Teams In the Pod
#1 Loyola
13-5 Overall
3rd Place Team from the Southern States Athletic Conf.
#16 Overall Seed
Ranks Number 1 in Division I in Offensive
Rebounds per Game (16.722)
Ranks Number 2 in Division I in Total
Rebounds per Game (46.222)
Ranks Number 7 in Division I in Total
Rebound Margin (10.500)
Ranks Number 14 in Division I in Scoring
Margin (13.556)
Ranks Number 17 in Division I in Steals per
Game (9.000)
Ranks Number 18 in Division I in Scoring
Offense per Game (87.333)
Ranks Number 18 in Division I in Blocks per
Game (4.056)
Ranks Number 22 in Division I in Field Goal
Pct Defense (0.408)
#2 Talladega
24-3 Overall
GCAC Regular Season Champions
GCAC Tournament Runner-Up
#18 Overall Seed
Ranks Number 1 in Division I in Field Goal
Pct Defense (0.370)
Ranks Number 2 in Division I in Total
Rebound Margin (15.407)
Ranks Number 2 in Division I in Offensive
Rebounds per Game (15.778)
Ranks Number 2 in Division I in Total
Rebound Defense (29.148)
Ranks Number 3 in Division I in Scoring
Defense per Game (62.741)
Ranks Number 5 in Division I in 3-Pt Fg Pct
Defense (0.283)
Ranks Number 5 in Division I in Scoring
Margin (20.667)
Ranks Number 5 in Division I in Total Total
Rebound Offense (1203)
Ranks Number 7 in Division I in Total
Rebounds per Game (44.556)
Ranks Number 12 in Division I in Total
Steals (219)
Ranks Number 16 in Division I in Total
Scoring Offense (2252)
Ranks Number 23 in Division I in Total
Assists (399)
#3 LSU-Alexandria
16-4 Overall
3rd Place Team from the Red River Athletic Conference
#28 Overall Seed
Ranks Number 2 in Division I in Assists per
Game (19.800)
Ranks Number 6 in Division I in Steals per
Game (9.750)
Ranks Number 8 in Division I in Scoring
Offense per Game (90.350)
Ranks Number 10 in Division I in Turnover
Margin (4.500)
Ranks Number 19 in Division I in Field Goal
Pct (0.492)
Ranks Number 21 in Division I in Scoring
Margin (11.800)
Ranks Number 24 in Division I in Total
Assists (396)
Ranks Number 24 in Division I in Total
Steals (195)
Top Players
#3 Myles Burns 6’6 Jr. -16.2ppg, 9.5rpg, 2.3apg, 2.1spg
– 2x All-American
– 3x SSAC Defensive Player of the Year
– 2020-21 1st Team All-SSAC
– Ranks Number 4 in Division I in Offensive Rebounds per Game (3.824)
– Ranks Number 19 in Division I in Total Rebounds per Game (9.471)
– Ranks Number 22 in Division I in Steals per Game (2.118)
#23 Zach Wrightsil 6’7 Jr. – 15.9ppg, 9.9rpg, 3.72apg, 1.22bpg
– 2x All-American
– 2018-19 SSAC Freshman of the Year
– 2020-21 1st Team All-SSAC
– Ranks Number 15 in Division I in Offensive
Rebounds per Game (3.333)
– Ranks Number 15 in Division I in Total
Rebounds per Game (9.889)
– Ranks Number 34 in Division I in Defensive
Rebounds per Game (6.556)
#3 Darryl Baker 6’4 Sr. – 15.8ppg, 4.5rpg, 3.19apg
– 2019-20 All-American -2020-21 1st team All-GCAC
– Ranks Number 4 in Division I in Free Throw Pct (0.920)
#1 Rodney Munson 6’2 Fr. – 15.2ppg, 3.4rpg, 3.55apg
– RRAC Freshman of the Year
– Not in Top 50 of any statistical category
#10 Jakemin Abney 6’2 Fr. – 13.3ppg, 3.2rpg,
– 1st Team All RRAC
– Not in Top 50 of any statistical category
Points Per Game Leaders
1 Burns, Myles Loyola (La.) 16.24
2 Wrightsil, Zach Loyola (La.) 15.89
3 Baker, Darryl Talladega (Ala.) 15.81
4 Munson, Rodney LSU Alexandria (La.) 15.22
5Abney, Jakemin LSU Alexandria (La.) 13.33
Rebounds Per Game Leaders
1 Wrightsil, Zach Loyola (La.) 9.89
2 Burns, Myles Loyola (La.) 9.47
3 Yusuf, Amir Talladega (Ala.) 8.44
4 Lewis, Joe LSU Alexandria (La.) 7.53
5 Smith Jr., Terry Loyola (La.) 7.5
Assist Per Game Leaders
1 Munson, Rodney LSU Alexandria (La.) 3.94
2 Wrightsil, Zach Loyola (La.) 3.72
3 Baker, Darryl Talladega (Ala.) 3.19
4 Louis, Edwin Talladega (Ala.) 2.96
5 Smith, Casey LSU Alexandria (La.) 2.83
Matchups
Friday, March 12th 7:30pm CT Watch Live
Won 15 straight before losing in the GCAC Tournament Championship game. This group has a lot to prove though and is hungry! Darryl Baker is a tough player who can really fill it up. Him and Tony Hutson provide them with a tough scoring duo on the perimeter, while 6’9 Amir Yusuf has been playing his best basketball late in the season. If the Tornadoes continue to defend and rebound, they will be fine!
vs.
LSU-Alexandria was one of the last at-large selections and now get to play in their hometown on a familiar floor as the Rapides Parrish Coliseum is host to the RRAC Tournament. This team may be young, but Munson and Abney play with no fear. We have been hard on this group, but Larry Cordero has coached his tail off this season and will have his guys ready to go in this one! The Generals get to play in Alexandria, which will help this young group!
Saturday, March 13th 7:30pm CT Watch Live
Led by 2x All-Americans Myles Burns and Zach Wrightsil the Wolfpack have the superstars to go deep. They are complemented by the likes of Terry Smith Jr. and sharp shooter Andrew Fava. This team plays hard and uses it’s size and length to make things difficult for opposing offenses. The good part for them is that there isn’t a ton different in the style of play between Talladega and Alexandria, so they should have been able to get some good initial prep work in this week!
vs.
Winner of #2 Talladega and #3 LSU-Alexandria
As far as 0verall seeding goes, this is one of the toughest Pods as the teams range from the overall 16th-seed to the overall 28th-seed. All three teams are so similar and you should see a lot of points scored out of this Pod. It’s going to make for some great games and some dogfights until the end! Loyola looks the part, but only got 18 total games in this season and Alexandria has only played in 20. Interested to see if some of these teams who haven’t played as many games this season are affected by it.
While Alexandria is in their hometown, they aren’t on their homecourt. They have only played 1 game in the past month and it makes you wonder if there will be any rust? This team is also led by two stud Freshmen in Munson and Abney. If they can continue to play above their youth they are good enough scorers to push Alexandria to Kansas City.
Dega, will have GCAC Coach of the Year Chris Wright back coaching in this game. All-American Darryl Baker and Tony Hutson provide some great leadership and are tough to stop. This Dega team is dangerous when they lock up defensively. They will go as far as that end of the floor takes them!
Loyola is so fun to watch! They play hard and compete every possession. They are a team that has been stop and go all season on their schedule. There hasn’t been any real fluidity to their schedule. Looking forward to seeing how they respond to a couple late season losses to Stillman. Burns and Wrightsil are one of the best duos in the country and if you don’t match their energy, you’re in for a long night! In our opinion, they have the most talent in the Pod.
