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MARSHALL SPORTS
Coaches say C-USA may be as good as it's ever been
HUNTINGTON -- Marshall was mentioned in the Conference USA men's basketball mix by several head coaches Monday.
UAB has the best non-conference record at 12-2 and Marshall is right behind at 11-2 as the conference schedule opens Tuesday with Southern Miss (9-4) visiting the Thundering Herd for a 7 p.m. contest in Cam Henderson Center.
Marshall coach Donnie Jones said during a conference call with other coaches that there is a lot more parity in C-USA than he's seen before.
Coach Tony Barbee from UTEP (9-3) said C-USA has more good teams than any time since 2005 realignment when Louisville, Cincinnati, Charlotte, DePaul, TCU, Marquette, St. Louis and South Florida left for other leagues. Marshall joined C-USA in 2005.
"There's no question this is probably the deepest Conference USA has been since the changeover," Barbee said. "You look across the league. ... The start that UAB has gotten off to, and Marshall being 11-2 is no surprise to any of the coaches. And Memphis is off to a terrific start, and so is Tulsa (10-3).
"I'm excited for the league, but this is going to be a grind going through it."
Most of the coaches anticipate a close race with everyone attempting to unseat Memphis (10-3), which has won four consecutive C-USA championships.
The Memphis situation is different with first-year head coach Josh Pastner taking over the program John Calipari built before leaving for Kentucky. Memphis plays a non-conference game Wednesday at No. 7 Syracuse and begins is conference title defense Saturday at Southern Miss.
"I don't know who that great team is, but Memphis is still very good," said Mack McCarthy, the head coach at East Carolina (6-8).
Houston coach Tom Penders said conference play is very intense and there is no fear factor.
The Cougars are 7-6, but Penders said poor free throw shooting cost them four games. Otherwise, he said they could be 11-2.
Houston opens Wednesday at Rice (6-7).
"It looks like there's a lot of teams that are capable of winning it this year," Penders said. "There's not going to be an easy game on the schedule this year."
Mack McCarthy at East Carolina (6-8) said the transition period is over at Marshall for Jones, now in his third season.
UAB and UTEP are playing at a high level while Marshall is off to a good start, McCarthy said.
"It appears to me that we have more good teams than we've ever had in the past," McCarthy said.
