'Jacks Open Fall Practice
10/15/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 15, 2010
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team held its first official practice of the fall on Friday, giving the SFA coaching staff its first look at the full squad for the 2010-11 season.
The team had been participating in individual drills with the players divided into small groups for the first part of the fall semester. Friday's session brought all seven newcomers and all five returning players together for the first time this year.
"Any time you start full-scale practice with the chance to watch everyone together for two-and-a-half or three hours a day, it's exciting for a coach," SFA head coach Danny Kaspar said.
The Lumberjacks' returning players include seniors Eddie Williams, Jordan Glynn, Denzel Barnes and Mark Gomillia, along with redshirt junior Jereal Scott. Williams, Glynn, Barnes and Scott are all returning starters, giving SFA one of the strongest groups of returners in the Southland Conference.
"We've been working hard to this point," Kaspar said. "With five experienced returners from last year's team, we feel good about our prospects for this season."
Kaspar is entering his 11th season at SFA and his 21st overall as a collegiate head coach. In addition to the seven new players, he has three new pieces to his coaching staff for the upcoming season. Former Oklahoma player Kellen Sampson joined the SFA family in May. Cinco Boone left his position as head coach at Jacksonville College in August to take a spot on the SFA staff. Additionally, former Lumberjack standout Nick Shaw returned to the program this summer as a graduate assistant.
Kaspar opened fall practice wearing an immobilizing neck brace. He underwent surgery a week ago to repair two ruptured discs in his neck. The coach called the surgery successful and said he hoped to be released from wearing the brace as early as a week from Friday.
"It has made it difficult for me to get as physically involved as I normally am with practice," Kaspar said. "I'm sure I'm missing more than I normally would under healthy circumstances."
The Lumberjacks will open the 2010-11 season on Nov. 12 when they host Howard Payne. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. from the William R. Johnson Coliseum.
-- SFA --
