Florida Gulf Coast Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Eagles
By Adam Childs
Key Reserves
Christian Carlyle
Carlyle played in 27 games last year and averaged just over five points per game. He did miss eight games last year with various injuries and will look to stay healthy this year. He is another guy that has the ability to score as he had games of 17 and 18 points last year. Standing at 6’6″ he has great size for a guard and should be a great off the bench guy. If he plays well he could even see some time in the starting lineup. Either way, the Eagles will rely on him to add some scoring depth for a team that lost so much scoring from last year.
Decardo Day
Day is another transfer for FGCU coming over from Iowa Western CC. He had some success with Iowa Western averaging 10.1 ppg. He will probably not be a big piece of the puzzle for the Eagles, but again could be a good guy off the bench to score. The problem for Day is there are a lot of guards projected ahead of him, so he may struggle to see the court early. But if he can play well could see his minutes increase.
Troy Baxter Jr.
Baxter Jr. is eligible this year after sitting out last year due to transfer rules. He transferred from UNLV where he had a little success but didn’t fit into their rotation as much as he would have liked. He is from Florida so returning home he hopes will help him find a more prominent role. He is another big body for the Eagles and could find his niche down low. If he can be tough on the boards and get cheap points he could become a valuable asset for FGCU. With a small sample size of playing time for Baxter Jr. it will be interesting to see how he fits in the system and in turn how much playing time he receives.