2007-08 Marks New Era For BSU Men's Basketball

October 01, 2007 | Men's Basketball

By: Ball State Athletics

MUNCIE, Ind. -- As Ball State University embarks on its 87th season of men's basketball, it's hard to think the program is entering a new era.

However, when Billy Taylor was named the 18th men's basketball coach in school history, a new chapter in the program's storied tradition began.

“There is a tremendous opportunity here at Ball State,” Taylor said. “There's great history in the coaching ranks from Coach Majerus to Steve Yoder to Ray McCallum and others, who have done tremendous things here as leaders of this program.

“There's great history in the players from Bonzi Wells to Rick Hall to Patrick Jackson and others who have done tremendous things here as student-athletes.

“And there's tremendous talent within this program from Peyton Stovall to Anthony Newell to Melvin Goins, and all of the guys on this year's roster.”

While the roster may be small in numbers, it's anything but small in talent as it includes an Indiana All-Star, four McDonald's All-America nominees and at least five players who were the Most Valuble Players of their high school teams.

Leading Ball State into this new era is a familiar name -- fifth-year senior Peyton Stovall, whose career at Ball State has been anything but normal.

Stovall -- who will be playing for his third head coach in five years -- enters his senior season 21 points shy of scoring 1,000 points, ranks seventh all-time in school history in three-point field goals, has undergone two ACL surgeries (on the same knee) and will graduate in December as a double major in sports administration and marketing.

“Peyton Stovall is a great leader,” Taylor said. “He is a very experienced player who certainly has endured much throughout his career. He is very important to our team.

“He's been an incredible resource for our program and Ball State University. I am excited about now having him back to the form he had his freshman and sophomore seasons. He is Ball State basketball.”

Stovall averaged 8.8 points and played in all 31 games a year ago. He has scored in double figures 47 times in his career, including nine games with 20-or-more points.

Stovall, the runner-up for the league's Freshman of the Year award in 2004, enters his senior season with 78 career starts.

Junior Anthony Newell is the top returning scorer from a year ago after averaging 11.9 points and a team-best eight rebounds per game. Newell scored in double figures 24 times, including 10 of the final 12 games in 2007. The 6-foot-5 forward also posted seven double-doubles in 2006-07.

“Anthony really emerged last season,” Taylor said. “We are looking forward to him having a great follow up as a junior and as one of our veterans.

“He's very aggressive, very coachable and understands the game extremely well. Anthony is poised to have a really big season.”

Junior Brandon Lampley, who played in 13 games as a sophomore, and redshirt freshman Rashaun McLemore completes the group of returning players.

Perhaps the new era in Ball State basketball can best be described by the five newcomers to the Cardinals in 2007-08.

The group includes two junior college transfers -- Laron Frazier and Rob Giles -- along with three freshmen, Melvin Goins, Malik Perry and Deontay Twyman.

Goins, a highly-touted prep recruit from Christian Life High School in Humble, Texas, was listed among the top recruits in the nation by several scouting services.

He averaged 25 points and six assists a year ago, while being named a McDonald's All-America nominee.

“Melvin is a very talented basketball player,” Taylor said. “He is extremely athletic and has great speed. He's played at a very high level in his prep career and has a good amount of experience. I see a lot of winning characteristics in his personality. He could be a key player for us this season.”

Joining Goins in the freshman class are Malik Perry, who sat out the second semester at Ball State a year ago, and Maryland high school standout Deontay Twyman.

Perry, originally recruited to Iowa, averaged 26 points and 10 rebounds as a senior at Philadelphia's Luthern Christian High School.

“Malik has a good basketball body,” Taylor said. “He's a little undersized for the post, but he has great feet and works hard. He's someone I think can really contribute and give us depth in the frontcourt.”

Twyman is one of the team's most unique stories after becoming the first athlete in 17 years to be named All-Met in both basketball and football by The Washington Post.

The 6-0 guard won numerous player of the year awards en route to scoring over 1,200 points in his prep career and winning a Maryland Class 4A State Championship.

On the gridiron, Twyman passed for over 7,000 yards and a Maryland state-record 80 touchdown passes as Sherwood won back-to-back 4A state championships.

“Deontay is someone who had a lot of success in high school and played at a very competitive level of basketball,” Taylor said. “He has shown he can really score the basketball, and that's something very attractive to our team.” Frazier and Giles both begin their junior seasons at Ball State after stellar junior college careers, where both played in the National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament.

Frazier averaged 14 points and six assists en route to being named the Arrowhead Conference Player of the Year, while Giles poured in 10 points per contest and led Mott Community College to the NJCAA National Championship last spring.

“Laron was very successful in the junior college ranks with some tremendous numbers and awards,” Taylor said. “He brings a lot of speed to the table from the guard position. He also shoots the ball well. Laron has a great personality and great spirit.

“Rob is the ultimate team player,” Taylor adds. “He's very competitive and shoots the ball well. He really cares about his teammates and is willing to stand up and fight for his team. I have a lot of respect for that.”

The 2007-08 season begins with one of the most heated rivals in Ball State history -- Nov. 9 against Butler. The Cardinals play their first four games in front of “The Nest” in Worthen Arena.

After opening with Butler, Ball State hosts Wisconsin-Milwaukee and 2007 NCAA Final Four participant Georgetown, plus renews a rivalry with Evansville for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Ball State will play five consecutive road games from Nov. 27 through Dec. 1 at St. Joseph's, Valparaiso, Purdue, Indiana State and Arkansas State.

A 16-game MAC schedule opens Jan. 6 at Toledo, with the First Energy MAC Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland slated for March 12-15.

“Very challenging,” Taylor says when asked to describe his first season at Ball State. “Our non-conference schedule will definitely prepare us for MAC play. We have a nice mix of home opponents and road contests.

“We will be tested every day and will learn a lot about ourselves as a team and as individuals over the first part of the season. Our goal is to improve every day and learn from each game to ultimately be ready for league play.

“I think we're going to do some great things here,” Taylor said. “Through my leadership and the leadership of our staff, our players can believe that we are going to provide a first-class experience for them. My goal is first and foremost to keep this team together and to try to work together going forward so that we can have a great year.”

Respect, integrity and teamwork. Those are the qualities which return for the “new” era of Ball State Basketball.