Men's Basketball | November 06, 2024

Each week, USCA will post notes.

Back-To-Back Champs

Head coach Mark Vanderslice has built an outstanding program during his time at USCA. The squad has been so good, it has won back-to-back PBC regular-season championships. The 2022-23 and 2023-24 teams each went 14-4 in PBC play, claiming titles.

The Real McCoy

Senior Jalen McCoy returns to the line-up after being nothing short of sensational a season ago. Despite missing 10 games due to an injury, he averaged a squad-best 18.7 points per game and hit 58.8 percent of his shots from the floor. During the season, he had eight games of at least 20 points, including a 35-point outburst against Georgia College & State University and a 31-point game at Georgia Southwestern. For his effort, he garnered all-conference honors.

Talented Transfers

Head coach Mark Vanderslice added an abundance of talent via transfers. This includes redshirt-junior Mason Grant (Campbell), junior Davion Cunningham (UNC Asheville), junior Caleb Byrd (Newberry), junior Rafael Rubel (Central Georgia Technical College) and redshirt-freshman Kaleb Siler (Western Carolina). 

Additional Newcomers

In addition to all of the newcomers that have collegiate experience, USCA added freshmen Cam Perkins, Xavier Johnson and Tyler Husband. Perkins is a 5-11 guard from Warner Robins, Ga. Johnson is a 6-4 guard from Eastover, N.C., while Husband is a 6-0 guard from Atlanta, Ga.

In The Middle

In addition to having a huge presence under the basket last year in Simeon German and Chedlet Delva, head coach Mark Vanderslice also added a third student-athlete that stands at 6-10 in Kaleb Siler. He hails from Fayetteville, N.C., and attended Western Carolina.

Preseason Poll & Honors 

USCA was selected fourth in the PBC Preseason Coaches Poll. The Pacers picked up two first-place votes and 59 total points. Lander was picked first while Augusta and North Georgia were second and third, respectively. Additionally, Jalen McCoy was named PBC Preseason All-Conference. McCoy averaged 18.7 points and 5.6 rebounds a game last year. He had a pair of 30-plus point scoring contests, including a career-high 35 in the win at GCSU. 

Inside The Numbers

This week, USCA plays at UNC Pembroke on Friday, Nov. 8 before hosting Catawba on Sunday, Nov. 10 as part of the Region Challenge. Since moving to Division II, the Pacers are 28-29 (49.1 percent) in Friday games and 18-14 (56.3 percent) in Sunday contests. During the same time, the program is 0-2 on Nov. 8 and 3-1 on Nov. 10.

Against The Opponents

This week, USCA plays at UNC Pembroke on Friday, Nov. 8 before hosting Catawba on Sunday, Nov. 10 as part of the Region Challenge. The Pacers lead the all-time series against the Braves 35-24 and maintain a 5-4 edge in the all-time series against the Catawba Indians.