SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University men's basketball team begins the 2018-19 season this weekend looking to maintain its recent run of highly successful seasons. The competition begins Saturday and Sunday with a pair of games in the annual Wolf's Bus Lines Classic from Heiges Field House.
This year's video preview, filmed and produced by campus videographer David Oliver, is posted above. The SU Sports Information staff interviewed head coach
Chris Fite along with captains
Antonio Kellem,
Manny Span and
John Castello.
Click the PLAY button in the picture above to watch this season's video preview. The video is also available on SU's social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).
2018-19 Roster Breakdown: 2 seniors (
Antonio Kellem,
Manny Span), 5 juniors (
Daylon Carter,
John Castello,
Broguen Nicholas,
Jermaine Samuel,
Lamar Talley), 2 sophomores (
Jake Biss,
Derek Ford), 6 freshmen (
Carlos Carter,
Youssef Diabate,
Michael Grigg,
Marc Hall Jr.,
Dion Harris II,
Dom Sleva).
Starters Returning: 2 (
Antonio Kellem,
John Castello)
Notes:
- Shippensburg was voted third in the 2018-19 PSAC Eastern Division preseason coaches' poll released Oct. 26. More information is available in that release HERE.
- Shippensburg returns 10 players from last year's roster, including two players (Youssef Diabate, Dom Sleva) who completed redshirt seasons.
- Senior Antonio Kellem enters the 2018-19 season just eight points shy of reaching the 1,000-point plateau for his career. A three-year starter, Kellem averaged 11.0 points per game last season and made a career-high 63 three-pointers. He also averaged a single-season best 83.9 percent (47-of-56) from the free-throw line.
- Junior John Castello averaged 11.8 points and 7.9 rebounds last season in his second year as a full-time starter. Castello improved his free-throw shooting by 11 percent, converting 82.5 percent (47-of-57) at the free-throw line. He shot 54 percent from the field, including 34 percent (35-of-104) from the three-point line.
- Sophomore Jake Biss is expected to take over at point guard for Clay Conner, who graduated after leading the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.5:1). Biss averaged 10 minutes per game last season, totaling 117 points and 32 assists. He shot 58 percent from the field, including 46 percent (16-of-35) from three-point range.
- Of SU's newcomers, Jermaine Samuel is a junior-college transfer from Garrett College, while Marc Hall Jr. arrives after spending last season as a redshirt at Frederick Community College. Forward Dion Harris and guard Michael Grigg each spent last year at a college preparatory school – Harris at Scotland Campus, and Grigg at South Kent. Guard Carlos Carter was a standout All-State guard at Indiana Senior High School.
