VALDOSTA — The South Region portion of the Division II men’s national basketball tournament begins on Saturday in Russellville, Ark.

For the third time in four years, the Valdosta State Blazers are in the South Region tournament.

First round matchups are Arkansas Tech vs. Tuskegee, Rollins vs. Alabama-Huntsville, Florida Southern vs. Barry and Valdosta State vs. Clark Atlanta. VSU’s game is at 9:30 p.m. on 92.1 FM.

Here is a look at the eight teams in the men’s South Region tournament field. The winner moves on to the Elite Eight.



Team: Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys

Seed: 1

National Ranking: 1

Record: 29-1

Record vs. VSU: 2-0

Coach: Mark Downey (4th season at ATU, 76-42; GSC West coach of the year 2009-10)

Players: Brandon Friedel, Sr. — 2009-10 Gulf South Conference West player of the year; first team All-GSC West 2009-10; 15.1 ppg, 42.5 percent 3-point shooter.

Laithe Massey, Jr. — first team All-GSC West 2009-10; 9.5 ppg and 110 assists.

 Renard Allen, Sr. — first team All-GSC West 2009-10; 2009 GSC tournament MVP; only started six games; 11.2 ppg; scored 35 points in two games vs. VSU over last two years.

Marcus Pillow, Sr. — 2010 GSC tournament MVP; only started eight games; 7.3 ppg.

Jeremy Dunbar, Sr. — 11.8 ppg; 41.2 percent 3-point shooter.

2010 back story: ATU was picked to finish second in the GSC West behind Delta State at the start of the 2009-10 season, despite winning the GSC the previous year and advancing to the round of 32. The Wonder Boys opened the season 25-0 and spent most of the new year ranked No. 1 in the country. ATU’s only loss was 58-51 at Arkansas-Monticello in the last week of the season. ATU rebounded to win its last regular season game and go 3-0 in the GSC tournament en route to its second consecutive GSC tournament championship.



Team: Rollins Tars

Seed: 2

National Ranking: 11

Record: 25-5

Record vs. VSU: 5-5

Coach: Tom Klusman (30th season at Rollins)

Players: Nick Wolf, Jr. — first team All-Sunshine State Conference in 2008-09 and 2009-10; Sunshine State player of the year in 2008-09; 17.8 ppg and 8.5 rpg.

Myk Brown, So. — second team All-Sunshine State in 2009-10. 2010 Sunshine State tournament MVP; 15.9 ppg.

2009-10 back story: Rollins has had winning streaks of seven and eight games this season. The Tars lost their final regular season game at home to Eckerd, but rebounded to beat Eckerd in the semifinals of the Sunshine State tournament. The Tars won their conference tournament on Sunday with a 66-59 win over Barry. The Tars were the biggest beneficiary in the final South Region rankings. They zoomed up three spots from No. 5 to No. 2, meaning they can’t face host Arkansas Tech until the regional finals.



Team: Florida Southern Moccasins

Seed: 3

National Ranking: 13

Record: 25-4

Record vs. VSU: 16-8

Coach: Linc Darner (4th year at FSU, 85-41; Sunshine State coach of the year three straight years)

Players: John Thompson, Sr. — 2009-10 Sunshine State player of the year; first team All-Sunshine State 2009-10; second team All-Sunshine State 2008-09; 16.4 ppg and 9.0 rpg; 56.9 percent from the field; 11 double-doubles this season.

Rion Rayfield, Jr. — first team All-Sunshine State 2009-10; 15.7 ppg; 115 assists; 43.6 percent 3-point shooter; 87.7 percent free throw shooter.

2009-10 back story: Florida Southern came into the season as a young team but a team looking for revenge. The Mocs lost the South Regional final last year on their home court to Christian Brothers. Despite Thompson being the team’s lone senior, the Mocs won the Sunshine State’s regular season title with a 13-3 record. However, the good times did not roll over into the Sunshine State tournament. The Mocs were hammered by Barry 79-61 in the semifinals. They only fell from No. 2 to No. 3 in the South Region rankings, though. The Mocs have used the same five starters in all 29 games: Thompson, Rayfield, Terry Jenkins (12.5 ppg), Brandon Jenkins (12.1 ppg) and Andre Hawkins (7.1 ppg).



Team: Valdosta State Blazers

Seed: 4

National Ranking: 6

Record: 25-4

Record vs. other South Region teams: 47-37

Coach: Mike Helfer (5th year at VSU, 104-42; GSC East coach of the year two straight years)

Players: Tyrone Curnell, Sr. — 2009-10 GSC East player of the year; first team All-GSC East 2009-10 and 2009-10; first team All-American 2008-09; first team All-South Region 2008-09; 17.7 ppg and 8.6 rpg; 11 double-doubles.

Ricardo Lewis, Sr. — first team All-GSC East 2009-10; second team All-GSC East 2008-09; 10.8 ppg.

B.J. Dibble, Sr. — 8.2 ppg and 5.8 rpg.

Tristan Crawford, Sr. — 11.9 ppg.

2009-10 back story: The Blazers got off to a torrid start, rising to No. 2 in the country before losing two games in a row to Columbus State and Tampa. They rebounded to win 15 games in a row, including the school’s first ever win over the No. 1 team in the country (Augusta State). However, the Blazers have not shot the ball well over the last month and have lost two of their last four games in ugly fashion to Alabama-Huntsville and Arkansas Tech. The loss to ATU saw the Blazers score their fewest points of the season (48), and Curnell was 0 for 10 from the field.



Team: Clark Atlanta Panthers

Seed: 5

National Ranking: 22

Record: 24-6

Record vs. VSU: 0-1

Coach: Darryl Jacobs (4th year at Clark Atlanta; 2009-10 SIAC coach of the year)

Players: Najee Lane, Jr. —  2009-10 SIAC MVP; first team All-SIAC 2009-10; 13.5 ppg.

David Brown 13.1 ppg.

2009-10 back story: The Clark Atlanta Panthers were the only team from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to remain in the South Region top eight all year long. The Panthers reeled off 14 straight wins after opening the season with a loss at Stillman. That-14 game winning streak helped the Panthers gain the No. 2 seed in the first South Region poll. However, the Panthers finished the season 7-4 to fall to the No. 5 seed. They lost to Tuskegee 61-57 in the SIAC championship game. The Panthers are No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense and No. 2 in the nation in the opponents 3-point field goal percentage. Their style is in stark contract to their first round opponent, VSU.



Team: Barry Buccaneers

Seed: 6

National Ranking: Not ranked

Record: 19-11

Record vs. VSU: 0-6

Coach: Cesar Odio (16th year at Barry; 259-199)

Players: Tony Dennison, Sr. — second team All-Sunshine State 2009-10; 18.5 ppg and 4.7 rpg.

Erick Nsangou, Sr. — honorable mention All-Sunshine State 2009-10. 15.9 ppg and 6.9 rpg.

2009-10 back story: Unlike the top five teams in the South Region tournament, Barry’s national tournament fate was up in the air heading into conference tournament week. The Bucs needed to win the Sunshine State title or at least get a lot of help. They upset Florida Southern in the semis and lost a tough battle with Rollins in the finals. Apparently the quality 18-point win over Florida Southern, a berth in the Sunshine State title game and Delta State’s bad loss to North Alabama in the GSC quarterfinals was enough to do the job. Barry has had an up-and-down season, but it has won 3 of 4. VSU beat Barry 70-62 in front of 57 people on Dec. 21.



Team: Alabama-Huntsville Chargers

Seed: 7

National Ranking: Not ranked

Record: 23-6

Record vs. VSU: 13-22

Coach: Lennie Acuff (13th year at Alabama-Huntsville; 225-140; 2009-10 GSC East coach of the year)

Players: Josh Magette, So. — second team All-GSC East 2009-10; 10.4 ppg and 190 assists.

Cody Jones, Sr. — second team All-GSC East 2009-10; 10.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg.

Zane Campbell, Fr. — GSC East freshman of the year; second team All-GSC East 2009-10; 11.5 ppg; shoots 60 percent from the field.

2009-10 back story: The Chargers were the surprise of the GSC. Picked to finish third in the GSC East, they shocked the conference by tying VSU for first in the East and falling one point short against Arkansas Tech in the GSC championship game. Campbell hit two NBA-range threes to finish a 14-0 run that put UAH up by two on ATU, but Pillow had other ideas and hit a three of his own to win the championship for ATU. The Chargers run the Princeton-style offense and are deadly when they are hot beyond the arc. That’s the case right now, as they have hit 50 3-pointers in their last four games. That’s an average of 12.5 per game.



Team: Tuskegee Golden Tigers

Seed: 8

National Ranking: Not ranked

Record: 20-10

Record vs. VSU: 1-5

Coach: Leon Douglas (3rd year at Tuskegee; 40-39)

Players: Andrae Nelson, Jr. — first team All-SIAC 2009-10; 10.9 ppg and 8.4 rpg; 54 blocks and 38 steals; shoots 53 percent from the field.

Lorell Friend, Jr. — 10.6 ppg; 64 assists and 84 turnovers.

2009-10 back story: There was no question that the only way for Tuskegee to make the field of 64 was to win the SIAC championship. The Golden Tigers did, beating regular season SIAC champion Clark Atlanta, 61-57, to clinch the SIAC’s automatic bid. It was the Golden Tigers first SIAC championship since 1979, and sweet revenge after they lost in last year’s SIAC finals. Tuskegee entered the SIAC tournament as the No. 3 seed and beat Lane, then No. 2 seed Benedict before up-ending No. 1 Clark Atlanta in the finals. Tuskegee has won 10 of its last 13 games.