NEW ORLEANS – Summer was another busy time for Sun Belt Conference men’s basketball. Here is what has been going on in #SunBeltMBB over the past four months:
• Five former Sun Belt standouts saw time in the MGM Grand NBA Summer League 2019 in Las Vegas:
| Player, School (NBA Team) |
GP |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
BPG |
SPG |
MPG |
| Rayjon Tucker, Little Rock (Milwaukee Bucks) |
5 |
10.2 |
3.6 |
1.0 |
0.0 |
1.0 |
19.8 |
| JaKeenan Gant, Louisiana (Indiana Pacers) |
4 |
2.8 |
2.5 |
0.3 |
0.0 |
0.5 |
10.8 |
| Johnny Hamilton, UTA (Milwaukee Bucks) |
4 |
3.5 |
4.8 |
0.8 |
0.8 |
0.0 |
10.8 |
| Kevin Hervey, UTA (Oklahoma City Thunder) |
4 |
19.8 |
4.5 |
4.3 |
0.0 |
1.5 |
26.3 |
| Jordon Varnado, Troy (Toronto Raptors) |
3 |
3.7 |
4.3 |
1.0 |
1.0 |
0.0 |
14.0 |
Hervey was highlighted as a Summer League Standout twice on
Day 7 and
Day 10 of the 14-day season.
•
Former Louisiana star Elfrid Payton signed a two-year deal with the New York Knicks on July 9. Payton played 42 games for the New Orleans Pelicans in 2018-19. He has played 645 career regular season games with nine teams – New Orleans, Minnesota, Memphis, Cleveland, Dallas, Los Angeles Lakers, Brooklyn, Miami and Detroit – averaging 8.2 points on 37.9 percent shooting from three-point range, 2.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists over 21.3 minutes.
• Two former standouts signed NBA free-agent deals over the summer:
- Little Rock's Tucker signed a partially guaranteed contract with the Milwaukee Bucks on June 21. He became the ninth player in program history to sign a deal with an NBA franchise and the first since Shane Edwards signed a mid-season deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2013-14 season.
- Louisiana's Gant inked a free-agent, Exhibit 10 deal with the Indiana Pacers on June 21. The two-time Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year participated in the Portsmouth Invitational in April and worked out for seven NBA teams before signing with the Pacers.
• The Sun Belt unveiled that its 2019-20 conference schedule for men's basketball moves to a 20-game schedule for the first time since the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. The upcoming season's conference slate will keep a primary Thursday-Saturday format with league contests played against travel partners for two-game road trips to maximize rest, minimize travel times and limit missed class time.
• Georgia State is slated to compete in the 25th annual Empire Classic benefitting the Wounded Warrior Project during the upcoming season. The Panthers will face Duke in Durham, N.C. and Georgetown in Washington, D.C. before playing two games at California Baptist in Riverside, Calif.
• South Alabama senior guard Herb McGee was named to the 2018-19 National Association of Basketball Coaches' Honor Court. The NABC Honors Court recognizes men's basketball student-athletes – juniors or seniors with at least a 3.2 grade point average – who excelled in the classroom during the season.
• ULM ranked 11th among Division I schools with the largest average increase in attendance from the previous season. The Warhawks averaged 3,341 in 2018-19 compared to 1,579 in 2017-18 for an increase of 1,762 more fans per game.
• Georgia Southern went 3-0 on its foreign tour to Spain from July 30-August 5. Senior forward Isaiah Crawley led the Eagles in scoring in two of the victories.
• Louisiana senior forward Jalen Johnson participated in a two-week visit to China with Sports Reach, USA in May. During his Far East trip, Johnson penned a two-part blog: Part 1 | Part 2.
• Former UTA standout MarQuez Haynes helped lead his Umana Reyer Venezia squad to a second title in three seasons in Lega Basket Serie A, the highest level of Italian professional basketball.
• Appalachian State ranked 10th in the country among NCAA Division I men's basketball programs in community service hours recorded by the Helper Helper platform.
• Appalachian State set to celebrate its 100th anniversary as a program during the 2019-20 season. During the first century of play, the Mountaineers posted more than 1,200 victories and own a .518 winning percentage with 17 conference titles and four postseason appearances (two NCAA Championship, one Postseason National Invitation Tournament and one CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament).