Kennesaw State basketball starts season with high expectations

Antoine Pettway has elevated the expectations around the basketball program at Kennesaw State to a different level. And the other coaches in Conference USA are catching on.

A season ago, their first in the conference, the Owls were picked to finish last and wound up finishing fourth and reaching the semifinals of the CUSA tournament. This fall, despite the transfer of All-American freshman Adrian Wooley, the coaches picked KSU to finish second.

None of that preseason hoopla bothers Pettway, one way or the other.

“On one hand it shows that people around the league, the coaches, they respect what we’re trying to do here,” Pettway said. “Then on the other hand, it means absolutely nothing, and that’s how we’ve got to treat it. You know, thank you for the respect, but now we need to go play the games. We’ve got to go hunt.”

Kennesaw State opens the season at 7 p.m. Monday against Paine College at the renamed VyStar Arena.

The Owls went 19-14 last season, the second most wins in school history, and finished the regular season with back-to-back road wins over first-place Liberty and Jacksonville State. But Wooley, who averaged 18.8 points and 5.2 rebounds, entered the transfer portal and accepted a lucrative NIL package with Louisville.

Wooley, considered as high as the No. 3 player in the portal, certainly will be missed, but the pain will be less intense with the return of senior Simeon Cottle and sophomores Braedan Lue and Jamil Miller.

“Our conference got ravaged by the transfer portal,” Pettway said. “We were fortunate enough to keep some really quality players and add some more quality players. But at the end of the day, let’s go play.”

Cottle, a 6-foot-2 guard from Tri-Cities High School, is a rarity. He has spent his entire career at Kennesaw State and has become one of the more consistent offensive players in CUSA. Last season, he averaged 18 points, was a three-time CUSA Player of the Week and was named to the all-conference team.

The accolades continued this fall when he an overwhelming choice as Conference USA’s Preseason Player of the Year. Cottle dropped 19 points in the 86-73 win over West Georgia in the Owls’ exhibition tuneup.

“What I’ve been most impressed with him since the day I got here, he has been a galvanizing force,” Pettway said. “He brings people together. He’s wanted guys to be together on and off the court, and he’s done that.”

Lue, a 6-9 forward from Alexander High School, averaged 10 points and 5.5 rebounds, and Miller, a 6-6 forward from Spokane, Washington, averaged 6.8 points and 4.8 rebounds. Both were named to the CUSA All-Freshman team. Lue was named to the all-CUSA preseason team.