#20 Emporia State Men's Basketball Opens Season at Hall of Fame Classic

Men's Basketball | 11/3/2023 11:46:00 PM

Games #1-2
#20 Emporia State Hornets (23-9, 15-7 MIAA)
vs. #8 UNC-Pembroke Braves (26-4, 18-2 Conference Carolinas)
Saturday, November 4, 2023 • 7:00 p.m. • Lakeland, Fla. • Jenkins Fieldhouse
Series Record: First Meeting Last Meeting: First Meeting   
vs. Virginia Union Panthers (24-8, 12-4 CIAA)
Sunday, November 5, 2023 • 7:00 p.m. • Lakeland, Fla. • Jenkins Fieldhouse
Series Record: First Meeting Last Meeting: First Meeting   
Radio: KFFX 104.9FM  Internet Audio: kvoe.com
Television: None Now Internet Video: sunshinestateconference.tv
Live Stats | Classic Site | Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: Arkansas Tech  • Friday, November 10, 2023 • 5:30 p.m.
Emporia, Kan. • W.L. White Auditorium

CLASSIC
The #20 Hornets open at the SCB Hall of Fame Classic. Emporia State will start the season against #8 UNC-Pembroke on Saturday before taking on Virginia Union on Sunday.

LAST TIME OUT
Emporia State was within eight points at the under eight media time out of the first half before falling 102-68 at Kansas State on Wednesday in exhibition action. The Wildcats scored the first six points of the game before the Hornets answered with an 8-2 run of their own.  Solomon Oraegbu's old fashioned three-point play with 16:05 left tied the game at 8-8.  With the score tied at 10, K-State went on a 9-2 run to take the lead for good. The Hornets were within ten points with 4:48 remaining when Peyton Rogers-Schmidt went down with a knee injury.  The Wildcats finished the half on a 15-7 run to take a 51-33 lead into the break.  The Wildcats scored the eight points to take a 90-63 lead with 5:12 left and ended the game on a 20-5 run. Oraegbu had 18 points while Owen Long scored 17 and Alijah Comitheir added 12 points. Kaden Evans dished seven assists and had three steals.

THE COACHES
Craig Doty is 78-64 in his sixth season at Emporia State. In his 12th season as a head coach at the D2, NAIA, and NJCAA level he is 240-114 with three national championships. He was 49-22 in two year at Graceland, and won the 2018 NAIA National Championship. Doty spent four years at Rock Valley College winning two NJCAA D-III national championships to finish with a 113-28 record. This is his first meeting with UNC-Pembroke and Va. Union.
Drew Richards is 79-19 in his fifth year at UNC-Pembroke. This is his first game with ESU.
Lester Butler is 140-74 in his eighth year at Va. Union. This is his first game with ESU.

ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State went 23-9 last year, 15-7 in the MIAA. They made the NCAA Division II Tournament for the third time in school history and won their first NCAA Tourney game. The Hornets return four starters - First-Team All-MIAA performer Owen Long, Third-Team All-MIAA selection Alijah Comithier, All-Defensive Team member Peyton Rogers-Schmidt and Kaden Evans was named Honorable Mention  

ABOUT THE BRAVES
UNC-Pembroke went 26-4 last year with an 18-2 record in Conference Carolinas. They lost to Houston 86-47 and Duke 109-64 in exhibition play. Bradlee Haskell was the leading scorer for UNC-P last season. Dallas Gardner scored 21 points in the loss at Duke.
 
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the first meeting between Emporia State and UNC-Pembroke.

ABOUT THE PANTHERS
Virginia Union was 24-8, 12-4 in the CIAA last year. They did not play any exhibition games this season. The Panthers lost three double figure scorers off a team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year..
 
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the first meeting between Emporia State and Virginia Union.

UP NEXT
The #20 Hornets will make their White Auditorium debut on Friday, November 10 when they play host to Arkansas Tech as part of the MIAA-GAC Challenge. Tip off is set for 5:30 p.m. The Lady Hornets will also be hosting an MIAA-GAC Challenge next weekend, meaning their will be four game each day at White Auditorium.

DOTY MAGIC
Three-time National Champion head coach Craig Doty is in his sixth season as head coach at Emporia State. He is 240-114 in his 12th year at the NCAA D2, NAIA and NJCAA levels, including an 124-82 mark in conference play. Doty is 127-86 as a head coach at four year schools with a 78-64 record since taking over for the Hornets.
He is 80-38 (.678) in games played in February and March with a 31-9 (.775) record in the post-season. Four of those nine post season losses were to the eventual national champion.
Doty led Rock Valley College and Graceland University to national prominence earlier in his career. In just two seasons at Graceland, Doty's program had a 49-22 record and won the 2018 NAIA Division I National Championship in the school's first trip to the national tournament at Kansas City's historic Municipal Auditorium. The Yellowjackets started the 2017-18 season 10-8 and ended the year winning 19 of their final 21 games. Along the way Doty earned NAIA National Coach of the Year, HoopDirt.com NAIA National Coach of the Year, and the 2018 Don Meyer Award. Doty's programs at Rock Valley College won NJCAA Division III National titles in 2014 and 2016 while his 2015 squad came up just short finishing National Runner-up.

LAST THREE YEARS
For the first time in school history Emporia State has recorded three straight years with at least a .500 record in MIAA play. Starting in 2020-21 the Hornets have gone 41-25 (.621) in MIAA play with a 54-30 (.643) overall record.

HORNETS IN THE POST SEASON
Last year was Emporia State's third trip to the NCAA Tournament in 32 years as a member of the NCAA Division II. The Hornets first NCAA Tournament game was an 85-81 loss to Drury in Stephenville, Texas on March 13, 2004.  Their next appearance was a 72-66 loss to Southeastern Oklahoma on March 10, 2007.  Prior to joining the NCAA, Emporia State made ten trips to Kansas City for the NAIA National Tournament and compiled a record of 13-12 with a pair of national semifinal appearances. The finished fourth in 1947 and again in 1964.

IN THE RANKINGS
The Hornets received votes in the final National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) National Poll last season, the 11th time the received votes in the season. Earlier ESU had a string of five straight weeks being ranked, their longest streak since a ten week span during the 2006-07 season. This year is the first since the 2007-08 season Emporia State has cracked the Top 25. The Hornets spent 22 weeks in the NABC Top 25 from 2003-08, getting as high as seventh in the nation on three different occasions.  In two computerized ratings systems the Hornets are are ranked #18 in the Massey Ratings and #19 in the Wilson ratings system.

CLOSERS
Emporia State went 21-1 last season when leading at the 5:00 mark of the second half. Part of that is due to the Hornets shooting 78.7% as a team from the free throw line in the final five minutes and overtime of games last year.

GIVE ME 20
The Hornets won 20 games in back to back seasons for the first time since 1987-90. Emporia State won 20 games for the first time since the 2007 season when they finished the year 21-8 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. This was the fourth time the Hornets have won 20 games as a member of the NCAA and the 12th time in school history. Emporia State had not won 20 games in back to back years since reaching the 20 win mark in three straight seasons from 1987-90. ESU won at least 20 games in five out of six seasons from 1985-90. Emporia State has won at least ten games in conference play 11 times over the last 33 seasons.

MORE BALANCE, STILL A 1-2 PUNCH
The duo of Tray Buchanan and Jumah'Ri Turner was the top scoring back court in the nation in 2021-22. Buchanan led the nation in scoring at 25.6 points per game while Turner averaged 19.8 to rank third in the MIAA. Their combined 45.4 points per game was the top average in NCAA Division II for a pair of guards.  Last year Owen Long led Emporia State at 17.2 points per game and Alijah Comithier averaged 14.6 points per game.  A total of ten different Hornets scored in double figures at least once last season with nine having multiple games of at least ten points.

HOT START
Last year the Hornets opened the season 7-0 for the first time since going 16-0 to open the 2006-07 season.  It is the tenth time in 119 seasons of Emporia State basketball that the Hornets have opened the year 7-0 and the first time at least six of the wins have come against D2 teams.

CENTURY MARK
Emporia State's 110-66 win over Saint Mary marked the 103rd time the Hornets have cracked the century mark in their history.  They have reached 100 points seven times in 142 games under Coach Doty, matching their total for the previous eight seasons combined.  
The Hornets scored at least 100 points 60 times under coach Ron Slaymaker (827 total games in 28 seasons), 26 times under David Moe (288 games in 10 seasons), five times under Shaun Vandiver (199 games in seven seasons), three times under Gus Fish (602 games in 25 seasons) and once under Marc Comstock (82 games in three seasons).

FRIENDLY CONFINES
The Hornets are 422-198 (.681) since 1979 in White Auditorium. Emporia State has won 206 of their last 299 games (.689) in White Auditorium dating back to the 2002-03 season. In the last 35 years, they have twice had home court winning streaks of at least 20 games. The first was 23 games from 1985-87 followed by a school record 25 game streak from February 12, 2003-January 1, 2005.  They have posted home winning seasons in 18 of the last 20 seasons.

HORNETS RANK IN NATION IN ATTENDANCE
In 14 home games this year the Hornets averaged 1,382 fans per game to rank eighth in the nation. Emporia State men's basketball fans helped the Hornets rank in the top ten in attendance among the over 300 NCAA Division II basketball playing schools last season. The #7 national ranking continued a string of 19 straight years, not counting COVID, ranking in the top 25 in attendance for Emporia State. The Hornets drew 19,627 total fans for an average of 1,402 fans to their 14 home games at Slaymaker Court in White Auditorium during the 2021-22 season to rank seventh nationally.   Emporia State had a season high 2,865 for their game against Washburn on February 26 on Senior Day.   Emporia State outdrew 123 NCAA Division I schools in total attendance during the 2021-22 school year including eight teams that made the NCAA Tournament. Within the Division II ranks, the Hornets outdrew 60 of the 64 teams that were selected for the NCAA Tournament, including six of the eight #1 seeds and six of the teams that made the Elite Eight.
The Hornets were among six MIAA teams in the top 15 nationally. As a conference the MIAA drew 210,078 fans to 203 games to lead all Division II conference in average attendance at 1,035 fans per game. It is the 13th straight year the MIAA has led the nation in average attendance. The MIAA's total attendance was better than eight NCAA Division I conferences. The Central Region had a total of eight teams ranked in the top 25 as two teams from the NSIC were on the list as well. All three conferences within the Central Region were ranked in the top ten nationally.

REGIONALLY SPEAKING
The NCAA Central Region is made up of teams in the MIAA, Northern Sun and Great American Conferences. Emporia State was one of three MIAA teams in the regional field last year, tying the NSIC for the most representatives in Maryville. The MIAA went 12-15 against the region in the regular season with an 8-10 record against the NSIC and a 4-5 record against the GAC. The MIAA went 69-33 (.676) mark in non-conference competition and every team in the Association had an opponents winning percentage of over .500 on the season. The NSIC was 74-37 (.667) and the GAC went 48-35 (.578) against outside competition.

LISTEN & WATCH LIVE
Video webcasts for all of Emporia State's regular season home games are available on a pay per view basis from the MIAA Network. Content is available live and is immediately archived for on-demand viewing after each event at www.themiaanetwork.com. Audio of all Emporia State games are available on KFFX 104.9FM and at www.kvoe.com with Greg Rahe on the call. KFFX is in their 35th straight year as the radio home of Hornet Athletics, the longest active streak between a commercial station and an MIAA school. All games will also be available on the internet at www.kvoe.com.

TURNING PRO
Emporia State's Tray Buchanan and Brenden Van Dyke both signed professional contracts following the 2021-22 season, giving the Hornets six professional players in the last four seasons. Buchanan signed with AEL-Limassol in Limassol, Cyprus while Van Dyke signed with CD Agulia San Miguel in El Salvador
Julius Jackson became the fourth Hornet men's basketball player to sign professionally following the 2018-19 season when he signed a professional contract with Raiders Basket Jarvenpaa in Finland. Hassan Thomas signed with Sampaense Basket of Portugal Proliga while Malik Hluchoweckyj signed with KK Bratunac of the Bosnia BiH Liga also signed pro contracts overseas while Kooper Glick played with the Washington Generals - the regular opponent of the Harlem Globetrotters. It is the first time in school history the Hornets  had four players from the same class sign to play professionally in the same year.

ON THE COURT
The court at William L. White Auditorium was formally named Ron Slaymaker Court at half-time of the Hornets win over Washburn on Feb. 28, 2014 after the City of Emporia approved a proclamation at their Feb. 20, 2014  city commission meeting.

AND IN THE RAFTERS
•Dale Cushinberry (1966-69) - Cushinberry was an All-American for Emporia State and became the first Hornet with 1,000 points and 700 rebounds.
•Wilbur Reeser (1944-48) - Reeser was named an NAIB All-American and was the Hornets leading scorer as the won a conference championship in 1948.
•Ron Slaymaker (Player 1954-60, Coach 1970-98) - As a player Slaymaker was named All-Conference and All-American during the 1957-58 season. As a coach he won an ESU leading 462 games from 1970-98.
•Jim Fraley (1956-60) - Fraley was the school's all-time leading scorer (1,509) until Brian Robinson broke his record in 1985. He was named Second-team NAIA All-American.
•Doug Glaysher (1960-64) - Glaysher was named an All-American after leading the Hornets to the NAIA National Semi-finals in 1964. He graduated as the second leading scorer in ESU history.
•Brian Robinson (1984-86) - Robinson was named a first team All-American in both his junior and senior season. He is the ESU all-time leading scorer with 2,533 career points.

HOW DO YOU SAY THAT:
2 Alijah Comithier: Ah-lie-zha Com-a-thear (rhymes with fear)
7 Solomon Oraegbu: Oh-ray-boo
10 Atavian Butler: Ah-tave-ian
13 Drew Tennial: Ta-kneel
22 Darius Yohe: Yo-he