Key contributor for Coastal Carolina football team enters transfer portal
Before last week, Coastal Carolina expected to lose a lot of football team members but few impact players through the NCAA transfer portal this offseason.
That changed, however, when starting outside linebacker Cincir Evans entered the portal Thursday.
As a redshirt freshman in 2019, Evans started all 11 games he played and was seventh on the team in total tackles with 42, including 3.5 for a loss of yards, and he had an interception, pass breakup and forced fumble.
Evans, who is 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, was a 3-star recruit out of White Station High in Memphis, Tenn., and redshirted as a true freshman.
At least 10 Chanticleers entered the portal shortly after the season ended, but they were generally players who played sparingly or didn’t play at all in 2019, including six non-scholarship players, according to CCU Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Kevin Davis.
Only two of those players – redshirt freshman wide receiver Jai Williams and redshirt sophomore linebacker Michael Makins – appeared on the two-deep depth chart in the final week of the season, both as backups on a team that started 42 different players on offense and defense primarily because of injuries.
Last offseason, the Chants also lost a number of players to the transfer portal prior to Jamey Chadwell’s first season as head coach after he was promoted from offensive coordinator and associate head coach last January.
Those losses included starting offensive lineman Brock Hoffman and defensive end Jeffrey Gunter, who transferred to Virginia Tech and North Carolina State, respectively, as well as starting safety Jave Brown.
The Chants added wide receiver Sam Denmark from Virginia Tech through the portal last offseason and may add to the team through the portal again this year.
A ranking first
Off to a 13-2 start, Coastal Carolina’s women’s basketball team is ranked in the CollegeInsider.com Women’s Mid-Major Top 25 for the first time ever.
The Chanticleers are ranked 21st after entering the poll at No. 24 two weeks ago. A new poll will be out Tuesday, and the Chants should be 21st or better after home wins over Texas State and Texas-Arlington on Thursday and Saturday.
CCU is in a six-team tie for first place in the Sun Belt Conference at 3-1 in the league.
The Mid-Major Poll is in its 10th season and is made up of teams from 22 conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast, Western Athletic.
Troy (12-3, 3-1), which defeated CCU 84-77 in Troy, Ala., in the conference opener for both teams, would be ranked 27th based on its vote total and UTA is the only other Sun Belt team receiving votes in the poll.
Senior guard D.J. Williams leads the Chants in scoring and is second in the Sun Belt at 16.5 points per game, and sophomore forward Aja Blount is fifth in the conference with 15.2 points per game while shooting 54 percent from the field.
Williams scored 50 combined points in CCU’s two wins last week, including 29 to help CCU overcome a 10-point deficit against Texas State on Thursday, which was four shy of her career high.
Senior guard Torrie Cash averages 8.7 points and senior center Naheria Hamilton averages 8.1 points and 7.5 rebounds, which is sixth in the conference.
Coastal will play its next three games on the road beginning Wednesday at Little Rock before returning home on Jan. 30 against Georgia Southern.
Seven-year Chants head coach Jaida Williams’ next win will be her 100th career coaching victory.
CCU men streaking
Led by reigning Sun Belt Conference freshman of the year DeVante Jones, the CCU men’s basketball team has won eight of its past 11 games and improved to 4-3 in the conference Saturday with an 82-77 win at Texas-Arlington.
CCU (11-7) is in a three-way tie for fourth in the conference and just one game out of first place, as Georgia State (12-6), Georgia Southern (11-7) and Little Rock (11-7) are all tied for first at 5-2.
Jones, a 6-1 point guard from New Orleans, is averaging 15.9 points per game, leads the conference with 99 assists and 5.8 assists per game, and also has a team-high 28 steals and averages 5.5 rebounds. He is one of 50 players who have been named to the 2019-20 Lou Henson Award mid-season Watch List. The award is presented to the top Division I mid-major player.
The Chants have four players averaging double-digit scoring. Junior guard Keishawn Brewton, a junior college transfer from Spartanburg, averages 14.6 points and leads the Sun Belt in 3-pointers made with 55. Senior guard Tyrell Gumbs-Frater averages 12.3 and senior forward Tommy Burton averages 11.1 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds. Junior guard Garrick Green averages 8.4 points per game.
Sophomore forward Isaac Hippolyte recorded his first career double-double Saturday with 14 points and 11 rebounds to help CCU earn its first ever win at UTA.
Sophomore 6-6 guard Ebrima Dibba was averaging 11 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds while shooting 95 percent from the free throw line before a knee injury ended his season in the sixth game. The Chants had defeated Utah in the Myrtle Beach Invitational and held a six-point second-half lead over Baylor, which is ranked No. 2 in the country, in the tournament at the time of Dibba’s injury.
The Chants are back home for their next three games beginning with Little Rock at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Chavers honored
CCU junior outfielder Parker Chavers was named to Perfect Game’s College Preseason All-America second team.
Chavers was named to the 2019 ABCA/Rawlings Atlantic All-Region second team last season as a sophomore, and was also a 2019 All-Sun Belt first team selection and a member of the 2019 Sun Belt All-Tournament team.
Despite missing six games due to injury, Chavers hit .316 with 15 home runs, four triples, nine doubles, 54 RBIs, and 54 runs scored last season.
He also posted a team-high .612 slugging percentage, an on-base percentage of .435, and swiped 10 stolen bases on the year. He ranked second in the Sun Belt in triples (4), third in slugging percentage (.612), fourth in home runs (15), sixth in total bases (128), fifth in walks (39), seventh in RBI (54), and 10th in runs scored (54) to help guide the Chants to their second straight Sun Belt Tournament Championship title and NCAA Regional appearance. He batted .323 in 25 conference games.
Chavers was also named a 2018 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American and a second-team Freshman All-American by Baseball America, D1Baseball and Perfect Game.
The Chants begin the 2020 season by hosting the Brittain Resorts Baseball at the Beach tournament from Feb. 14-16.
Wildschutts back in action
CCU’s track and field season begins Saturday at South Carolina, and that means the return to action of South Africa native Nadeel Wildschutt, a three-time Sun Belt cross country runner of the year
Nadeel placed 13th in the 10,000-meter run at the 2019 NCAA Championships outdoor meet with a time of 29:54.12 to be named an NCAA second team All-American.
His brother and teammate, Adriaan Wildschutt, recorded a third-place finish in the men’s 10,000-meters to earn the bronze medal at the 2019 World University Games held in Naples, Italy from July 3-14.
This story was originally published January 13, 2020 at 4:41 PM.
