San José, Calif. - Third-year head coach Jean Prioleau and the San José State men's basketball team open the 2019-20 season at 4 PM PT on Wednesday night at Hofstra.
SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (4-27, 1-17 MW)
PPG: 65.9 | FG%: 40.4 | 3FG%: 32.8 | FT%: 65.5
Notes: San José State will look to improve from its 2018-19 campaign with a mix of return talent and skilled newcomers. The Spartans return PG Brae Ivey to help in the rebuild. Ivey averaged 9.2 points and tallied a team-high 102 assists. F Seneca Knight (17 starts), F Craig LeCesne (15) and G Zach Chappell (15) are all back after starting multiple games. Head coach Jean Prioleau welcomes five newcomers, including former Wake Forest players Richard Washington and Samuel Japhet-Mathias.
HOFSTRA PRIDE (27-8, 15-3 Colonial)
PPG: 83.4 | FG%: 48.6 | 3FG%: 38.5 | FT%: 80.2
Series: First Meeting
Last: N/A
Notes: Hofstra was invited to the NIT last season after falling in the CAA Tournament championship game, 82-74, to Northeastern. The Pride's leading returning scorer is senior guard Eli Pemberton, who averaged 15.0 points plus 4.8 rebounds per game. Head coach Joe Mihalich is in his seventh season and will be coaching his 200th game for the Pride on Wednesday.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV - None
Stream - FloHoops will stream the game at Hofstra. The feed costs $7.99 through FloSports.TV.
Radio - Justin Allegri on the call through TuneIn.com and the TuneIn app. Search TuneIn for "San Jose St. Basketball".
HOFSTRA SERIES HISTORY
- This is the first meeting between the Spartans and Pride.
SAN JOSE STATE TV SCHEDULE
- San José State will play 10 games on TV this season, including three at home.
- SJSU hosts an ESPN networks game this year for the first time since 2010-11, when either ESPN2 or ESPNU will carry the SJSU tip against Utah State on Dec. 4. SJSU will also be on ESPN2 or ESPNU when visiting Utah State on Feb. 26.
- San José State will have four non-conference games on TV, all against Pac-12 competition. The Spartans will be on CBS Sports Network when hosting Stanford at the Provident Credit Union Event Center on Dec. 14. SJSU will battle both UCLA and Arizona on Pac-12 Networks and meet Oregon State on FS1 for a neutral site matchup in Las Vegas.
- The Spartans will also have four Mountain West contests on AT&T SportsNet this season - Jan. 15 at UNLV, Jan. 21 at New Mexico, Feb. 8 at Nevada and Feb. 29 vs. UNLV.
LOTS OF STARTING EXPERIENCE BACK
- The Spartans return seven players who started at least one game a season ago.
- Guard Seneca Knight is the most experienced, as the sophomore started 17 games, including the final 12, of his rookie season.
- Point guard Brea Ivey was just behind Knight, as the former junior college transfer started 16 games last season in his first year at SJSU.
- Forward Craig LeCesne and guard Zach Chappell both started 15 games last year.
- Forward Christian Anigwe, guard Isaiah Nichols and walk-on guard Trey Smith each started one game.
SIX NEW FACES FOR 2019-20
San José State head coach Jean Prioleau will have the help of six newcomers on the roster in 2019-20.
- The Spartans have three new junior college transfers in Richard Washington (Tallahassee CC), Eduardo Lane (Marshalltown CC) and Ralph Agee (East LA College). Washington started his collegiate career at Wake Forest, where he played eight games as a freshman before an injury caused him to miss the entire 2017-18 season.
- Another Wake Forest transfer will join the Spartans on the floor this season, as center Samuel Japhet-Mathias will be eligible after a redshirt season last year. The former four-star recruit appeared in 17 games off the bench at Wake Forest as a freshman in 2016-17. He posted six points and four rebounds at No. 17 Xavier.
- Prioleau added two freshmen this season in guard Omari Moore and walk-on center Harminder Dhaliwal.
NCAA RULES CHANGES FOR 2019-20
- The most notable rule change for the 2019-20 season is the extension of the three-point line. The new distance will match the three-point line used in FIBA games. The new line is 22 feet and 1.75 inches from the center of the basket, just over 16 inches further back from the previous three-point line.
- The other major change is the shot clock will now reset to 20 seconds after an offensive rebound, rather than the full 30.
- Another smaller change is head coaches will be able to call live-ball timeouts in the final two minutes of both the first and second halves, plus the final two minutes of overtime periods.
THE EVENT CENTER GETS A NEW NAME
San José State's on-campus arena has a new name starting with the 2019-20 season. Provident Credit Union has signed on as the naming rights partner, making it the Provident Credit Union Event Center. The deal is for $8.1 million over 20 years, with the majority of the annual payments scheduled for maintenance and renovation of the 30-year old facility. The president and CEO of Provident Credit Union is Jim Ernest, a San José State alum.