North Carolina A&T vs. Greensboro College
When: Thursday, Nov. 18, 6 p.m.
Where: Corbett Sports Center (East Greensboro, N.C.)
TV/Radio: ESPN+ / Spencer Turkin (ncataggies.com)
North Carolina A&T vs. Wake Forest
When: Saturday, Nov. 20, 4 p.m.
Where: LJVM Coliseum (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
TV: ACCNX
A&T Team Leaders
Points: Tyler Maye (12.3 PPG)
Rebounds: Marcus Watson (6.0 RPG)
Assists: Kameron Langley (4.7 APG)
Blocks: Harry Morrice (12)
Steals: Kameron Langley (7)
Field Goal Percentage: Jeremy Robinson (.625)
3-pt Field Goal Percentage: Jeremy Robinson (.400)
Free Throw Percentage: Justin Whatley (1.000)
A&T Big South Leaders (Top-10)
Assists: Kameron Langley (14) – 6th
Blocks: Harry Morrice (12) – 1st
Steals: Kameron Langley (7) – 5th
Field Goal Percentage: Tyler Maye (.500) – 6th
A&T National Leaders (Top-100)
Blocks: Harry Morrice (12) – t-3rd
Steals: Kameron Langley – 95th
NORTH CAROLINA A&T AGGIES (0-3): The Aggies are coming off a last-second defeat at the hands of the University of South Florida (USF). A&T held a 14-point lead multiple times in the game but went cold offensively down the stretch, enabling the Bulls to mount a comeback. The Aggies have held double-digit leads in the second half in two of their three games but have failed to finish.
The Aggies return 10 letterwinners from last year's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Southern Division Championship team. In addition, A&T has one preseason all-conference honoree in graduate point guard Kameron Langley, a second team. Langley has been a staple at point guard over the last five years. He is the school's all-time leader in assists with 760. He is one of only 52 players in NCAA history to eclipse the 750-assist mark. Langley also surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career against USF.
Head coach Will Jones is now in his third season overall and second full season after initially taking over on an interim basis on December 24, 2019. Since then, Jones has compiled a 19-5 conference record and the program's first regular-season conference title since 1990. He even earned MEAC coach of the year honors in 2020. He sports a 25-18 (.581) overall record at the helm of the program.
GREENSBORO COLLEGE PRIDE (1-3): The Pride was tabbed fifth in the USA South Athletic Conference's preseason poll. Senior guard Greyson Collins, a first-team All-USA South selection last season, is back this year and is the leading scorer for GC at 21.0 points per game. He is coming off a 29-point performance in the Pride's first win of the season, a 91-79 victory over Ferrum College. Collins was GC's leading scorer coming into the A&T game last year and was held scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting.
Head coach Jim Cantamessa is in his third year at the program's helm and 12th year overall. Previous to taking the head job, he served as an assistant coach and associate head coach for the last five years. Cantamessa wears many hats at GC, including being the head men's golf coach as well. He is searching for his 20th win overall, possessing a 19-28 (.404) record as a head coach. Under Cantamessa's direction, the Pride defeated Division-I opponent Longwood, 67-64, on Dec. 6, 2020.
WAKE FOREST DEMON DEACONS (2-0): The Deacs return two starters and four letterwinners from last year's squad that went 6-16 overall. One notable offseason addition is graduate transfer Alondes Williams (Oklahoma). Williams is averaging a team-high 27.0 points per game and is coming off a 32-point performance last time out, an 87-75 win over Western Carolina.
Head coach Steve Forbes is in his second season as the Demon Deacon men's basketball program leader. In his inaugural season, WFU went 6-16 and just 3-15 in conference play. Before coming to Winston-Salem, Forbes was the head coach at East Tennessee State. In 2019-20, ETSU was having its best year in program history with a 30-4 record before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the remainder of the season. The Bucs were the regular season and tournament champions. Forbes was named the Southern Conference Coach of the Year and the recipient of the Hugh Durham Award, given to the most outstanding mid-major coach in the country. Overall, he has a 302-121 (.714) career record.
THE SERIES: A&T has beaten Greensboro College in all eight previous meetings. The Aggies are 0-6 all-time against Wake Forest.
QUOTABLE: "The guys are looking forward to the chance to compete at home. They came here to compete in one of the nation's best atmospheres. It will be great to play in front of our fans and have Aggie Nation rooting them along." Head coach Will Jones ahead of Thursday's Home Opener
"It's always great to play Wake Forest. Coach Forbes will have his guys ready to go. We are looking forward to a great game this weekend in Winston." Coach Jones on Saturday's matchup against WF
GAME NOTES:
- The average margin of victory over A&T's eight wins over Greensboro College has been 27.6 points.
- A&T has the No. 1 scoring defense in the Big South, surrendering just 58.1 points per game.
- The Aggies are also second in the conference in steals per game (8.7).
- A&T has played Wake Forest two out of the past three seasons. They have lost by 12 points each time.
- A&T's top-three leading scorers are all transfers led by VCU transfer Tyler Maye. Division I transfer Marcus Watson is second in scoring, and graduate transfer David Beatty is third.
- All three of the schools the Aggies will play at home during November and December are non-Division I institutions.
- Harry Morrice's seven blocks against the University of South Florida are the most by an Aggie in a single game since Austin Witter had eight at NJIT on Dec. 13, 2012.
