ASUN MBB PREDICTIONS 4-6

The Eagles head into the final year of Coach Michael Fly’s three year contract looking for answers, after struggling to a 24-40 record these past two seasons. Zach Scott (10.8 ppg) transferred to McNeese State University, Brian Thomas (2.0 ppg) transferred to Grambling University, and Christian Carlyle transferrred to Santa Clara after a season long injury and these three players were the key players to leave the program. FGCU struggled last season to put away teams in the final minutes of games and this led to the Eagles having to face Lipscomb on the road in the ASUN Quarterfinals at Allen Arena, where Ahsan Asadullah finished with a double double (40 pts, 14 rebounds) and ended FGCU’s season, 68-63. There is no center in the ASUN that can guard Asadullah and he will continue to give FGCU and the rest of the conference fits heading into next season. Caleb Catto (12.7 ppg) returns as a Junior and leading scorer for this team and needs the ball in his hands in the final moment of games. SR G Jalen Warren (10.9 ppg) who took over in the final moments of games vs FAU and JU by hitting game winning shots could also play a vital role if Coach Fly uses him in the right role. How many minutes these freshman guards play is key to the Eagles season. Can they trust SR G Sam Gagliardi to rebound after an awful season after being tagged as a “sharpshooter” from beyond the arc? Plenty of questions for this team and if a few new players click, this team could host an ASUN Quarterfinals postseason game but as of right now they are on the outside looking in.