SIU looks to bounce-back in the 2nd game of the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Meet the Colonels:
The coach of the Eastern Kentucky is A.W. Hamilton in his 7th year as head coach. Hamilton was head coach for 6 years at Hargrave Military Academy (HS) after taking over for current NC State head coach Kevin Keatts. At Eastern Kentucky, Hamilton is 107-89 with his best season coming in 2023 (149 KenPom ranked). Hamilton usually runs a really fast paced offense (2nd in tempo in 2021) but he seems to have slowed it down in recent years (they're currently 161st in the country in adjusted tempo).
The Colonels have road wins this year at #171 East Tennessee State and #361 Chicago State and losses to #31 Clemson and #265 Ball State yesterday.
Coming into the season, EKU was picked 2nd in the ASUN Media Conference poll behind Lipscomb and 4th in the coaches poll behind Lipscomb, Austin Peay, and North Alabama.
Eastern Kentucky is 22nd in the country in offensive rebounding % but they've really struggled on the offensive end shooting this year. They're 202nd in the country in effective field goal % (49.4%) and 225th in the country in 2 point % (48.7%).
On the defensive end, the Colonels have been really good at turning teams over. They're 60th in the country in turnover % (21.2%) and 25th in the country in steal % (13.6%).
The leading scorer for EKU is 6-6 Senior Devontae Blanton averaging 16.2 points per game. Blanton is in his 5th year at Eastern Kentucky and was named the ASUN Preseason Player of the Year going into last season. Blanton is 94th in the country in % of possessions gone through him (29.2%) and 76th in the country in % of shots when he's on the floor (31.7%). Blanton was a unanimous member of the All-ASUN Preseason Team going into this year.
The leader in assists for the Colonels is 6-2 Sophomore George Kimble III averaging 5 assists per game. Kimbel spent his first season at Eckerd College (D2) where he earned conference Freshman of the Year honors. Kimble is 75th in the country in possessions gone through him (29.8%). He's also 124th in the country in assist rate (29.1%) and 29th in the country in steal % (5.4%).
6-8 Sophomore Mayar Wol came over from Charleston and leads the Colonels in rebounds with 7 per game. Wol was a 4 star recruit out of Hickory, NC and chose Charleston over SEC offers. Wol played 22 games off the bench last year playing 5 minutes per game and transferred after Pat Kelsey left for Louisville.
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