VIDEO: Jack Browder Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – This is the first part in a two-part series breaking down Carson-Newman men's basketball's positions for the 2024-25 season. This preview chronicles the forwards with help from SAC Presidents' Award winner Jack Browder
Carson-Newman will look to replace human rebounding machine Ren Dyer and current KK Jedinstvo Bijelo Polje player Ben Beeker, who is in his rookie season in Montenegro.
But Carson-Newman returns A LOT in the post.
The top two pieces are Academic All-Americans in Browder and John Zhao.
"We had great season last year as a team," Browder said. "I think we fell short of what we wanted to accomplish. Offseason is kind of the time for us players to lock in on ourselves and make sure that we're doing what we have to do to make ourselves better, which then will make the team better. John and I just did. We stayed up here this summer, made sure we used our time wisely to get in the gym and get the most work in. But our games are probably going to stay similar to what we did last year. I mean, don't change what's working. But I know none of us are complacent about what we accomplished last season."
Browder was the only player in the SAC to land among the top ten in both scoring and rebounding this season. He finished second in the league in rebounding with 8.1 boards per game and sixth in scoring with 18.5 points per game.
Along the way, he collected 11 double doubles. He shot 48.3 percent from the field and 41.0 percent from three while canning 57 triples. Browder made a team-best 110 free throws at an 80.3 percent clip. Browder scored in double-digits in all but two games this season, and entered the SAC tournament on a career-best 15-game streak scoring 10 or more.
He topped 20 points on 14 occasions throughout the season and joined Shaun Jones as the only players since 1985 with more than 240 rebounds in a season. For his efforts, he was named the TSWA Player of the Week, an All-SAC selection, and an All-SAC tournament team member.
Meanwhile, Zhao was recognized by both the D2CCA and NABC with second-team all-region honors. He, LMU center Martez Brown and Wingate guard Donnell Nixon were the only players from the South Atlantic Conference to appear on both D2CCA and NABC all-region squads. Zhao is C-N's first all-region honoree since Charles Clark earned a third all-region honor in 2017-18.
Zhao turned in the most efficient effort in the SAC this season. He finished fifth in the league in scoring at 19.1 points per game while averaging 61.5 percent shooting from the field and 52.5 percent shooting from three. He ranked 10th nationally in efficiency and second in the league, while topping the conference in three-point efficiency. Zhao led the nation in three-point efficiency. He reset the program's single-season record for three-point efficiency with his 52.5 percent mark. Zhao finished the year with 84 threes made tied for the sixth-most in a single season in school history. He is one of four players in NCAA Division II history to shoot 52 percent or better from three for a season with at least 80 triples made in a year.
Complimenting those two will be Ousmane Dia, who started all 29 games in which he appeared last season for C-N, as well as Camden McElhaney and Joshuwa Butts, who have a combined 145 career appearances for C-N all-time in their lengthy careers.
"They are extremely valuable to the team," Browder said. "They're the core. They know what the culture is about. They've been here the longest. They know what CB (Chuck Benson) wants. CB likes to say, know who's in charge, find out what he wants you to do and then do that and give more. So those guys know exactly what CB wants. It's just great knowing that you can trust them and they're going to do exactly what their job is."
The Eagles also return seven-foot center David Gorianskii. The Tralee, Ireland-native appeared in one game last year before suffering a season-ending injury. He scored four points against Milligan and brings a deceptive skill set to the five.
C-N adds in two transfer posts in ETSU transplant Braden Ilic and Trinidad State product Kyliese Frye.
Frye averaged 11.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game at Trinidad State while shooting 54.6 percent from the field. He was a second-team all-conference pick for the Trojans. Frye topped out at 26 points against Dodge City Community College.
Ilic, a former Morristown East Hurricane, totaled 1,231 points, 712 rebounds and 271 blocks in three seasons for the Hurricanes. He appeared in 43 games with two career starts for the Bucs, averaging 2.4 points and 1.4 boards per game in his ETSU career.
"I've known Braden for a while. I played AAU with them. Our families know each other," Browder said. "But you know, finding out that he may want to come here in the off season, that was exciting. I know what Braden's about, played him in high school, he's going to bring a different aspect to our offense.
"Kyliese is going to bring something that we may have lost with some of the guys that aren't coming back. He's going to bring a defensive element that we are going to need this year to be successful and that's something that he is just amazing at. He's going to bring what people don't want to do. He's going to do dirty stuff and that's extremely valuable on any team."
Freshman forward Aivaras Uosis rounds out the position. He was the captain for the U18 Irish National Team, Uosis led that team in efficiency while averaging 14.7 points per game. He was a U18 Four Nations All-Star Five selection in both 2022 and 2023 and the MVP of the U20 National League Final. He dropped 36 to earn MVP honors in the U19 All Ireland Schools C Cup Final.
Carson-Newman's men's basketball position previews continue Tuesday with the backcourt.
