ANDERSON, S.C. – Second-year Anderson head men's basketball coach Jeff Brookman knows success. The former Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year and two-time team MVP at Belmont Abbey was an assistant coach at Anderson from 2006-2010 and was instrumental in AU earning its' first NCAA Tournament bid in 2010. Six years later and following stellar success at the junior college level, when the Black and Gold tips off the 2016-17 campaign next month the Trojans will be looking for a return to the postseason following a two-year absence.

Brookman is now building on tradition that includes four NCAA Tournament appearances in the last seven years, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2011, and will be looking to blend a talented roster that features four starters returning from a year ago among 10 letterwinners and seven newcomers.

The Trojan camp is cautiously optimistic with the return of the four starters and the fifth – senior Rakish Taylor – rehabbing from an offseason injury and expected to return during the season.

Brookman believes that the Black and Gold will display more athleticism in 2016-17, noting "We are more athletic. We have some guys that can really shoot the ball and hopefully that translates into us being able to knock down some shots from the perimeter. And that in turn will enable us to score more points. We have to average more points [than last year] in order to be competitive."

In a reversal from last season, Brookman will have eight upperclassmen at his disposal and returns 80 percent of the Trojans' scoring output and rebounding from a year ago.

"It's obviously a complete turnaround from last year when we had no returning starters and lost the top six scorers from the previous season", said Brookman. "Having four returning starters other returners makes it a little easier. They know what to expect in practice and they can [manage] themselves. We are in a good situation but those guys know they still need to improve. Just because we have four starters back doesn't mean that much in reality. Our returners need to be more productive and efficient. They need to bring even more than they brought to the table last season."

THE BACKCOURT
"As a group, we're more athletic," said Brookman. "The [newcomers] are long and athletic. From a guard standpoint, we have more length and we also have a couple of guys that can stretch the defense and knock down open shots."

With nearly a dozen guards on the roster, the backcourt is undeniably the Trojans' deepest position heading into the season. The Trojans will have abundant depth to fill the guard roles on the team, including their top two scorers from last season – Randall Shaw and Maurice Howard.

Shaw was named South Atlantic Conference Freshman of the Year after ranking fifth overall in the SAC by averaging nearly 20 points per contest. The Greenville, S.C., native posted double-figure scoring on 22 occasions, while reaching the 20-point plateau in 17 contests.

Howard, who was named to the SAC All-Freshman Team two seasons ago, is back for his junior campaign after playing in 55 games over the last two seasons. The veteran point guard was second on the squad in scoring by averaging 11.8 points per game and ranked fifth in the conference by dishing out 3.85 assists per game a year ago. A native of Saluda, S.C., Howard displayed a knack for being around the ball by pulling down nearly five rebounds per contest.

Guard Lex Davis played in all 28 games a year ago, while drawing a starting nod in 22 contests. The 6-foot-4 junior was fifth on the team with 8.3 points per game and grabbed four rebounds a contest. Davis reached double-figure scoring in eight games, including six times during the second half of the season.

Junior Alex Greisen and sophomore Shawn Benard will battle for playing time, as well. Greisen started three games last November and a pair of contests in late February, while coming off the bench to score a career-high nine points in AU's four-point home loss to Tusculum. Benard, a native of Mobile, Ala., saw action in every game last season, while starting two. He reached double-figure scoring in three games and dished out at least three assists on five occasions.

Another sophomore, Andrew Boynton averaged nearly seven minutes a contest last season, while seeing action in 16 games and entering the starting lineup against Wingate at the Abney Athletic Center.

A quintet of newcomers provides Brookman with numerous options in the backcourt, with junior college transfer Warren Vinson joining four true freshmen. Vinson was a standout prep player at Rock Hill High School who went on to help lead Spartanburg Methodist to a 26-7 overall record and a berth in the NJCAA Tournament last season. Christian Jeffords was named the Region VI-AAAA Player of the Year and also earned a spot on the AAAA South Carolina All-State Team after averaging 19 points per game and dishing out 4.5 assists at Conway High School last year.

Tevin Heath, a 6-foot-5 guard, averaged 12.5 points and nearly seven rebounds for former Trojan forward Maurice Jones' Phillip O. Berry Academy Cardinals, while Onteus Anderson competed at Gray Collegiate Academy in Columbia, S.C. for the last two seasons, helping lead head coach Dion Bethea's War Eagles to a stellar 20-3 record last season. Aiken (S.C) Player of the Year Chance Prandy helped lead head coach Will Lowther's South Aiken Thoroughbreds to an 18-6 record last season, while averaging 16.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Prandy earned All-Region V honors and was named to the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association (SCBCA) All-State team, while earning a spot in the South Carolina-Georgia and North-South All-Star Games.

THE FRONTCOURT
"[Until Rakish gets back] we're a little thin with our forwards and bigs," noted Brookman. "Carlos (Dotson) is coming off a redshirt season. Lester (Rochez) is long, athletic and can protect the rim. Luke (Musselwhite) can shoot it and is really skilled in the post - he'll give us more size in the post. While Rakish is out, we will be looking for Tony [Dargan] to have more of an inside presence than on the perimeter. There's an opportunity for one of those guys to step up and show what they're capable of."

Senior Rakish Taylor started 27 contests a year ago and ranked second in the league by averaging 8.6 rebounds per game and nearly nine points a contest. The 6-foot-7 center led the team with a 63.6 percent shooting percentage, while posting seven double-doubles on the season. Fellow senior Tony Dargan saw action in 13 games a year ago, but has been limited to 21 games over the past two seasons due to injuries. Carlos Dotson received a medical redshirt after averaging two points and 1.3 rebounds in four games last season.

Lester Rochez spent two seasons at Central Georgia Technical College and led his team to an overall record of 20-13 during the 2015-2016 campaign.

A 6-foot-6 forward, sophomore Jeremy Bouton was named to the league's all-freshman team after starting 22 games and averaging nearly four points and more than three rebounds. He netted a career-best 19 points in the Trojans' 11-point setback to then-21st ranked Queens in early December. Freshman Luke Musselwhile is listed as a forward, but will be counted on to provide an inside presence. He played at Shelton State Community College last season, helping lead head coach Barry Muhon's Buccaneers to a 23-11 record.

"We want to improve on last year," said Brookman. "We competed and we were in most games. We want to close out and finish some of those close games that we lost. Whether it was inexperience or a lack of execution, we all need to improve in order to be able to close those games out," Brookman said of his Trojans who dropped four decisions after leading with five minutes left in the game.

THE SCHEDULE
The Trojans' 2016-17 schedule features eight games against four South Atlantic Conference teams that made an appearance in last season's NCAA Tournament.

The slate also includes an exhibition contest at the College of Charleston and the Black and Gold's fourth consecutive appearance in the South Atlantic Conference/Peach Belt Conference Challenge. Brookman and the Trojans will see six of their first eight games on the road, while opening the campaign away from home for the seventh time in eight seasons.

The schedule features 16 road contests and 13 games inside the friendly confines of the Abney Athletic Center, with AU's longest homestand coming as four pairs of SAC contests, while its longest road swing will also be two games (on seven occasions). In addition to the grueling 22-game South Atlantic Conference agenda, the Trojans will square off against three teams from both the Peach Belt Conference and Conference Carolinas in addition to the Lowcountry exhibition against the Cougars.

The 2017 South Atlantic Conference Tournament will feature the top eight teams in the league squaring off on Wednesday, March 1 at the home sites of the four top seeds, with the tournament semifinals and championship slated to be held on Saturday and Sunday, March 4-5, at Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C. for the fifth consecutive season.