CSU Men Picked 10th In Peach Belt

Columbus, GA - Columbus State’s men’s basketball season experienced a tough year in 2008-09, finishing 8-19 overall and 6-14 in the Peach Belt Conference. The after-effects of that season were evident today as the Cougars were picked to finish 10th in the annual PBC Preseason Coaches Poll. Back-to-back Elite Eight participant Augusta State was picked as the favorite to win the title this season.

“Coming off a disappointing season with only five returning players, I didn’t expect us to be picked at the top,“ said CSU head coach Doug Branson. “What the coaches in the league don’t know is the character of the young men we have in our program now and how hard they are working. We are appreciative to them, though, for the motivational material that we can post on our bulletin board throughout this year.“

Leading the returning players for Branson are seniors Chris Telesford and Nick Gagnon. Telesford averaged 9.7 points per game last season and pulled down 4.7 rebounds, while Gagnon was a workhorse in the paint. The CVCC transfer started all 27 games for the Cougars and averaged 8.9 points and 4.5 rebounds despite being pitted against bigger opponents almost every time out.

Brandon Bland also returns after playing in 26 games and averaging 6.5 points per game from a guard spot last season. Reserve guards Tray Holloway and Stefan Lawrence also return this season.

The lack of an inside presence has often been a thorn in the Cougars’ side in years past, but should not be a problem this year. CSU will have seven players who stand at least 6’4 and four of those are 6’7 or above. That is a luxury that Branson has never had in his tenure at CSU and is looking forward to using this year. The group is headed by legitimate 7-footer Jeremy Grimball, a junior college transfer from Florida. He is joined by 6’10 Ty Taylor of Manchester, England, and 6’7 forwards Jeffeth Maxim (junior college transfer from California) and Caz Cole (freshman, Dalton, GA). Gagnon comes in at 6’5, while Telesford is 6’4, along with freshman Darius Smith (Snellville, GA).

As usual, CSU will have a strong backcourt with excellent perimeter shooting. Bland, Holloway and Lawrence return to the guard corps and are joined by a group of talented newcomers. Former Shaw High standout Bryant Thomas returns home to play for the Cougars as a junior and is joined by Lamar Williams (JC transfer from California), Donta Ridley (JC transfer from Maryland), and freshmen Blake Zamudio (Texas), and Anthony Smith (Shiloh, GA, Harris County HS).

Augusta State edged out Clayton State by 19 points in the voting, collecting 10 of the 13 first-place votes to finish with 142 points. Clayton got one first-place nod and finished with 123 points, while USC Aiken collected the other two first-place votes and finished with 118. GCSU was fourth with 114 points and Lander fifth with 89. Francis Marion, Montevallo, North Georgia, and Armstrong Atlantic State collected spots 5-9 with CSU 10th. Georgia Southwestern, UNC Pembroke, and Flagler rounded out the poll.

CSU will open its season with an exhibition contest at Dillard University on November 14 in New Orleans and will get to face a Division I opponent in Alabama State on November 24. The Cougars will open at home on November 30 with Carver Bible College.