JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 5, 2023) – The Brooks Savage era officially begins Monday night. 
 
ETSU men's basketball opens the 2023-24 season when the Buccaneers host King at 7 p.m. inside Freedom Hall. 
 
GAME INFO
DATE: Monday, Nov. 6
TIME: 7 p.m. 
LOCATION: Freedom Hall (Johnson City, Tenn.)
TEAMS: ETSU vs. King 
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ (Keith Brake & Bruce Tranbarger)
LIVE STATS: ETSUBucs.com (StatBroadcast)
RADIO: WXSM-AM 640 | 104.9 NASH ICON (Jay Sandos)
TICKETS: ETSUTickets.com | (423) 439-3878
TWITTER: @ETSU_MBB
GAME SPONSOR: East Tenn Rent-Alls
 
ABOUT THE BUCS

• ETSU is led by first-year head coach Brooks Savage who was named the 19th head coach in program history back on March 20
• The Bucs are coming off a 105-55 win over UVA Wise last Monday in an exhibition game 
• As a team, ETSU made 18 three-pointers last Monday night in the 50-point win over the Cavaliers 
• Monday marks the 105th season opener of ETSU men's basketball … Overall, the Bucs are 61-41 in the previous openers (please note, results are missing for the 1920- 21 and 1932-33 seasons) … The Bucs have reached the century mark in six of those openers, including five since the 1988-89 season – three of those times the Blue and Gold reached the NCAA Tournament
• Since 1981-82, ETSU has won 38 of its 42 home openers … The Bucs have won 33 of their last 36 home openers, including eight of the last nine
• Brooks Savage was named the 19th head coach in program history back on March 20 … The 18 previous Buccaneer head coaches have combined to go 13-5 in their ETSU debut … The Buccaneer coaches to win their first game include Vernon McFee, Jim Luck, John Robinson, Gene McMurray, L.T. Roberts, Madison Brooks, Sonny Smith, Jim Halihan, Les Robinson, Alan LeForce, Ed Dechellis, Murry Bartow and Steve Forbes … Five of the last seven Buccaneer coaches have won their ETSU debut
• ETSU was one of 61 Division I schools to make a change with its men's basketball head coach in the off season … Coach Savage is one of 31 coaches to make their Division I coaching debut this season 
• The Bucs went 12-20 last season and 8-10 in SoCon play 
• ETSU was picked to finish seventh in the SoCon preseason coaches poll and sixth in the media poll
• The 2023-24 Buccaneer roster features 15 players ... ETSU's roster consists of one graduate player, two redshirt juniors, four juniors, one redshirt sophomore, three sophomores and four freshmen … Three players hail from North Carolina and Indiana, and one each from Tennessee, Iowa, West Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Kentucky, Virginia and Maryland
• The Bucs return four players from last year's roster who logged minutes, including starters Jaden Seymour and Allen Strothers, along with Justice Smith and Braden Ilic … Overall, ETSU only returns 29 percent of its scoring, 37 percent of its rebounding and 38 percent of its minutes played in 2022-23 … Seymour totaled 253 points, 218 rebounds and 1,793 minutes, Smith posted 237 points, 111 rebounds and 683 minutes, while Allen Strothers recorded 109 points, 51 rebounds and 776 minutes and Braden Ilic added for 46 points, 33 rebounds and 199 minutes
• After losing three starters and eight players from last year's team, head coach Brooks Savage and his staff brought in 11 new guys for the 2023-24 season … Seven of the Bucs are transfers – Ebby Asamoah (Delaware), Karon Boyd (USC Aiken), DJ Hughes (Butler), Jadyn Parker (North Florida), Quimari Peterson (John A. Logan), Tyler Rice (William & Mary) and Timmy Fasehun (Gulf Coast State College) … Four Bucs are true freshmen – Maki Johnson (Huntington Prep), Gabe Sisk (Ballard HS), Jaxson Jones (The Skill Factory) and David Meriwether (Lawrence North HS)
• ETSU will have at least three games on national television this season … When the Bucs travel to Indianapolis to take on Butler on Monday, Nov. 13, the game will be televised on CBS Sports Network … ETSU's second game on CBSSN will be on Feb. 10 when the Bucs host reigning conference champion Furman … The Bucs' home game with in-state rival Chattanooga on Sunday, Jan. 21 will also be broadcast live on ESPN2 or ESPNU … Meanwhile, the four SoCon quarterfinal games will also be carried on Nexstar on March 4, while the two semifinal games on March 5 will be broadcast either on ESPN2/ESPNU and the championship game on March will be carried on ESPN
• ETSU has made at least one three-pointer in 1,124 straight games – the fourth-longest streak in the country

ABOUT KING

• ·      King finished 7-22 last season and went 6-14 in Conference Carolinas play 
• ·      The Tornado were picked to finish 11th in the Conference Carolinas Preseason Coaches Poll
• ·      King lost four of its top five leading scorers from a year ago, including Michael Mays who averaged a team-best 24.0 points per game and knocked down 72 three pointers 
• ·      Kenny Turner is the Tornado top returning scorer as he averaged 10.4 points and 7.5 rebounds a year ago 
• ·      King has a familiar face on its roster as Cam George transferred to Bristol after playing the last two seasons in the Blue & Gold 
• ·      Last season, King averaged 82.7 points per game but gave up 90.7 
•  

SERIES HISTORY 

• ·      Monday marks the 36th all-time meeting between the two programs 
• ·      ETSU leads the all-time series 21-15 
• ·      This will be the first meeting between the two nearby schools since Nov. 29, 2004 when ETSU won 82-48 
• ·      The first all-time meeting between the two programs came in 1919-20 when King won 33-26
• ·      ETSU's first win in the series came a year later when the Bucs won 37-20 in 1921-22

 
UP NEXT 
ETSU will hit the road for two straight games beginning Thursday night at Elon. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. 
 
PURCHASE TICKETS 
Fans can purchase season tickets or the Rivalry Pack by calling the ETSU Ticket Office at 423-439-3878 or visiting ETSUTickets.com. The Rivalry Pack guarantees tickets to the Davidson (Nov. 17), Chattanooga (Jan. 21) and Furman (Feb. 10) games. 
  
For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's basketball tab.