VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State men's basketball team begins the 2020-21 season Saturday at 2 p.m. against West Georgia at The Coliseum in Carrollton, Ga.
 
For the 2020-21 academic year, the GSC will utilize divisional play in basketball. The schedule will feature a combination of single game matchups and two-game series against the same opponents on consecutive days at the same location. The format is intended to streamline COVID-19 Pandemic testing protocols and reduce travel costs.
 
Additionally, the conference will implement a mirrored schedule, with the men and women playing at opposite sites, eliminating all doubleheaders.
 
With no change to the schedule for NCAA Regionals, the GSC Basketball Championships will keep their dates, with the quarterfinals set to begin on March 2, 2021. More information on those tournaments will be released closer to that time.
 
Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming and radio broadcast information of the games all season long on vstateblazers.com on the men's basketball schedule page.  This season, VSU men's basketball games, both home and away, will be broadcast on WDDQ Talk 92.1 FM and online at talk921.com with Mike Chason and Spencer Van Horn having the call.
 
The Blazers are coming off a 26-4 record overall while going 18-2 in conference play under head coach Mike Helfer in 2019-20. VSU earned its fourth-straight regular season title which earned it the top seed in the GSC tournament, before dropping the Championship game to Alabama Huntsville. The team also earned an NCAA tournament bid before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
 
In the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II rankings, the Blazers rank 16, with GSC foe Alabama Huntsville at 11. Along with the NABC rankings, the D2 Sports Information Directors Association (D2SIDA) ranked the Blazers at 14 and released its preseason region top ten last week.
 
In the D2SIDA South Region poll, Florida Southern was picked first, followed by Nova Southeastern at second, while VSU sits at third right ahead of Alabama Huntsville. Miles will start the season at five with Lee close behind at sixth. Both Embry-Riddle and Palm Beach Atlantic are tied for seventh, followed by West Alabama, with Barry rounding out the ten. The South Region is comprised of the Sunshine State Conference, Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the GSC.
 
Also last week, the 2020-21 GSC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll was released which has the Blazers as favorites to win the East Division. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the league was divided into two divisions this season, an East and West Division to limit travel during the pandemic.  The East Division is comprised of VSU, Auburn Montgomery, Lee, Montevallo, Shorter, West Florida and West Georgia. Lee was picked second in the East Division, followed by Montevallo, West Florida, West Georgia, Auburn Montgomery, and Shorter.
 
Along with the preseason poll, the preseason all-conference team was announced as VSU senior's Burke Putnam and Imoras Agee were named to the GSC Preseason All-East Division Team. This was both players first preseason all-league honors of their career. West Georgia's Kadeim Jones, Lee's Quay Kennedy, and Shorter's Ja'Cori Wilson round out the East Division Team.
 
Heading into the 2020-21 season, 16^th year head coach Helfer, who recorded his 300^th win last season against West Florida on Feb. 27, returns one starter in Agee. The senior out of Linden, Ala. started all 30 games and was one of five starters who averaged double figures for the season. A GSC Winter Academic Honor Roll Recipient, the guard was fourth on the team in made field goals with 137 and drained 37 balls from beyond the arch. He averaged 12.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, along with 69 assists, two block, and 34 steals. Agee had 18 games in double figures with three games over 20 points.
 
Earning a starting role towards the end of the season, Putnam will also be returning to the floor for the Blazers. The 6-3 guard from Tulsa, Okla. averaged 11.7 points per game and 3.1 rebounds per game while being second on the team in assists with 93. As a junior, he saw the court in all 30 games and started 19, shooting 124 of 224 (.554) and led the team at the line with 81 free throws made (.818) for fifth-best in the GSC. Putnam recorded his season-high of 30 points on Dec. 19, against Thomas University where he was 12 of 20.
 
Helfer filled more than half of the roster with new players, one of which was GSC Top Newcomer Travis Bianco. Bianco played three seasons at Eckerd, averaging 8.5 points per game in 90 games with 28 starts. Starting every game as a redshirt junior, he averaged 16.7 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game in 28 games. He recorded a career high of 31 points along with a double-double on Jan. 2, against Nova Southeastern, finishing the game with 13 rebounds. The graduate transfer recorded five double-doubles during his final season with the Tritons.
 
West Georgia finished the 2019-20 season 9-19 overall and 7-13 in league play. The Wolves return eight players from last season and three starters. Leading scorer Kadeim Jones returns for his senior season, where he averaged 15.8 points per game as a junior which was seventh best in the GSC. Jones was also named to the GSC Preseason All-East Division Team last week. The Wolves also return point guard Oronté Anderson, who averaged 11.4 points per game and led the conference in assists, averaging 5.9 per game.
 
UWG is under the direction of head coach Dave Moore who is 26-31 (.456) for the Wolves and 19-21 in GSC play.
 
The Wolves opened the 2020-21 season Wednesday against Montevallo, dropping its first game of the season 72-75.
 
The Blazers have a 9-2 record over the past five years against the Wolves and have won the last three meetings, with the most recent on Feb. 8, 2020 with a score of 105-83. VSU averages 87 points during that 11 game span which includes a win in the Gulf South Conference Quarterfinal during the 2017-18 season.
 
Putnam averaged 16.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in the two meetings last season on 10 of 22 from the field. Agee averaged 14.0 points during those two meetings with 6.5 rebounds per game, shooting 10 of 20 from the field. The Blazers as a team shot 44 of 79 (.557) from the field and 13 of 27 (.481) from deep during a 105-83 home win on Feb. 8, 2020. The team's first meeting of the season last year, on Jan. 16, 2020, shot 34 of 72 (.472) from the field along with 26 points from the free throw line. The Wolves averaged 88 points between the two meetings with an average of 40.5 rebounds and 17 assists.
 
Anderson is the leading scorer from the Wolves during last year's bouts, where he went 8 of 14 (.571) for 24 points with six rebounds. He averaged 19 points and six rebounds, with a game high of nine rebounds during the first meeting of the season.
 
VSU returns for their home opener against Montevallo on Wed., Dec. 16, before hitting the road again to face Lee on Sat., Dec. 19 at 2 p.m., to close out the 2020 portion of the schedule.
 
Season tickets are on sale now.  Please call 229-333-SEAT for more information on purchasing tickets.  Check back with vstateblazers.com for updates on all things Blazer basketball and on all VSU's 12 intercollegiate athletic programs.