Phoenix athletes had some big events in 2011.
The baseball and men's tennis teams won regular season championships. Football's junior wide receiver Aaron Mellette finished fifth in the Walter Payton Award voting for the best player in the Football Championship Subdivision, on a 5-6 team, no less.
The men's basketball team won a huge game against Southeastern Conference foe University of South Carolina Nov. 15, making the top-10 on SportsCenter the following day. Men's soccer won the Southern Conference tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament.
With a number of big events happening in Elon athletics in 2011, what big things could happen in 2012? Let's take a look at four of my predictions for this year:
Elon football will play the University of North Carolina closely, but will likely fall:
Head coach Jason Swepson's squad looked sharp for the most part in the last two games of the 2011 season against Furman University and Appalachian State University, respectively.
Junior quarterback Thomas Wilson played solidly in both games, and Mellette stepped up, especially against Appalachian State. Now that both will be seniors with a full year together, dangerous things could happen. Elon plays UNC in the first week of the 2012 season in Chapel Hill Sept. 1. I would go so far as to say Elon could take a lead into the third quarter, but will not come away with the win.
Baseball will make the NCAA tournament:
Head coach Mike Kennedy's squad made the NCAA regionals in 2010, and won the SoCon regular season crown in 2011. Two losses to lower seeds in the tournament knocked the Phoenix out of the competition. With most of the starters returning with a year of experience under their belts, one may see the Phoenix contend not only for a SoCon regular season crown, but a tournament championship and maybe even a coveted trip to Omaha for the College World Series.
Men's basketball pulls off a North Division title:
I don't see Elon making the NCAA tournament. There are too many holes in head coach Matt Matheny's squad for a SoCon championship team. A North Division title and a top seed going into the tournament are certainly within grasp. But when the 2012-13 season starts, I suspect that such a young squad, with just one senior (guard Drew Spradlin) gone from the roster, will blossom into a real contender. Current juniors Brett Ervin and Egheosa Edomwonyi, sophomores Sebastian Koch, Lucas Troutman, Ryley Beaumont and Jack Isenbarger and freshmen Austin Hamilton and Kevin Blake will create a solid, experienced core for Matheny, and this season's early success (in a few areas) show that great things can happen with this group.
The sports desk at The Pendulum will continue to find hard-hitting stories to keep you entertained, informed and excited:
We here at The Pendulum had a lot of big stories in this past year. Swepson was hired as the head coach of the football team, former quarterback Scott Riddle was arrested and running back Jamal Shuman was suspended for the last two games of his senior season for saying some not-so-nice things on Twitter. Through in-depth reporting, top-notch writing and a passion unmatched by any student newspaper sports section you'll find, The Pendulum sports desk will work to bring you the best, unbiased coverage of Elon sports from anywhere. Follow us on Twitter at @pendulumsports, myself at @zacharyhorner and assistant sports editor @AdamLawsonEU for news and analysis.