'Jacks Welcome Large Freshman Class in 2015-16
10/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
With just five weeks until the SFA men's basketball team opens the 2015-16 season, SFAJacks.com will take a class-by-class look at the team every Friday morning leading up to the season opener at Baylor on November 13th. The freshmen unit is up first in the `Jacks hoops preview series.
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Exactly one week of practice is in the books for the Stephen F. Austin men's basketball team and in that time the Lumberjacks have had the opportunity to mesh a hefty contingent of new faces with their high-caliber grouping of returners in hopes of continuing the program's highly successful ways in 2015-16.
The secret is officially out that SFA isn't to be trifled with after capturing the program's third-straight Southland Conference regular season crown and by making a nation-wide splash in the NCAA Tournament for the past two seasons. The success, however, has manifested a need for the `Jacks to reload with high-quality players each and every year.
Helping to alleviate the departure of a four-member senior class - which featured the likes of the Lumberjacks' all-time winningest player in Jacob Parker as well as key cogs Connor Brooks, Tanner Clayton and Bobby King - is a seven-member freshman class whose roots extend from Nacogdoches to more exotic locales such as the Bahamas and Serbia.
Nathan Bain (Freeport, Bahamas), Jonny Dahl (Keokuk, Iowa), Jovan Grujic (Pancevo, Serbia), TJ Holyfield (Albuquerque, N.M.), Lasani Johnson (Dallas, Texas), Payton Stephens (McPherson, Kan.) and Tyler Underwood (Nacogdoches, Texas) each bring in a unique and varied set of skills for third-year head coach Brad Underwood to cultivate.
"I love the energy our new guys have brought and our veterans are very, very good in helping our young players understand what the Lumberjack way is," said the two-time reigning Southland Conference Coach of the Year who enters year three as the `Jacks bench boss armed with an enviable NCAA Division I career mark of 61-8.
"We only do things one way, and that's really, really hard. If whatever we are doing doesn't meet that expectation, I let the players know about it. We take great pride in being every day guys that show up excited to work every day in practice."
Athleticism and an unrelenting drive to compete are the calling cards of Bain, who had a top-50 prospect title latched onto him when Underwood inked the Freeport, Bahamas, product last November. Possessing the necessary set of tools to be an immediate impact player, Bain starred at Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kan., and can be plugged into any position on the floor to guard and figure into the offense effectively.
No player on the `Jacks roster hails from farther north in the United States than 6'4 Dahl, a 6'4 combo guard. Ditching the snowy winters of Keokuk, Iowa, Dahl enters the collegiate fray with a prep worksheet that includes second-team All-State honors and the title of 2014-15 Southeast Conference Player of the Year.
The Iowan's senior year stat line read as follows: 18.3 points, eight rebounds, 6.4 assists and three steals per game. Additionally, Dahl reset Keokuk's career scoring and assists records by the time the curtain was drawn on his high school days.
Addressing the `Jacks size deficiency down low was of paramount importance on Underwood's off-season to-do list, and with the addition of Grujic - a 7'0 product of Pancevo, Serbia who boasts a wingspan of 7'4 as well as a smooth outside touch - the installation of a dynamic previous not possessed by SFA is now in place.
Hardly in his first excursion to the United States, Grujic previously battled on the hardwood at South Kent School in Connecticut where he averaged 13 points, 10 rebounds and two rejections per outing in his last prep hurrah. As a direct result of his interior play, South Kent rolled to a record of 23-9. Grujic has also hunkered down in the international limelight as a member of the Serbian U19 national team. While on the roster, he represented his home country at the U19 World Championships this past summer.
Already familiar with the Southland Conference thanks to a brotherly connection, Holyfield enters his first season as a Lumberjack in 2015-16. Holyfield, who calls Albuquerque, N.M., home, witnessed his brother, Michael, evolve into the eventual 2015 SLC Defensive Player of the Year while sporting Sam Houston State colors.
Boasting a 6'7 frame as well as an ability to score from a variety of locations on the floor, and did nothing but elevate the ceiling of Elev8 Sports Institute during his pre-collegiate days. As a senior, Holyfield decked opponents with a 17-point, seven-rebound per game average en route to leading Elev8 to some historic territory. The squad was one of eight that punched a ticket to the National Prep Championships marking the first time ever Elev8 accomplished that feat.
Basketball is in the blood of Johnson, a Dallas, Texas, product whose father, Larry Johnson, was a household name among NBA fans while starring for the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks from 1991-01.
Conjuring up ways to score the rock is Johnson's specialty as opponents of Bishop Dunne High School found out the hard way. The three-star recruit parlayed a 28-point-per game junior year scoring average into a First Team All-State citation. That, paired with a strong work ethic and desire to win, could translate to immediate court time for the first-year man.
Comprising exactly one-third of the spring 2015 additions to SFA's roster, Stephens hoisted the 4A Kansas State Boy's Basketball Championship trophy above his head in 2014-15. The 6'4 wing player also took home the title of the Kansas State Tournament's Most Valuable Player by employing senior year statistical average of 16.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.
The son of the `Jacks head coach, Tyler Underwood carved out a fine varsity career during his days patrolling the perimeter at Nacogdoches High School. Tyler pumped in points at a rate of 21 per outing and added averages of four rebounds, three assists and three steals to collar a pair of All-District First Team selections as a prep.
The seven aforementioned individuals make up almost one-half of SFA's 16-man roster and the Lumberjacks will be showcasing their new team next Friday during ESPN's Midnight Madness at William R. Johnson Coliseum. The event is set to start at 8:00 p.m.
To purchase season tickets for the 2015-16 men's basketball season, fans can contact the SFA ticket office at (936) 468-JACK (5225).
Lumberjack Basketball Preview Series
Week of October 9 - Freshmen
Week of October 16 - Sophomores
Week of October 23 - Juniors
Week of October 30 - Seniors
Week of November 6 - Season Outlook
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