For the first six weeks of the season, Georgia State basketball coach Jonas Hayes has focused on blending the four holdovers from last season’s team with the six incoming transfers. The Panthers are working on a variety of combinations, discovering which players work best together, and gradually taking steps to improvement.
Now it’s time to play for keeps. The Panthers open Sun Belt Conference play at 2 p.m. Saturday when they host Arkansas State at the GSU Convocation Center. Arkansas State won last season’s game 75-70 in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The game can be seen on ESPN-Plus and heard on the GSU Sports App and WGTJ-FM 97.5.
“We just want to get at it,” senior transfer Jay’Den Turner said. “We put in so much work leading up to this point. We’re just hungry and trying to get at it.”
The Panthers are trying to improve on last season’s disappointing 3-15 conference record. Georgia State (5-6) currently land somewhere in the middle of what appears to be a balanced conference. The top teams are No. 20 James Madison (12-0), which holds an overtime win over Michigan State, Appalachian State (9-3) and reigning conference champion Louisiana-Lafayette (7-5). There appears to be little difference between the rest of the league.
“I want us to keep taking steps forward, and I understand it’s a process,” Hayes said. “I really do think we’re starting to take hold of the decisions we make on a daily basis and the habits you try to create for yourself. That gives you the opportunity for success. And it’s a daily, daily, daily attention and a daily awareness to those choices you make on and off the floor that would allow yourself to be champions. And we’re starting to see some of that.”
The main factor that Hayes addressed after his first season was shooting. The Panthers shot 41.6% from the field and 29.5% on 3-point shots last season and have improved to 43.7% overall and 31.8% on 3′s this season.
Transfers Lucas Taylor and Toneari Lane have provided some need punch from the perimeter. Taylor, a 6-foot-5 junior, is averaging 14 points and shooting a team-high 34.4% on 3-pointers. Lane, a 6-5 sophomore, is averaging 12.3 points and shooting 31.8% on 3s.
Turner, who scored his 1,000th career point in the last game against Toccoa Falls, is averaging 10.5 points and 7.7 rebounds (No. 7 in the Sun Belt). The sinewy 6-5 forward has the knack for rebounding; he led the Atlantic Sun in rebounds last season when he played at Queens.
“I try to always stay moving,” Turner said. “I can tell by the way the rotation of the ball sometimes how it’s going to come off the rim.”
Holdover Dwon Odom continues to be the team’s most versatile, averaging 10.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists. The 6-2 junior is the team’s best distributor, is skilled at driving to the basket and has the knack of being in the right place and getting the ball in the right hands.
One of the more improved players has been Edward Nnamoko, a 6-10 sophomore who has shown exponential growth and confidence on the floor. He had a double-double in the last game against Toccoa Falls.
“I’ve improved. I think I’m taking the right step in the right direction,” Nnamoko said. “I’ve just got to put one step in front of the other and keep doing it. My coach has given me a lot of confidence.”
Hayes has used 10 players on a regular basis and believes that depth will help the team as it heads into league competition.
“I believe in strength in numbers,” Hayes said. “I think our guys are beginning to buy into it, and that’s what being a part of a team is about, when you have one or two of your brothers are down, we have guys that can come up and step forward and feel comfortable doing that.”
Arkansas State is 4-8 and 1-6 on the road. The Red Wolves have losses to Wisconsin, Iowa and Alabama, but beat Louisville. They lost to Little Rock, a team Georgia State beat twice, and are coming off a loss to Belmont, a team that beat GSU to open the season. Their roster includes Marietta High grad Izaiyah Nelson, a 6-10 sophomore who averages 6.5 points and 5.2 rebounds.
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