University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Photo by: UNC Asheville
2016-17 Season is One That McDevitt and Bulldogs Will Remember Fondly
03.29.2017 | Men's Basketball
End of Season Video (Click Link to Access)
2016-17 UNC Asheville Men's Basketball Final Notes (PDF - Click Link to Access)
"We had a fun year."
Those simple but profound words by UNC Asheville men's basketball head coach Nick McDevitt could not ring truer.
The 2016-17 season was another special year for the program with the Bulldogs (23-10, 15-3 Big South Conference) claiming their sixth Big South Conference regular-season title and advancing to postseason play in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT).
"I was really proud of what our team was able to accomplish this year," McDevitt said. "Anytime you win a regular-season championship, you put in a lot of hard work in the offseason from a staff and player standpoint. A lot of hard work goes into it, but also we are able to endure the ups and downs and the ebbs and flows of a long college basketball season."
It was in the early part of the long college basketball season that McDevitt and his staff knew that they just might have something special in the 2016-17 season.
"I think we found out early in non-conference play what we might be able to do in league play on the road," McDevitt, the Big South Conference Coach of the Year and NABC District 3 Coach of the Year, said. "To go to Upstate, Furman, Coastal Carolina, Elon (and win), those are four quality basketball teams. That just kind of showed that we have the ability to win games against good teams on the road."
It was that ability to win big games on the road plus protecting home court that allowed the Bulldogs to secure the co-championship in the Big South Conference regular-season with Winthrop.
"We always talk about that in order to win your league you've got to win all of your home games and you've got to really hold serve at home and then go find a way to win some on the road," McDevitt said.
The Bulldogs did not lose a conference home game during the 2016-17 regular-season en route to a 15-3 league record overall. Asheville, who will enter the 2017-18 season in the midst of a nine-game home winning streak, was 13-1 at home in the 2016-17 regular-season.
The 15 wins in Big South Conference play marked the 10th straight year that the Bulldog men's basketball program has won at least 10 games in league play, which is a new conference record.
In procuring league title No. 6, the Bulldogs also at one point during conference play won a school-record nine straight Big South games.
And what makes all of this even more impressive is that McDevitt believes the league "was strong top-to-bottom" in the 2016-17 season.
Another tremendous Bulldog season concluded, McDevitt and Asheville now turn their full attention to getting better in the offseason.
"We're a veteran group to where they understand that the time between now and next November is when you've got to make strides as a basketball team," McDevitt said. "This is the time where guys are working on their skills and getting bigger, faster, stronger and better. Next season will be here before you know it. The college basketball season is a long year. It's a grind."
In addition, as one would expect, McDevitt and his top-notch staff are working hard to better Bulldog basketball presently and in the future.
"Recruiting is the lifeblood of your program," McDevitt said. "You have to have talent and quality young men in your program in order to win regular-season championships and postseason championships. I really like the group that we've got coming back next year."
2016-17 UNC Asheville Men's Basketball Final Notes (PDF - Click Link to Access)
"We had a fun year."
Those simple but profound words by UNC Asheville men's basketball head coach Nick McDevitt could not ring truer.
The 2016-17 season was another special year for the program with the Bulldogs (23-10, 15-3 Big South Conference) claiming their sixth Big South Conference regular-season title and advancing to postseason play in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT).
"I was really proud of what our team was able to accomplish this year," McDevitt said. "Anytime you win a regular-season championship, you put in a lot of hard work in the offseason from a staff and player standpoint. A lot of hard work goes into it, but also we are able to endure the ups and downs and the ebbs and flows of a long college basketball season."
It was in the early part of the long college basketball season that McDevitt and his staff knew that they just might have something special in the 2016-17 season.
"I think we found out early in non-conference play what we might be able to do in league play on the road," McDevitt, the Big South Conference Coach of the Year and NABC District 3 Coach of the Year, said. "To go to Upstate, Furman, Coastal Carolina, Elon (and win), those are four quality basketball teams. That just kind of showed that we have the ability to win games against good teams on the road."
It was that ability to win big games on the road plus protecting home court that allowed the Bulldogs to secure the co-championship in the Big South Conference regular-season with Winthrop.
"We always talk about that in order to win your league you've got to win all of your home games and you've got to really hold serve at home and then go find a way to win some on the road," McDevitt said.
The Bulldogs did not lose a conference home game during the 2016-17 regular-season en route to a 15-3 league record overall. Asheville, who will enter the 2017-18 season in the midst of a nine-game home winning streak, was 13-1 at home in the 2016-17 regular-season.
The 15 wins in Big South Conference play marked the 10th straight year that the Bulldog men's basketball program has won at least 10 games in league play, which is a new conference record.
In procuring league title No. 6, the Bulldogs also at one point during conference play won a school-record nine straight Big South games.
And what makes all of this even more impressive is that McDevitt believes the league "was strong top-to-bottom" in the 2016-17 season.
Another tremendous Bulldog season concluded, McDevitt and Asheville now turn their full attention to getting better in the offseason.
"We're a veteran group to where they understand that the time between now and next November is when you've got to make strides as a basketball team," McDevitt said. "This is the time where guys are working on their skills and getting bigger, faster, stronger and better. Next season will be here before you know it. The college basketball season is a long year. It's a grind."
In addition, as one would expect, McDevitt and his top-notch staff are working hard to better Bulldog basketball presently and in the future.
"Recruiting is the lifeblood of your program," McDevitt said. "You have to have talent and quality young men in your program in order to win regular-season championships and postseason championships. I really like the group that we've got coming back next year."
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