This is the 32nd season of West Florida Basketball. UWF has an all-time record of 431-403 (.518) in 834 games. UWF is 120-180 (.400) in 21 seasons of Gulf South Conference play. The Argonauts have made nine conference tournament appearances.
YEAR ONE OF THE JEFF BURKHAMER ERA
* The Argos are in the first season under Jeff Burkhamer, who was announced as the fourth head coach in program history on April 15, 2015. The 31-year coaching veteran entered the year with a 218-153 (.588) record in 13 seasons as the head coach at Lander and Armstrong State. He also has a record of 155-41 in six seasons as a junior college head coach at North Greenville College and Santa Fe Community College. The Ohio native has Division I experience as an assistant at Winthrop (1984-85), Charleston Southern (1985-87) and Morehead State (1987-89), and was on the coaching staff for the Grand Rapids Hoops (1991-94) in the CBA.
SERIES HISTORY
* UWF and Spring Hill are meeting for the 10th time in men's basketball on Monday night. The Argos lead the series 6-3 after sweeping both meetings last season as part of their 4-0 start.
Nov. 22, 2014 Mobile W, 78-66
Nov. 25, 2014 Pensacola W, 84-63
RECAPPING THE OPENING WEEKEND
* UWF opened the 31st season of men's basketball with a pair of heartbreaking defeats, falling to Benedict, 72-69 and at Fort Valley State, 82-81 in overtime. The Argos trailed Benedict by 20 points late in the first half before battling back and drawing to within two points in the final 10 seconds. Rashaan Benson had an open look at a 3-pointer from the corner but it bounced off the rim. A day later, UWF and FVSU went back and forth for much of the contest only to see the game go an extra five minutes where the Wildcats scored on a driving layup in the closing seconds for the win.
SOMERFIELD WITH MEMORABLE PERFORMANCE AT FORT VALLEY STATE
* Despite suffering a pair of tough losses, UWF did have a number of strong performances over the two games, led by junior transfer Austin Somerfield. The Michigan native opened the weekend with averages of 22.5 points and 11.7 rebounds. He had a very solid 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks in the opener against Benedict but really turned heads a day later in Fort Valley, Ga. He poured in 35 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Argonauts attack. Thos figures are tied for the eighth-highest point total in a game while the boards are tied for the fifth-most in UWF annals. He was 14-for-22 from the field and 7-for-12 at the free throw line as he played all 45 minutes.
2015-16 SCHEDULE ANALYSIS
* UWF will play 26 games this season, including 12 at home in the UWF Field House.
* The Argonauts have nine games against five teams that qualified for the 2015 NCAA Division II Championship - Alabama-Huntsville, Benedict, Union, West Alabama, West Georgia. The first of those came last week against Benedict in Valdosta, Ga. on Nov. 13.
UWF PICKED 11TH IN GSC POLL
* UWF was picked to finish 11th in the Gulf South Conference in the preseason coaches poll. The Argonauts received 26 total poll points and one first place vote.
* Alabama Huntsville received nine of 11 first place votes and was picked to finish first with 95 points. West Georgia (78 pts), Union (76) and Delta State (73) were bunched together in the next three spots.
NEW LOOK FOR UWF FIELD HOUSE FLOOR
* The UWF Field House floor received a new paint scheme over the summer, with an emphasis on cleaner design and less color. The court now features a darker wood stain in the lane and a similar darker stained GSC logo near midcourt on opposite sides of the floor.
* The 4-foot restricted arc in the lane was added in preparation for its implementation at the Division II level next season.
* The Argonaut head at midcourt remained in color as did the navy blue border that surrounds the court.
* Social media identifiers of '#GoArgos' and '@GoArgos' were placed in front of the bench areas.
NCAA RULES CHANGES
* The NCAA made a number of rules changes to both the men's and women's games this season. Some of the more visible changes in the men's game include:
* Shot clock reduced from 35 seconds to 30 seconds.
* Restricted area arc expanded from three feet to four feet - Division I in 2015-16; D-II & III in 2016-17.
* Timeouts:
- Reduction of 30-second timeouts from four to three; only two carry over to the second half.
- A 30-second timeout called within 30 seconds of a media timeout will become the media timeout.
- Coaches can only call timeouts during a dead ball situation.
* The 10-second backcourt count resets except when:
- Defender causes the ball to go out of bounds;
- Offense retains possession on a held ball; or
- A technical foul is called on the offensive team.
Note: A charged timeout by the offensive team results in a new 10-second count.
* Removed the five-second closely guarded count on a dribble.
* Guarding in the post: Arm bar allowed in post area when offense has back to the basket with or without the ball.
* The offense can no longer score on a charging foul.
* Removed the prohibition against dunking the ball while the ball is dead; teams will be allowed to dunk during pregame and halftime.
