Cameron, who starred as a guard at Dougherty High School before signing with Tulane, helped lead the Green Wave to an NCAA tournament appearance in 1995 and an NIT Final Four appearance in 1996. Tulane also reached the NIT in 1994 and 1997 while Cameron played there.
Unlike the 2006 contest when these two teams met in an exhibition and Tulane won, 67-55, today’s contest counts toward the Rams’ regular-season record.
“It’s always good to come back and actually play here,” said Cameron, whose team is 1-0 after Saturday’s 76-66 home win against Georgia Southwestern. “It’s just a blessing. To come back here where I played college basketball and bring my college basketball team here is a good feeling. They can see where I got my philosophy from.”
When Albany State played that 2006 exhibition game against Tulane, it was only part of a challenging non-conference schedule that included eventual South Region champion Montevallo. The end result was a conference tournament championship for Albany State.
“That’s basically what we’re trying to do, get some experience playing against good programs outside the conference,” Cameron said. “The year we won (conference), we had arguably the toughest schedule in NCAA Division II. I believe a tough, non-conference schedule helps our guys if we play those games tough.”
The Rams lost their starting point guard, Sean Glenn, to a season-ending injury in last year’s opener against non-conference opponent, Xavier-Louisiana. If Albany State is contending for a possible win tonight, Cameron said he won’t hold back any of his players in terms of keeping everyone healthy for conference games down the road.
“We would go for the win,” Cameron said. ”Every time we play, we go for the win. We have a lot of guys who can step up in case of that situation.”
And if the Rams win, it would be special for Cameron in more ways than one.
“That would be huge,” Cameron said. “If it actually happened, it would be beyond words. It would be a huge win for our guys and the program. Our goal is to win these Division I games. We just don’t schedule them because it looks good. We schedule those because we feel we have a chance to pull out a win.”
GET TO THE LINE:
The Albany State women were only 7-of-9 from the foul line during Thursday’s 52-43 loss against Valdosta State. That signals one thing for Lady Rams coach Robert Skinner.
“We’re taking a lot of jump shots and not being aggressive enough while getting to the basket,” said Skinner, whose team is 0-2 and opens the conference schedule at 1 p.m. Saturday at home against Miles. “We’ve worked extremely hard on that, I thought we would have done a much better job.”
There were 93 free throws attempted between Miles and Alabama A&M last Wednesday.
“I know somebody was going to the basket in that game,” Skinner laughed, referring to that contest in which Miles lost, 75-70, in overtime.
The Rams have played their first two games without forward Ashley Scroggins, who has been out for personal reasons. Scroggins, however, is expected to play against Miles.
AFTERNOON DELIGHT:
Most of the Rams and Lady Rams’ conference games on weekends last year began usually between 4 and 6 p.m. This year, some of Albany State’s Saturday doubleheaders begin at 1, which is the case against Miles at home this Saturday.
Skinner was one of the coaches who suggested the change to cut travel costs. For example, the Rams play on the road against three schools that are located close together Feb. 17-21 — Benedict (Columbia, S.C.) on the 17th, Paine (Augusta) on the 19th and Claflin (Orangeburg, S.C.) on the 21st.
The Claflin game — on a Saturday — is at 1 p.m., allowing for the teams to return to Albany at a decent hour and not have to stay in a motel an extra night such as after the Claflin game.
“I’m just glad the coaches took a run with it,” Skinner said.
NEW ROLES:
Monshay Thomas was a four-year starter at Terrell County High School and is the reigning Herald Player of the Year for girls basketball, and Ashley Holt started for three years at Cairo.
Both freshmen are among the first two off the bench and have produced strong results for the Darton College women’s basketball team (5-3). Interestingly enough, Thomas is second on the team in scoring, just behind former Calhoun County star Shannon Coleman’s 12.333 points with 12.167. Holt is averaging 12 points.
Thomas scored 14 during Saturday’s 77-54 win against Faulkner State.
“On Saturday, she went onto the floor and immediately made a 3 on an inbounds play, and on the next time down, she got the ball inside the post and scored,” Darton coach Laura Blackwell said of Thomas. “She and Ashley are coming off the bench and producing.”
Thomas rotates with Coleman at guard, and Holt rotates with guard Aunrie Bakon.
“I’ve settled into it,” Thomas said. “I just play my game, play defense and try to pick up my team.”
Holt has the same mindset.
“I don’t mind coming off the bench,” she said. “When I get out there, I just play and play hard.”
“Like we’ve been telling them all along,” Blackwell began, “it’s not so much about starters and how they start, but how we finish and who finishes.”
Darton hosts L.B. Wallace at 5:30 p.m. today.
DARTON WRESTLING:
Darton’s Cavalier Duals on Saturday have been moved from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
“We thought we’d have more teams,” said Darton coach Josh Watts, whose team hosts East Georgia and Central Florida for the dual matches.
One freshman making a big impact is Gainesville’s Travis Hendrix, who is 18-2. He beat returning NCAA Division II All-American Andrew Young of Newberry, 10-3, in the finals of this past weekend’s Pembroke (N.C.) Open.
“It’s helped my confidence a lot,” Hendrix said. “I still have a lot of stuff I need to improve on. I’ve been going good on my feet and I would like to get a lot more mat work done. Everything has been going good, really good.”
Hendrix won two state GHSA championships at Gainesville (119 pounds in 2007, 130 last season).
GSW MEN:
If there is one thing Georgia Southwestern men’s basketball coach Mike Leeder noticed during his team’s loss against Albany State on Saturday, it was the 22 turnovers, according to the official game statistics.
“We need to do a better job taking care of the basketball,” said Leeder, whose team is 2-1. “I had us (after watching film) with something like 28-29 turnovers. We just need to do a better job of handling the basketball and doing a better job defensively. We got a little confused on transition, but to (Albany State’s) credit, they made their shots and their guard play was really good.”
While forward Chris Rawls continues to recover from a hamstring injury, Marcus Scott continues to thrive in his place. Scott led the Hurricanes with 18 points against the Rams.
“I like what he’s brought to the table,” Leeder said. “He’s more natural away form the basket.”
