked as high as No. 2 last year, and if Bellarmine is No. 1, then Southern Indiana has to be one-A.”

The Sharks face Southern Indiana on Friday, Dec. 14 in Louisville and take on the host team one night later in the Bellarmine Classic. But Tuell is quick to point out that both Charleston and Benedict could be the equal of both Bellarmine and Southern Indiana.

“Charleston has a lot of guys back from an NCAA-tourney team that won 26 games and finished in the top-10 last year” stated Tuell. “Benedict returns several outstanding players who helped them to the No. 1 ranking in our region two years ago, then finished strong last year to win their tournament championship to make it back-to-back NCAA tourney appearances.”

Benedict lost to eventual South Region Champions Alabama-Huntsville, 69-61, in the opening round of the NCAA tournament in Huntsville, Ala.

“Benedict gave Huntsville all they could handle, and they return four starters and five of their top-six players from last year’s team, they’re terrific,” stated Tuell.

Charleston visits Fort Lauderdale on Thanksgiving weekend while Benedict comes to town Dec. 30. Also joining Charleston for NSU’s Thanksgiving Tournament, the Sharks’ season kickoff, will be Puerto Rico-Mayaguez and Goldey-Beacom College. 

“I love the Goldey-Beacom program,” said Tuell. “They’ve won 18, 19 and 18 games each of the last three years and advanced to the conference-tournament championship each of those three seasons. They’ve been one of the winningest teams in NCAA D-II and are consistently one of the top teams on the east coast.”

As good as those opponents should be, the Sharks won’t find smooth water in its other non-conference battles. NSU opens at home Nov. 15 against cross-town rival St. Thomas, which posted a 23-9 mark a year ago, including wins over Sunshine State Conference foes Lynn and Barry. St. Thomas advanced to the second round of the NAIA national tournament in 2011. Tuell was the head coach at St. Thomas from 1992-97, guiding the Bobcats to a pair of NAIA national tournaments himself. “St. Thomas has a long, winning tradition in basketball and they will be a very, very difficult season opener for us,” the NSU coach says.

Another NAIA opponent with a deep winning tradition is Morningside, which squares off against the Sharks in the annual Cruzin’ Classic Dec. 18th. Morningside is coming off an 18-13 season.

“We played them a few years ago in the Cruzin’ Classic and had a real battle with them before winning at the end,” recalls Tuell. “They are always disciplined, tough and well-coached. A typical Midwestern team with kids who love to play.” 

Blue Mountain, who will also play in the Cruzin’ Classic, and South Florida rival Palm Beach Atlantic round out the Sharks’ non-conference opponents.

“I don’t know anything about Blue Mountain other than they play in a tough NAIA Division-I league with some very good Tennessee schools,” says Tuell. “Palm Beach Atlantic, of course, has been a traditional rival and we’ve enjoyed some very competitive, tough games with them. PBA coach Terry Primm does an outstanding job with those guys.”

“I’ve always believed to be good you have to play good teams,” says Tuell. “I think competitive guys enjoy playing against the best teams. You don’t learn anything about yourself playing a bunch of cupcake colleges. It doesn’t make you better or prepare you for the wars you’re going to face in conference play. If I were a young coach worried about my record or trying to win a bunch of games so I could move up the coaching ladder, then this isn’t the schedule I would play. My philosophy is to give our guys a schedule that challenges them, presents obstacles for them that they have to learn how to deal with, and stretches them out of their comfort zones. We want a non-conference schedule that makes us a better team in March and I think we have that. Of course, we may get our feelings hurt and our egos bruised a little, but this will be a great learning experience for our players.”

Sunshine State Conference season opens up early this season, with a road game against Saint Leo on Dec. 11. It will be a not-so-friendly visit for the Sharks, who ended their season last year at Saint Leo in the SSC Tournament. The conference schedule takes a near-month break before restarting on the road against Eckerd on Jan. 5. The conference home-opener is set for Jan. 12 against Florida Southern.

The annual SSC Tournament, which has changed its format to include all nine teams, is slated to begin on March 6 in Kissimmee, Fla. at the Silver Spurs Arena.

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