2017 Southern Conference Tournament: East Tennessee State wins SoCon
By Doug Winkey
The 2017 Southern Conference Tournament title game saw East Tennessee State face UNC-Greensboro with an NCAA bid at stake.
East Tennessee State had the best record going into the 2017 Southern Conference Tournament but was actually the 3-seed. They beat both Mercer and Samford en route to the title game and had a rubber match with UNC-Greensboro. The Buccaneers were down seven at halftime but roared back to win in the end. The team went 19-of-19 from the FT line and won just enough in other areas to take the SoCon title. The Southern Conference representative hails from Johnson City, TN.
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I love ETSU’s tournament potential. The Buccaneers have a unique statistical profile that could give a power program trouble. They are just 112th in adjusted offense, but 40th on defense and 73rd in tempo. Those numbers tell me they really get in opponents’ faces and speed them up, but can still score the ball. East Tennessee is also 39th in terms of pure points per game and 98th in points allowed.
The Bucs’ biggest threat is senior guard T.J. Cromer. The 6’3″ Georgia native averages 19.0 points on 45 percent shooting and 3.2 assists per game. He also hits 41 percent of his shots from deep. Desonta Bradford is the only other player averaging more than 10, but six players score at least seven with regularity. ETSU goes about nine deep and has shooting splits of 49/38/70.
They won’t blow anyone out but have played power schools like Tennessee tough. Their signature win was at Starkville over Mississippi State. I have every faith that East Tennessee can be a big Cinderella this year with the right draw.
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Journeyman assistant coach Steve Forbes has the program in their first NCAA Tournament since 2010 in just his second year with the program. He improved on last year’s excellent 24-12 campaign and Vegas 16 semifinals appearance. The Bucs are a unique team that relies on five seniors and four juniors for their production. The bright lights won’t rattle this dangerous veteran squad.