* This is the 32nd season of West Florida Basketball. UWF has an all-time record of 434-413 (.518) in 847 games. UWF is 122-190 (.400) in 21 seasons of Gulf South Conference play. The Argonauts have made nine conference tournament appearances.
* Despite a 3-10 record, UWF has suffered five losses by five points or less, including last possession setbacks to Benedict, Fort Valley State, Lee and Monday to West Georgia.
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.
REBUILDING PROCESS ENDURING SOME GROWING PAINS
* As is the case with many new coaching changes, dramatic results may take some time to take affect and that appears to be the case this season at UWF.
* While head coach Jeff Burkhamer has praised his team's ability to keep fighting and battling game-in and game-out, the squad has dropped six games overall by five points or less and two overtime decisions.
* UWF has experienced some struggles at the free throw line at times in those five setbacks, missing eight in a 1-point OT loss to Fort Valley State, 11 in a 9-point home loss to UAH, seven in a 2-point OT defeat at Lee, three in a 3-point home loss to Miss. College and 11 in a 5-point setback to Delta State before the Holiday break.
* The program is 0-5 on the road this season and has dropped its last 14 road games dating back to mid-December of 2014. UWF was very close to earning road wins in two of the games this year, holding second-half leads of as many as seven at Fort Valley State and 15 at Lee before dropping both games in overtime.
ROTATION OF SCORING
* Four of the five starters for UWF currently average above 10 points per game - Austin Somerfield (14.8), Mario Stramaglia (12.2), Jelani Pruitt (11.4) and Lendward Griffin (10.0) have all been solid scoring options for the Argos thus far.
ABOUT VALDOSTA STATE
* VSU started the season with an 8-2 mark but has since dropped three of its last five. The Blazers have played an extra five minutes in both games last week, defeating West Georgia, 93-89 before falling to West Alabama, 80-78. The Blazers have already played six overtime games, going 2-4 overall and 2-3 in GSC play - half of their contests.
* The Blazers are averaging 84 points per game and feature seven players in double figures.
* Juniors Saadiq Muhammad and Justin Simon are two of the most accurate shooters in the GSC - Muhammad ranks first with a 64.4 FG pct. (76-of-118) and Simon is at 63.6% (56-of-88) but isn't among the leaders due to not meeting the minimums of 2.5 made baskets per game.
* Simon is tied for the league lead in rebounding with UWF junior Austin Somerfield at 9.0 rpg. Simon has six double-figure rebound efforts but just one in the last eight outings.
* Senior PG Chris Bilbo leads the GSC with 5.0 assists per game but has just 11 over the last four (2.8 apg).
SERIES HISTORY VS VALDOSTA
* UWF and Valdosta State are playing for the 45th time in men's basketball on Saturday, with VSU holding a 24-20 all-time advantage. It will be tied for the second-most played series in program history with the UNA matchups. UWF and Alabama Hunstville have met 47 times on the hardwood.
* The Blazers won both contests a year ago, including a 67-66 win thanks to a Josh Lemons free throw with seven seconds left before Justin Williams' three at the horn was off the mark.
* UWF has dropped three-consecutive games to the Blazers in Valdosta.
SOMERFIELD BECOMING HARDER & HARDER TO GUARD
* Junior Austin Somerfield is UWF's leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 14.8 points and a GSC-best 9.0 rebounds per game. He has five double-doubles this season. He ranks tenth in the league in scoring.
* Somerfield went off against Fort Valley State on Nov. 14, scoring a career-high 35 points and grabbing a career-high 18 rebounds. He has since added two 20-plus point games and a pair of 17-rebound efforts.
* Somerfield has recorded double-digit point totals in 11 of 13 games this season.
* The Greenville, Mich. native stands 33rd in NCAA Division II in rebounds per game and 45th in offensive rebounds per game (3.3).
PRUITT THE LION TAMER
* Junior G Jelani Pruitt scored a career-high 30 points in a 96-85 win over North Alabama on Dec. 5. Pruitt's previous career-best was 26 points, which he did during his freshman campaign at Neosho Community College two years ago.
* Pruitt also set a career high in rebounds against UNA, pulling down 15 boards.
* Pruitt's first half against UNA entailed 17 points and converting seven of his first 10 shots. Prior to facing UNA, Pruitt had totaled 19 points over the span of three games, while battling an ankle issue suffered in the season opener against Benedict in Valdosta, Ga.
* Pruitt is averaging 11.4 ppg and 6.5 rpg with 10 starts on the year. His 52 free throws attempted are the second-most on the team and his 13 steals in 12 games are also second on the squad. He has seven games in double figures, including three streaight.
* Pruitt is averaging a double-double in the last three games, with 20.3 points and 12.0 boards. He has posted a double-double in each game against Christian Borhters, West Alabama and West Georgia.
JUSTIN WILLIAMS NAMED TO ALLSTATE NABC GOOD WORKS TEAM
• Justin Williams was named to the 2016 Allstate NABC Good Works Team® as announced by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Allstate Insurance Company in early December.
• Williams is one of 257 players named and one of 48 non-NCAA Division I players recognized.
• Williams is a physics and mathematics major with extracurricular activities including volunteering at Loaves and Fishes soup kitchen, a mission trip to Nicaragua last August, vice president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and helps out with the Miracle League of Pensacola.
JAN. 23 DOUBLEHEADER AT UAH TO BE TELEVISED NATIONALLY ON ASN
• The UWF basketball programs will receive some national exposure when their games at Alabama Huntsville on Jan. 23 will be televised as part of the American Sports Network's Division II Basketball Showcase.
• To accommodate the television broadcast of the doubleheader, the women's game will now tip-off at 1 p.m. followed by the men's contest at 3 p.m.
• The games will stream live on NCAA.com and the NCAA Sports Mobile App. WFGX MyTV 35 in Pensacola/Mobile Ala. has carried ASN broadcasts in the past.
2015-16 SCHEDULE ANALYSIS
• UWF will play 26 games this season, including 12 at home in the UWF Field House.
• The Argonauts will play nine games against five teams that qualified for the 2015 NCAA Division II Championship - Alabama-Huntsville, Benedict, Union, West Alabama, West Georgia.
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.
