Georgia Southern Extra: Men's hoops gets Sun Belt slate and 'reunion' games with Byington

The annual announcement of the Sun Belt Conference men's basketball schedule had some interesting new wrinkles for Georgia Southern in the 2022-23 slate.

The Eagles will be playing an 18-game conference schedule, one that includes all four new SBC members: James Madison, Old Dominion, Marshall and Southern Miss.

"We're excited to welcome James Madison, Old Dominion, Marshall and Southern Miss into the Sun Belt — four programs with quality coaches and student-athletes that make the Sun Belt an extremely competitive league," Georgia Southern coach Brian Burg said in a press release. "Every Sun Belt game is going to be a battle, and we're looking forward to the challenge of an 18-game schedule with nine of those coming in Hanner Fieldhouse."

The games against James Madison on Jan. 14 in Harrisonburg, Virginia; and on Feb. 9 in Statesboro, will mean a reunion of sorts with JMU head coach Mark Byington.

Eagles fans don't have to look far into their memories to recall the Byington era at GS. He was the head coach for seven seasons, going 131-97 (.757) from 2013-20 with 20 or more wins in his last three seasons.

The Salem, Virginia, native left for JMU and has gone 13-7 (8-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association, conference coach of the year)  and 15-14 (28-21, .571) for the Dukes. Now he's back in the Sun Belt.

The Eagles meet James Madison as well as Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, Old Dominion and Marshall in home-and-home series.

Georgia Southern plays host to Arkansas State, ULM and South Alabama and travels to Texas State, Louisiana and Southern Miss for single games to round out the slate.

The conference slate will keep a primary Thursday-Saturday format except for the final week of the season which will feature games on Wednesday and Friday.

Each team will open its conference season on Thursday, Dec. 29. The Eagles will host South Alabama before traveling to Coastal Carolina for a New Year's Eve contest.

Eagles fans get their first look at Marshall on Jan. 5 and Old Dominion on Jan. 7, while James Madison visits Hanner Fieldhouse on Feb. 9.

Georgia Southern has no history against JMU, while the Eagles are 2-10 all-time against Marshall with an eight-game losing streak. GS is 2-3 at home during the series, which stretched from 1984-97.

Old Dominion has a 12-3 advantage, including four wins in a row, against GS from 1971-2013. The Eagles are 2-6 at home vs. ODU.

GS is 1-3 against Southern Miss, with two straight losses, in the series from 1973-2003. The Eagles are 1-0 vs. USM at Hanner.

Georgia Southern hosts Georgia State Jan. 21, and finishes the regular season with four of six contests at home, culminating with a contest against Appalachian State on Feb. 24.

The 2023 Sun Belt Men's and Women's Basketball Championships, featuring all 14 teams, will take place from Tuesday, Feb. 28, to Monday, March 6, at the Pensacola (Florida) Bay Center.

WOMEN'S TENNIS

Eagles earn academic honors

The Georgia Southern women's tennis team coached by Sean McCaffrey capped another stellar year in the classroom by earning ITA All-Academic Team honors, with four Eagles earning scholar-athlete awards.

ITA All-Academic Teams are awarded to Division I schools that maintain a 3.20 grade-point average or better for the entire year, while ITA Scholar-Athletes must maintain a 3.5 GPA for the year.

This is the seventh straight year that the Eagles have earned ITA All-Academic Team honors, dating back to 2016, and overall the 13th ITA All-Academic Team honor for Georgia Southern women's tennis.

Individually, fifth-year senior Mila Hartig, senior Elizabeth Goines, junior Paula Hijos and sophomore Silvia Martinez Jimenez earned ITA Scholar-Athlete honors.

Hartig capped her Eagle career by being named an ITA Scholar-Athlete all five years at Georgia Southern, while Hijos earned her third scholar-athlete honor. Goines and Martinez Jimenez each received their first scholar-athlete honor.

ATHLETICS

Community service

The well-rounded student-athletes at Georgia Southern not only excelled on the field and in the classroom, they also were active in community service.

Georgia Southern University logged 7,267 total department community service hours, surpassing the goal of 7,000 for the 2021-22 academic year.

In addition, the Eagles donated 1,000 meals at the Jan. 15 Feed the Boro event. Overall, all GS teams participated in some form of community service during the year covering 94 separate service opportunities and aiding 56 different community organizations.

According to Helper Helper, a community service app that connects volunteers to meaningful experiences in their community, the Eagles ranked among NCAA Division I's best in community service hours.

The women's basketball, volleyball, and swimming and diving teams all topped the nation in community service hours, helping Georgia Southern's women's programs rank sixth overall in NCAA DI.

Men's basketball ranked fourth nationally, while men's and women's tennis and softball ranked fifth. Women's soccer ranked eighth, giving the Eagles eight different teams that ranked among the top 10 nationally in community service.

In terms of raw hours, the Georgia Southern football team logged a total of 1,668 community service hours, leading the department. Women's basketball logged 1,312 hours, while volleyball recorded 1,145 hours. Softball (607) and baseball (559) rounded out the top five programs in hours volunteered.

The hours were calculated from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022, and they were based on events submitted by each team's student-athlete advisory committee representative and reported to the Helper Helper app throughout the year.

TRACK AND FIELD, CROSS COUNTRY

Neville adds to coaching staff

Georgia Southern track and field and cross country coach David Neville has added James Isaac and Megan Murray to his coaching staff.

Isaac will coach the jumps and multievent student-athletes, while Murray will coach the cross country and distance runners.

Isaac comes to Statesboro from Great Bend, Kansas, where he spent last season at Barton Community College. He helped guide the Cougars to 18 All-America performances and was named the NJCAA Central Region Indoor Women's Assistant Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA.

Neville said he was thrilled to include Isaac in a new era of the program.

"He has proven himself to be an excellent coach, and I'm excited to see what he will bring as we look forward and take this program to a new level," Neville said in a press release. "Not only will he excel at daily coaching instruction but also in recruiting by taking the knowledge that he's gained and the connections he has made along the way."

A native of Durham, North Carolina, Isaac began his coaching career at Southern Durham High, where he served as assistant coach for four seasons before taking over as head coach from 2015-2018. Isaac was the assistant coach at Hugh M. Cummings High School in Burlington, N.C., where he helped the school bring home three state championships and a pair of runner-up finishes. Isaac coached 26 all-state performances in his three years, capturing 19 state titles.

Isaac thanked Neville and director of athletics Jared Benko in the press release, saying he feels blessed and honored to join the program.

Murray was a four-year member of the University of Tennessee cross country and track and field teams and a two-year member of the Michigan State track and field team. A three-time USTFCCA All-South Region Cross Country honoree, Murray qualified for the Junior USA Cross Country team in 2017 and the NCAA Cross Country Championships in 2018. She served as the cross country team captain as a senior at Tennessee and finished top-three on the team at all six meets.

"She has a great passion for coaching and the mental aspect of developing athletes," Neville said. "As someone who has had experience competing at the collegiate level, she will bring a unique ability to relate to these student-athletes."

Originally from Knoxville, Murray graduated from Tennessee in May 2020 with a bachelor's degree in neuroscience and a minor in German. She graduated from Michigan State in May 2022 with a master's degree in kinesiology and a concentration in sport psychology.

"Coach Neville is building a great environment here, and I look forward to working with him as a part of this staff," Murray said. "Coach Neville's vision for student-athlete success, on and off the track, is inspiring, and I'm thrilled for the future of this program."

For more coverage of Georgia Southern athletics, go to https://www.savannahnow.com/sports/college/georgia-southern/

Nathan Dominitz is the Sports Content Editor of the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com. Email him at ndominitz@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @NathanDominitz

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia Southern Extra newsletter athletics men basketball women tennis