Last Year: 27-8; 15-3, Coastal Athletic Association regular season and tournament champions, lost in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament
Head Coach: Chris Mack (First Year;
Projected Starting Lineup
PG CJ Fulton – 6’3″, 190 Senior
G Derrin Boyd – 6’3″, 215 Senior
G AJ Smith – 6’5″, 210 Junior
F Elijah Jones – 6’7″, 210 Senior
F/C Ante Brzović – 6’10”, 225 Senior
Experienced Reserves
G Deywilk Tavarez – 6’2″, 185 Sophomore
G Evan Kilminster – 6’3″, 190 Sophomore
G Đorđe Curćić – 6’3″, 190 – Sophomore
F/C Lazar Đoković – 6’11”, 235 Sophomore
C Stef van Bussel – 6’10”, 255 Sophomore
Freshmen
G Cade Higgins – 6’4″, 195
W Jaxon Prunty – 6’6″, 190
W Justas Stonkus – 6’6″, 210
The College of Charleston established a new level of success this spring. Which may sound strange, given that the program which has become the pride of Chucktown lost its exceptional head coach, plus most of its best players to graduation or transfer this spring. The thing that enhanced their reputation as a program was how C of C responded.
The Cougars under now-Louisville coach Pat Kelsey went a combined 58-12 the past two years, with back-to-back sweeps of the Coastal Athletic Association’s regular season and tournament titles. That type of success would be extremely difficult to sustain given that so much has changed. Charleston wasn’t caught flat-footed, though. The program quickly tabbed former Xavier and Louisville (because why not?) coach Chris Mack to be its new bench boss. At his previous stops, Mack has been named Coach of the Year in both the Atlantic 10 and Big East conferences. He’s taken his squad to the NCAA Tournament nine times, and Mack reached the Elite Eight with Xavier at the end of the 2016-17 season. Such has been the program’s success on the court that, combined with its hiring of Mack and the flexing of some high-major-style NIL clout, the Cougars clearly remain an attractive destination for quality players, too.
This fall, Charleston returns an established feature big man, and they’ve got a guy who led the country in assist to turnover ratio last season. Acting every bit like the high-major coach he is, Mack has reeled in some highly-accomplished veterans as well as a few highly-sought-after young guys. It’s a blend that has Cougars fans hopeful, and the team is looking to make a mark all their own in the Holy City.
Everything will revolve around returning first-team All-CAA post star Ante Brzović, because, well, everything revolved around him for most of the best basketball C of C has played the past two seasons. That should be a comfort for the new faces, because Brzović is a skilled scoring big man, and his talent as a passer really began to shine last winter. In addition to his value as a standout post-up guy, Brzović grew comfortable operating Kelsey’s offense out of the lane last year. Surrounded by shooters who had the green light, Brzović’s court vision became a weapon. Given space to operate inside, he took a noticeable step in making opponents pay the price for guarding all those deep threats, too. The 6’10” veteran from Croatia enters his third season in Charleston having shown that he’s patient, anticipates the action well, and makes decisive moves getting into a well-honed variety of hook shots and leaners. Oh, and he’s tough enough to take on rough stuff deep in the post; remember the huge shiner Brzović wore down the stretch of Charleston’s 2022-23 season? As the centerpiece of Charleston’s attack, Brzović should contend for a host of awards this winter and keep the Cougars rolling.
Brzović is the only guy from among Charleston’s top eight scorers last season to return, but that doesn’t mean that the Cougars will struggle to put up points. A cohort of guards – a couple of whom have proven themselves as legit bucket-getters elsewhere – have arrived, and Mack is expecting each of them to keep on doing what they do best.
Former Lipscomb guard Derrin Boyd has come a long way since his days growing up in Princeton, KY (population: just about 6,300). Initially, all he could do was take a redshirt year at NAIA Georgetown (KY) College. Once Boyd got onto the court, though, he began to rise, and his progress since then has been steady. A scoring star immediately in the small college ranks, Boyd moved up to Lipscomb and spent two years improving his game further. Before being injured and missing the final third of last season, Boyd was looking like an all-conference player. Unfortunately, his career at Lipscomb came to an abrupt halt due to an injury which required surgery and Boyd has spent the summer working his way back to full strength.
“He will have a tremendous impact with his leadership, his maturity and love for the game,” Mack proclaimed this summer after adding Boyd. “Despite being injured last season, Derrin will be ready to go when our season rolls around.” Continuing a career-long trend, Boyd was wonderfully efficient as a shooter last winter. He needed just 11.5 shot attempts per contest to average 17.6 points, slashing 57.4/44.0/83.7% on two’s, three’s, and freebies. The strongly-built scorer has the attitude and confidence of a go-to guy, and he’ll get to prove himself anew this season as the Cougars chase another NCAA Tournament bid.
Scoring guard AJ Smith spent his first two years starring for The Citadel, and expanded his repertoire considerably last winter. In his time with the Bulldogs, Smith went from being a key reserve to the fifth-leading scorer in the Southern Conference. From freshman to sophomore season, he also improved significantly as an outside shooter. He made just three of 26 attempts (11.5%) from the land of trey as a rookie, but Smith drained 35 deep balls at a 35.4% clip during his breakout campaign last year. Like Boyd, Smith is a big, strong dude who can put it on the floor and manufacture a look when the shot clock is winding down. A solid defender whose size and length help Smith to check most wings and clean the glass. His improvements as a halfcourt scorer and growth on the other side of the floor should allow Smith to make a clean transition to playing big minutes for Mack.
Tavarez and Saint Louis transfer Đorđe Ćurčić are the heirs to Charleston’s point guard spot. In the short term, though, they’ll each have to beat out a reliable warhorse named CJ Fulton for prime run at the controls of the offense. An import from Lafayette by way of Belfast, Northern Ireland, Fulton ran a tidy ship for last season’s Cougars. Having arrived in Charleston with better than a three-to-one career assist to turnover ratio, Fulton was nearly immaculate as a junior. He posted 145 helpers against just 35 miscues, and Fulton’s 4.14:1 ratio was the best figure in America. His scoring rate wasn’t quite as impressive, though, as Fulton also scored just 145 points in his 24 minutes per game. Kelsey had shooters and scorers around Fulton last year, and Mack has added enough firepower that he shouldn’t need to rely upon Fulton suddenly transforming into Steve Nash. Still, it would be a real boon to Charleston’s chances if they could consistently get a few more buckets from Fulton. Despite posting career low shooting splits in his debut with C of C, Fulton remains a 36.8% shooter on 123 makes from downtown across his three seasons. Further, he averaged better than 10 points as a sophomore and has the clever approach to be a better scorer than he was a year ago. He’s also a terrific and tenacious defender who never lets the opposition get too comfortable. His considerable value on that end of the floor will keep him out there for plenty of minutes, and a new coach couldn’t ask for more reliable and consistent ballhandling than Fulton brings.
On his way to being recognized as the best freshman in the MEAC, Tavarez flashed a very attractive set of skills. Debuting for Delaware State alongside a pair of experienced guys – Martaz Robinson and Javin Muniz – who could help create offense, Tavarez had tremendous freedom to do his thing. Though streaky, his jumper is a weapon both inside and from beyond the three-point arc. Tavarez has confidence in his handle and a willingness to drive, and he earned plenty of trips to the charity stripe as a rookie. There’s still a good deal of room for improvement, though, as he occasionally struggled to finish drives into the lane. Frustratingly, Tavarez committed the second-most turnovers (125) of any player in America last season. Mack’s hope is that his staff – and Fulton – can teach Tavarez a few things about cleaner ballhandling and decision-making. While he occasionally gambles and gets beaten on defense, Tavarez also plays with useful aggressiveness and will take on tough matchups. He’s a bit of a high-risk/high-reward prospect, but Tavarez sure seems like an exciting youngster worth developing.
Ćurčić is a Serbian sophomore who averaged just under 10 minutes last year at Saint Louis, yet he brings considerable offensive potential of his own. Mack hired former Billikens assistant Chris Harriman to be one of his top lieutenants, and Ćurčić followed Harriman to a place where the young guard can grow. In the limited minutes of his debut, Ćurčić showed consistent range on his jumper, and will look to let fly often now for a team which must replace 320 of the 368 (sixth-most in the country) triples by last year’s Cougars. Ćurčić has grown up playing for his home country in FIBA tournaments, and shows a good feel for executing on offense, whether he has the ball in his hands or not. Mack expects that his group of young guards will be ready to log significant minutes while adding some real firepower in support of the older guys.
Three more talented newcomers are expected to find their respective orbits around Brzović up front. Elijah Jones has bounced around a bit already, from Southern Indiana (back when they were still a Division II outfit), to junior college powerhouse John A. Logan College in Illinois, to last season with the Green Bay Phoenix. Jones showed useful toughness, versatility, and especially for GB’s smaller roster, great energy on the glass. Mack sees Jones as a seamless fit next to Brzović as a combo forward who can add to the Cougars’ attack at both ends of the floor. He’s never really been an offensive focal point, but Jones can score on quick post-up’s, high-effort putbacks, and he will occasionally step out to the land of trey and remind the defense that he’s got range. Over his last two seasons, Jones has splashed a combined 34 triples at an outstanding 53.1% rate. He’s proven to be just as capable of helping out in a variety of ways defensively, and Jones should be that much more effective now that he won’t be asked to play so many minutes in direct competition with the biggest guys on the opposing team.
With a pair of young pivots arriving as well, Brzović may also get to play some more minutes as a traditional 4-man. Neither Stef van Bussel or Lazar Đoković played a major role last season, but both second-year bigs are looking ready to carve out a role of their own. Đoković grew up playing with Ćurčić for the same Serbian junior national teams, and after a year developing against Big East competition, Đoković has made the journey from Xavier to Charleston and rejoined his buddy.
In his rookie year at Saint Louis, van Bussel demonstrated that he will be a stout presence in the lane who’s not afraid to play a physical game. van Bussel hits the boards like he means it, denies good position and passing angles to his man, and goes hard to the rim when he catches the ball. Though he averaged just under eight minutes per game and was rarely featured offensively, van Bussel attempted 23 free throws in his 21 contests as a Billiken. The burly Dutchman doesn’t back down defensively, and though he largely plays a below-the-rim game, van Bussel effectively prevents easy looks around the basket.
Evan Kilminster is an Australian guard who debuted last year following a redshirt, and he adds further depth at the point. Tenacious and slippery moving around the halfcourt, Kilminster can play on or off the ball and remains a savvy distributor regardless. If he can shoot the ball more effectively this season, Kilminster will give Mack yet another improving option to play on the perimeter. Mack has also added three other freshmen to develop on the wings, and they will fight for the best minutes in reserve. Jaxon Prunty is a big, rangy wing who can play above the rim and is developing as a shooter. Cade Higgins already has a fairly well-developed jumper, and with C of C in need of a restock on perimeter shooting, he should get to show his stuff. Lithuanian wing Justas Stonkus has great size and the drive skills to help out right away at both ends of the court. He brings extensive experience playing in top international tournaments, and should push for time at multiple spots.
This year, the Cougars won’t be letting rip quite the same as they did under Kelsey, but not all coaches ask their teams to fling as many triples as the new Louisville boss. Mack has traditionally overseen teams that are responsible at both ends and don’t beat themselves, and those are attributes which will carry over from the previous regime.
As a result of their excellence the past two years, Charleston loaded up with a legit non-conference schedule, and they’ll be tested right up until the beginning of conference play. With the way the Cougars have played the past two years, expectations for Mack’s debut will be high, and a quick start will go a long way towards helping C of C stay near the top of their league after the new year. There are enough prominent new players that a pecking order must be re-established, and the rigors of facing good teams can forge a rotation to rely upon, so long as the Cougars are on the same page coming out of fall practices. It won’t be easy to measure up, but the good times should keep on rolling in Charleston.
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