Mid-major Basketball: Early Central Arkansas Basketball 2020-21 preview

Central Arkansas Basketball 2020-21 Season Outlook

Rotation

PG- Deandre Jones | Collin Cooper | Lewis McDaniel

SG- Rylan Bergersen | Khaleem Bennett | Masai Olowokere

SF- Jaxson Baker | Jared Chatham

F- Eddy Kayouloud | Samson George

F/C- SK Shittu | Jonas Munson / Churchill Bounds

There is a real chance Bennett starts in this lineup, Bergersen shifts to the small forward and Baker comes off the bench, but either way, the Bears are loaded on paper. The real wild card here is just how good Samson George is. If he can impress the coaching staff enough in offseason workouts there is potential for him to start as well. If George turns back the clock and looks as good as advertised coming out of high school, UCA becomes a favorite to win the Southland Conference.

We can talk about the rotation all you want, but if the defense doesn’t get better than the 83 points per game opponents scored on the Bears last season it won’t matter. I expect it will and that Coach Boone will play the guys who make his team better by defending to go along with the offensive weapons that already exist.

Predictions

Almost the entire All-Southland first-team is gone and nobody else returns the kind of production that Central Arkansas does. Stephen F. Austin has been the dominant force in the league for the last six years but will not be going 19-1 and running away with the crown in 2020-21 after losing three starters and the Conference POY in Kevon Harris. This brings a ton of teams into play and UCA has the talent to be at the top of the list.

This looks like a three-team race as Sam Houston State returns arguably the best guard in the conference in Zach Nutall (15.4 Pts, 4.4 Reb, 2.0 Ast) from an 18-13 team a season ago and SF Austin still returns a solid core that will again be a game competitor in the Southland.

With a defensive improvement I think Central Arkansas is the conference champion and goes dancing if we play college basketball this season. The Bears return 86% of its scoring and add a former starter in Bennett, a grad transfer from a power conference and two 7 footers. They have the makings of a team you don’t want to see in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The adage is that defense wins championships, but if the defense at Central Arkansas can at least be average in 2020-21, the Bears are primed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.