Glenn Wilkes Classic Matchups Set

Per this release from the athletics department, here's what the Pack's tournament schedule will look like: Georgia State (date TBA), Akron (Friday, 11/20, at 3:30 PM), Austin Peay (Saturday, 11/21, at 8:15 PM), Auburn (Sunday, 11/22, at 8:15 PM).  A glance at each:

Georgia State -- How they ranked last season in 3FG%, 2FG%, and FT%: 268th, 238th, 331st, respectively.  But their donations did allow for the construction of a new on-campus library.  They will return their primary contributors from a year ago--a pair of guards--which is either good or bad depending on how you want to look at it.

Akron -- Some nails-on-chalkboard potential here: the Zips ranked 33rd nationally in eFG% defense and 6th in defensive TO%.  Turnovers appear to be one of the bigger keys, since Akron's D is terrible in the other two factors.  So a good number of second chance opportunities and FTAs should be available to the Pack if they can keep the mistakes under control.  (I forsee 8-10 FTAs for Tracy alone.)

Austin Peay -- They were a defensive disaster last season, and they'll be without the point-producing services of Drake Reed, who was outstanding: he shot 58.2% from the field despite a heavy workload.  It was a short team--287th in effective height--and it shows: they ranked 299th in eFG% defense.  The biggest guy in their '09 rotation was just 6-7 215.  Hope they found some help this off-season.

Auburn -- In SEC play last season, the Tigers had the league's fifth-best offense and second-best D, and the third-best overall efficiency margin.  Despite the solid performance and a 10-6 record in conference play, they missed out on the NCAAs.  They'll miss a couple of departing seniors but should still present a big challenge for the Wolfpack.

In other news...

-- Welcome to the show, Aaron Bates. 

-- Richard Barron has been added to the women's basketball staff, and he looks like a great addition:

Barron spent the last two seasons as the Associate Head coach at Baylor. The Tennessee native was the recruiting coordinator for the Lady Bears that landed the consensus top-ranked player (Brittney Griner) and class of 2009.

Barron replaces Walter Mebane, who left after being on the job for less than two months.