FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University men's basketball team (3-2) host the Tampa Spartans (3-3) Saturday, Dec. 6 in the NSU Arena at 4 p.m. The game will begin NSU's Sunshine State Conference schedule. NSU sat down with head coach Gary Tuell to talk about the crucial matchup.
 
-NSU Athletics is offering a $500 prize to a student organization Saturday. Criteria for winning $500 includes high attendance for the organization while also showing school spirit and creativity. Sign-ups begin at tip-off of the women's game and continue until 10 minutes remaining in the first half of the men's game.
 
Q: Saturday is the Sunshine State Conference opener, but it's the only conference game for nearly a month. The conference hasn't been decided by more than two games in six seasons. How ready are the Sharks for this crucial game so early in the year?
 
A: I don't think anyone likes playing league games this early in the year, but we have to get used to it because next year – with Palm Beach Atlantic and Embry Riddle coming into the league and on everyone's schedule – we will begin playing conference games the second or third week of November. We are a long way from being where we want to be as a team. We're leaning more on freshmen than we would like at this stage, but the loss of Casey Carroll (Jr., Youngstown, Ohio) for the season and the back issues with Justin Jeangerard (Sr., Weaverville, Calif.) and Brian Cahill (Sr., Arlington, Va.) have forced us to use young players early than we hoped. The problems Brandon Patchan (So., Tampa, Fla.) has had with his foot have also caused us to lose some experienced depth. But we're excited to play Tampa and see where we are at this time of the year compared with another SSC team.
 
Q: You and Tampa coach Richard Schmidt go way back, can you talk about the history between you to and what type of coach Schmidt is?
 
A: I've known Coach Schmidt for 40 years, since we were both starting out in this profession back in our younger days in Louisville. Bill Olsen was the head coach at Westport High in Louisville, and he hired Richard as his assistant coach there. Coach Schmidt went on to be a very successful head coach at Ballard High School, winning the Kentucky state championship in 1977 with two guys, Lee Raker and Jeff Lamp, who later starred at Virginia. Coach Schmidt was an assistant at Virginia and later the head coach at Vanderbilt before coming to Tampa and turning them into a national power. Bill Olsen, who gave Richard his start, was also very influential in my life as a coach, a mentor and a friend. Coach Olsen left Westport to be the freshman coach and varsity assistant at the University of Louisville. He was the associate head coach at Louisville when they won the national championship in 1980 and was one of the best basketball minds in our profession. Bill later became Athletics Director at Louisville before retiring. As Louisville's AD he hired Howard Schnellenberger as their football coach and is really the person who put their football program on track to its present day success, as well as the person who first had the vision to develop U of L's other athletic programs and build them into the national prominence they enjoy today. Bill helped me to get started in coaching, has always been an inspiration and encourager, and has been a huge supporter and mentor to me throughout my career. So Richard and I really owe whatever success we have had in this game to Bill. Coach Olsen has seen our NSU teams play a few times and he and his wife Sharon actually came down a few years ago to see us play Tampa.
 
Q: There are nearly a dozen undefeated teams in the South region alone. What would you say to folks who may question Tampa's 3-3 record?
 
A: Tampa has played a brutal schedule to start the season, and I respect anyone who does that. They opened the season on the road at Huntsville, Alabama, against two of the best teams in the Gulf South Conference, North Alabama and Alabama-Huntsville. They lost a one-point heart-breaker to North Al, then dominated Huntsville for more than a half before eventually falling. I'm still not sure how they lost that game because when I watch the film Tampa seems to be out-playing them in every regard. But it's very, very tough to beat Huntsville at Huntsville. Tampa's other loss was another one-point heartbreaker to Minnesota State-Mankato, who is currently ranked 13th in an NCAA DII poll. That same Mankato team beat Eckerd by 16, and you know Eckerd is good. So Tampa is 3-3 but could easily be 5-1 or 6-0.
 

Eugene McCrory, Jordan Davis and Austin Rettig average between 15 and 20 points a game each, and they are three of the best players in our league. Rettig is a light's out three-point shooter, as is Tyler Zacur, and Davis and McCrory might be the best players in our league at their respective positions. Davis is a senior point guard who plays with enormous confidence and wins. He single-handedly turned around Tampa's team a year ago with his leadership and his high basketball IQ, not to mention his talent, which is exceptional. McCrory, a DI transfer from the University of Central Florida, is a powerful center who has dominated every DII team he has played against. They list him at 6-8 and 260 but he looks bigger than that. We don't have anyone who can match up with him. He just overpowers everyone in the low post. He's a scoring machine. They are never out of games because when they need a bucket they can always go to the big fellow down low and he produces. Tampa was one of the best teams in our league a year ago and I think they're even better this year. Much better.
 
Q: McCrory is Tampa's leading scorer, rebounder and is shooting nearly 70 percent from the floor. He's a senior transfer from UCF who recorded 14 points and nine rebounds last year against NCAA DI National Champions Connecticut. This year No. 15 Alabama-Huntsville couldn't hold him under 30 points. What are the Sharks going to have to do to contain this guy?
 
A: I don't think there is any way you can stop McCrory at this level (NCAA DII). We tried very hard to recruit him to NSU but he played on a national championship junior college team with current Tampa star Jordan Davis, so when he made the decision to transfer from UCF I think Tampa was the only place he considered. Our best chance of stopping him is to hope he eats some bad pizza on Friday night and comes down with food poisoning. Otherwise he's going to present the same problems that every big center presents for us. On the flip side, he might have some problems defending our smaller guys when we spread the floor and move him out of the paint. It will be interesting.
 
Q: The Thanksgiving Classic was the first set of games with your expected lineup for the rest of the year. Will we see the same rotation on Saturday? Is anyone questionable health wise?
 
A: Justin Jeangerard and Brian Cahill are always questionable for us. Jeangerard has two bulging discs in his back and Cahill has had two back surgeries. Neither one of them is moving as well as they did last year. Justin gives you everything he possibly can, but I see a significant drop off in his overall athleticism and especially his offensive game from a year ago. Brian is up and down, but there's no question the wear and tear of playing has taken its toll on him. I felt sorry for him in our last game (an 85-55 win over Seton Hill). I played him 10 or 11 minutes because he just looked so stiff and slow. He just wasn't moving well enough to help us, or as well as he sometimes can. We never know until the game starts how either of them will be able to move on that particular night.
 
Consequently we need to rely more on two freshmen, Troy Spears (Martinsville, Ind.) and Nick Rosa (Coral Springs, Fla.), and while they are making progress they don't have the experience or always play with the same competitive passion of two senior leaders like Justin and Brian. Troy and Nick are talented, but they're freshmen. I've never, ever known a freshman who plays with the same sense of purpose or determination or desire that a senior brings to the table. It takes them time to buy in to the team, to be familiar with the league and the rivalries, and to have a sense of purpose on a team level. Most freshmen are just out there trying not to make mistakes and caught somewhere in the basketball twilight zone… that strange universe where they transition from being high school stars who took all the shots to being a college freshmen with diminished roles, diminished minutes and diminished shot attempts. It's a tough adjustment for young guys and very few have the maturity to jump in and compete at a really high level.
 
We also need to continue to bring along Mike Chalas (Jr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and Brandon Patchan and Ryan Steed (Jr., Miami, Fla.) and some others who have promise. The team we start today may not be the team we start in two months. Every day is a competition in practice and the players who make the most improvement, perform the best and give us the best chance to win will get the majority of the minutes, regardless of who they are.
 
Q: How much do you expect to rely on your freshmen in their first SSC contest?
 
A: How much the freshmen play… or anyone else for that matter… will depend on how well they perform on the floor when they have their opportunity. Are they rebounding or watching? Are they making good decisions with the ball or being careless, reckless and turning it over? Are they moving the ball or is it sticking in their hands? Are they taking good shots or forcing bad ones? Are they making the proper rotations, communicating, helping and covering their assignments on defense? Are they competing and playing as hard as they can or are they loafing? Those are the things that determine any player's playing time.
 
Q: On Saturday, Saint Leo plays at Barry and Eckerd plays at Florida Tech. I know you and assistant coach Marquise Kiffin love these weekends, what makes this league so fun to follow every week?
 
A: The fun really began Thursday night with Rollins against Lynn (Lynn won, 80-64). But Saint Leo at Barry and Eckerd at Florida Tech… Tampa at NSU… wow, what a week! One loss on the first weekend of conference play doesn't make or break a team, so no one should read too much into what transpires this week. But it is always interesting to see how teams in our league match up against each other. I really believe Barry, Lynn and Florida Southern (coming off a huge win over national power Metro State) have been the three most impressive teams in our league in the early nonconference schedule. Eckerd and Florida Tech both have terrific starting fives and both have a few players coming off the bench who could develop into key contributors. What makes the league so much fun… and such a headache for coaches… is the competitive balance. I don't care who the bottom three or four teams are, you never, ever have a night off in this league.
 
Some nights the ball won't go in the basket or somebody gets hurt or gets in foul trouble and a game might end up being one-sided. You can't predict those things ahead of time. But if you don't prepare thoroughly, if you don't do your due diligence as a coach, you're setting yourself up for failure because every team in this league can hurt your feelings. We try so hard to help our players understand the importance of their mental approach for each game. We want to play 40 minutes as hard as we can play. If we don't do that, we're going to get beat in this league. That's why freshmen get you beat. They don't understand how hard they have to play at this level, and they certainly don't have any concept of playing hard for 40 minutes. Their physical talent may be as good as or better than some older guys. But their mental approach is light years from where it needs to be. You hope, as a coach, that they learn that lesson sooner than later.
 
This week is important. It's just one game and the losers can recover. But it's one game that is every bit as important as the last conference game you play in February. All 16 league games carry the same value. Win or lose, hopefully we'll approach Saturday's game with a mental attitude that allows us to play as hard as we can for 40 minutes. If we do that, we'll alw