VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State men's basketball team opened practice Monday morning at The P.E. Complex.
 
The Blazers are coming off a 26-4 season in 2019-20 where they earned the three seed in the NCAA South Regional before the season was canceled due to COVID-19. They finished their season with their fourth-straight Gulf South Conference regular season title, an appearance in the Gulf South Conference Championship, and an 18-2 conference record. The Blazers also set a school-record of a 19-game winning streak which dated from Dec. 19, 2019, to Mar. 8, 2020.
 
"I think officially starting practice is good for our guys and for us coaches so we can get on the court and practice and get back in a routine" VSU head men's basketball coach Mike Helfer said. "I think everybody's routine, between coaches, players, and fans, was thrown into turmoil due to COVID and for us to get back to practicing, that's what's been the most important and what's been good for me and the team."
 
Helfer won his 300^th game at VSU after an 80-66 win Feb. 27, 2020, over West Florida with the help from returning Blazer Burke Putnam.
 
Putnam, a native of Tulsa, Okla. will be sporting a new jersey number, changing from #11 to #5 as he enters his senior year at VSU. The senior had 14 games in double figures where he recorded a season-high 30 points against Thomas University on Dec. 19, 2019. Putnam finished the season averaging 11.7 points per game and was second on the team in assists with 93. He was 124 of 224 from the field (.554) and was a team-best 81 of 99 from the line (.818) for the fifth-best free throw percentage in the league.
 
Along with Putnam, VSU will return five more players from the previous season including senior Imoras Agee. Agee started all 30 games for the Blazers last season and went 137 of 307 (.430) from the field for fourth on the team in made field goals. Redshirt Junior Cam Hamilton returns, averaging 8.6 points per game and 2.6 rebounds per game while draining 47 treys on the year. Redshirt sophomore Jakari Gallon along with redshirt freshmen Jeremy Golson and Zach Sinclair are set to return for VSU.
 
More than half of the team this season will be new faces, including graduate student Travis Bianco of Eckerd College and junior Jacolbey Owens of Gulf Coast Community College, as Helfer had to fill in the roles of multiple graduating seniors from the 2019-20 season. Bianco played three seasons at Eckerd, averaging 8.5 points per game in 90 games with 28 starts. As a redshirt junior, he averaged 16.7 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game while starting all 28 games.
 
Owens played two seasons at Gulf Coast CC, averaging 14.2 points per game while starting all 49 games he appeared in. Owens scored 20+ points more than 10 times throughout his two seasons with a high of 30 and is a 2020 FCSAA/NJCAA District VIII Champion.
 
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