FORT MYERS, Fla. –The FSW women's basketball team will open its 2016-17 regular season on Tuesday (Nov. 1) evening with a road contest against Hillsborough CC. Tipoff in Tampa, Fla. is slated for 6:00 p.m.
The Matchup: FSW (0-0) at Hillsborough CC (0-0)
When: Tuesday, Nov. 1 | 6 p.m.
Where: The Hawk's Nest | Tampa, Fla.
Hashtags: #FSWWBB | #Squad1
Series History: First Meeting
WHO IS HILLSBOROUGH CC
Hillsborough finished the 2015-16 season with an 8-22 overall record (1-11 Mid-Florida Conference). The Hawks averaged 65.9 points and shot 35 percent from the field and 28.3 percent from behind the arc.
The Hawks return four of their top five scorers from last season, including Ja'Nyia McNealy (10.8 ppg).
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
FSW women's basketball received nine votes to rank No. 14 in the 2016-17 Florida College System Activities Association (FCSAA) NJCAA Region 8 Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll as released by the association on Tuesday. The poll was voted on by Region 8 women's basketball coaches, the Region 8 Women's Basketball Chair and the FCSAA Scoreboard Coordinator.
FCSAA regular season games begin Tuesday, November 1 and the first regular season coaches' poll will be released Tuesday, November 8.
Gulf Coast State, the defending FCSAA State and NJCAA National Champs, took the top spot in the poll. Chipola is ranked No. 2 followed by Tallahassee CC, Northwest Florida State, Palm Beach State, Daytona State, Eastern Florida State, Central Florida, Santa Fe and No. 10 Broward College.
Pensacola State, St. Petersburg and Miami Dade each received 20, 19 and 11 votes, respectively, to be ranked No. 11-13 and ahead of No. 14 FSW.
ROAD WARRIORS
In their first season under Ward, the Buccaneers' campaign begins with six straight road games, including neutral site contests against Vincennes University (Nov. 11) and Grand Rapids CC (Nov. 12) in Panama City, Fla. as part of the Gulf Coast Tournament.
MEET THE STAFF
FSW will be led by Ward, who has more than 20 years of coaching knowledge and experience at the junior college level. Prior to coming to Florida SouthWestern she spent four seasons on the sidelines for Florida State College of Jacksonville and (2011-2015) and was the head coach at Northwest-Shoals Community College from 1995-2011. At FSCJ, Ward was named Mid-Florida Conference Coach of the Year twice, had three consecutive 20-plus winning seasons (while being nationally ranked) and won back-to-back Mid-Florida Conference Championships.
During her time at NW-Shoals Community College, Ward had an overall record of 384-141 (.730) and her team had a 100 percent retention rate and a 95 percent graduation rate. She helped over 60 players earn four-year scholarships and took her team to the National Championship game, while being ranked number one in the country. Ward was also a five-time Coach of the Year in her region and a four-time Coach of the Year in the Alabama Community College Conference.
Florida SouthWestern's assistant coaches are Stephanie Edwards, Dr. Jerald Ellis and Oscar Lopez.
Edwards comes to FSW after spending two seasons as a graduate assistant at NCAA Division I Jacksonville University. Last season, the Dolphins upset No.1 seed FGCU in the Atlantic Sun Conference title game to pick up their first-ever A-Sun Conference championship and NCAA Tournament berth. The team finished with a 22-11 overall record, the third 20-win season in program history, with an 11-3 mark in conference play.
Before joining the coaching staff at JU, Edwards, a member of the 2014 Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) 'So You Want To Be A Coach' program, played two seasons playing for the Dolphins after spending two years at Santa Fe College. In her senior season at Jacksonville, Edwards started in 28 games and averaged 7.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists, while shooting 40 percent from behind the arc. In her two seasons at JU, she played in 59 games (47 starts), scored 444 points, grabbed 201 rebounds, dished out 169 assists and tallied 90 steals.
At Santa Fe College (2010-2012), she earned Mid-Florida all-conference honors twice and helped Santa Fe win a Mid-Florida Conference title and earn a trip to the NJCAA National Tournament. Edwards earned her bachelor's degree (sociology) and master's degree (education) from Jacksonville University.
Ellis arrives at FSW after serving as the head girls basketball coach at Island Coast HS from 2008-2016. He helped build the program from scratch and led the Gators to 20 wins in each of the last two seasons. Ellis, who founded and coaches the girls basketball exposure program Florida Vision, also has junior college coaching experience. He served as associate head men's coach at Miami Dade from 1989-92.
Prior to his stint at Miami Dade, Ellis held head coaching positions at Immokalee HS (1987-89; boys basketball) and Southwest Miami (1985-87; girls basketball).
Ellis, a full-time mathematics professor at FGCU, received his undergraduate degree from LSU, his master's degree from Nova Southeastern and his PhD from Barry University.
A native of Caguas, Puerto Rico, Lopez has called Fort Myers home for 16 years. He has strong ties to the Puerto Rican basketball infrastructure and will look to help the Bucs as they stretch their recruiting efforts internationally.
Lopez founded the Youth Development Basketball League, a non-profit organization that helps develop local talent in Southwest Florida. He's also served as an assistant coach for the Dashuh/Dashim AAU program (2014-16) and Gateway Charter HS (2012-16).
SEASON TICKETS
The FSW Athletic Department is still taking reservations for 2016-17 season tickets (men's and women's combo) and fans have several options to select from. Season ticket prices range from $75 to $300 and fans can go to FSWBucs.com/Tickets to fill out the online form and reserve their seat(s). FSW students will be admitted FREE with a valid BUC Card.
WATCH THE BUCS ONLINE
All 15 of FSW's home games will be available online through FSW Livestream (FSW.edu/livestream), and can be viewed on smartphones, tablets and laptop or desktop computers.
SUNCOAST CREDIT UNION ARENA
The Buccaneers will compete in the brand new Suncoast Credit Union Arena. When complete, Suncoast Credit Union Arena will be approximately 75,000 square feet and will host the Buccaneers' basketball and volleyball teams, and a student athletic center. The arena will seat approximately 3,300 fans and include six skyboxes, a hospitality event center, competition courts that convert into recreational courts, athletic office space, student, faculty and staff wellness, and an athletic center with a fitness pavilion, men's and women's locker rooms and a weight training area. The arena will have two Daktronics displays, on the north and south walls, which will each measure 10 feet high by 20 feet wide. Both displays incorporate variable content zoning to each show one large image or they can be divided into multiple windows to show any variety of live video, instant replays, up-to-the-minute statistics, graphics and animations, and sponsorship messages. One-hundred feet of ribbon displays will be installed on the east and west walls of the arena. The ribbons provide the opportunity to supplement the content on the main displays as well as highlight sponsors throughout events.
FOLLOW THE BUCS
For the latest news on FSW Athletics, log on to FSWBucs.com or stay connected to the Bucs on social media. Follow the Buccaneers on Twitter @FSWBucs, on Instagram @FSWBucs, on Facebook at Facebook.com/FSWBucs and on Snapchat at BucsSnaps.
FLORIDA SOUTHWESTERN
The Florida SouthWestern State College athletic program is a member of the Florida College System Athletic Association (FCSAA) and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The Buccaneers are one of 25 schools in the NJCAA Region 8 and are one of six schools in the Suncoast Conference. Florida SouthWestern State College currently supports four intercollegiate athletic programs (Baseball, Softball, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball), with Volleyball coming in the fall of 2017.
Baseball and Softball began their regular season competition in 2016 at the City of Palms Park in Fort Myers. Located on the Thomas Edison (Lee) Campus in Fort Myers will be the brand new Suncoast Credit Union Arena (set to be completed by fall 2016), where FSW's men's and women's basketball and volleyball teams will compete.
THE NJCAA
The movement to form a unique sports association dedicated to America's two-year colleges arose in 1937 when several track and field coaches gathered in Fresno, California. A year later, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rejected a petition from 13 two-year colleges in California to grant their teams and athletes permission to compete at the NCAA Track & Field Championships.
In the spring of 1938, following the NCAA's rejection, those same 13 two-year colleges gathered again in Fresno to organize and form an association that would promote and supervise a national athletics program exclusively for junior and community colleges…and the rest is history.
On May 14, 1938, the first constitution of the National Junior College Athletic Association was accepted by its charter members and the organization held its first national championship event a year later in May 1939.
The NJCAA has played a vital role in collegiate athletics for the past eight decades and continues to be the leader in championing academic and athletic opportunities for student-athletes. This section of the association's website is dedicated to celebrating the NJCAA's rich history and tradition as the national governing body of two-year college athletics.
For more information on the NJCAA log on to www.NJCAA.org.
THE FCSAA
The Florida College System Activities Association, Incorporated (FCSAA) is a statewide non‑profit corporation regulating, coordinating, and promoting intercollegiate activities in: Athletics, Brain Bowl, Forensics, Music, Student Government, Student Publications, and Theatre.
Membership in the Florida College System Activities Association is open to any of the 28 colleges in the Florida College System. Each member institution is represented in the policy‑making deliberations of the Association through that institution's President or other designated representative. The institutional representatives constitute the FCSAA Presidents Assembly, the ultimate authority in FCSAA.
For more information on the FCSAA log on to www.TheFCSAA.com.
NJCAA REGION 8, THE SUNCOAST CONFERENCE & THE SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
Member colleges of the NJCAA are allotted to a specific NJCAA Region upon membership to the association. Unlike other collegiate organizations that defer to conference affiliation, the NJCAA guarantees each member college's membership within the regional structure of the association. In most cases, region assignment is based upon geographic location of the college.
The region structure of the NJCAA is the primary method used by all sponsored sports of the association in determining qualification for national championship tournaments. In certain sports, two or more regions are partnered to form a competition 'district', which is then used for national championship qualification. The organization of districts varies per sport and is formulated every two years under the authority of the association's board of directors.
FSW is in Region 8 and is joined by ASA College Miami (Region 8 only; non-FCSAA member), Broward College, Chipola College, College of Central Florida, Daytona State College, Eastern Florida State College, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Gulf Coast State College, Hillsborough Community College, Indian River State College, Lake-Sumter State College, Miami Dade College, Northwest Florida State College, Palm Beach State College, Pasco-Hernando State College, Pensacola State College, Polk State College, Santa Fe College, Seminole State College of Florida, South Florida State College, St. Johns River State College, St. Petersburg College, State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota and Tallahassee Community College.
The Bucs are also in the Suncoast Conference with Hillsborough Community College, Polk State College, South Florida State College, St. Petersburg College and State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota.
The women's basketball program is Southern Conference with Broward College, Eastern Florida State College, Indian River State College, Miami Dade College and Palm Beach State College.
For more information on Region 8 log on to www.TheFCSAASports.com.