APSU Sports Information
Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University (APSU) head men’s basketball coach Matt Figger officially kicked off the fall practice session in the Red Barn, as the Govs—an underdog story a year ago—prepare for an upcoming season that will hopefully find Austin Peay as one of the teams to beat in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Unlike last season, when roster upheaval left uncertainty at key spots, the Govs return many of the faces that paced Austin Peay to a third-place finish in the OVC.
Chief among them is reigning OVC Freshman of the Year Terry Taylor, who could join the 1,000-point club in just his second season after becoming just the second player in program history with a 500-point freshman campaign.
He will have plenty of help, with starters Dayton Gumm and Chris Porter-Bunton back, along with key reserves such as seniors Zach Glotta and Steve Harris and sophomore big men Richard Henderson and Ivan Cucak.
Over the summer, Glotta traveled to Prague and Madrid as part of Athletes in Action’s European tour and played with talented Division I athletes from around the country.
That battle-tested veteran core will be bolstered by six newcomers. Freshmen Antwuan Butler and Matheus Silveira look to leave an impact in their first seasons in Clarksville, while two new Govs—Isaiah Hart and Eli Abaev—were high-level, impact players in the junior college ranks and look to bring that with them to Division I. Graduate transfers Jabari McGhee (Western Kentucky) and Jarrett Givens (Adams State) bring more veteran savvy to the program, with McGhee in particular adding some high-level college hoops experience from his time at Western Kentucky and at Tennessee.
“We’re a lot deeper,” Figger said. “We’ve got more playmakers on the perimeter, more size, more depth. So far, we’ve had a really competitive spirit from 1-through-13 and at this stage of the game, I couldn’t be happier.”
APSU kicks off the 2018-19 campaign with a home contest against Oakland City, November 6th, before traveling to Mississippi State to start a a 30-day, seven-game, four-state, two-country jaunt from November 9th-December 8th.
Renewal packets for incumbent season ticket holders are being mailed out this week. New sales and premium ticketing opportunities will be announced in the coming days via LetsGoPeay.com. For more information on joining the Governors in the Dunn Center this winter, call 931.221.PEAY.
