College basketball countdown: No. 50 Georgia State
THE FIRST WORD: Two seasons ago Kevin Ware and Ryan Harrow were suiting up for two of college basketball's bluebloods, Louisville and Kentucky.
Ware became an overnight celebrity when he suffered one of the most horrific injuries ever seen during March Madness. That same season Harrow was a starter on an underachieving Kentucky team that failed to make the NCAAs.
Now they're both in second-chance mode, considering Georgia State's Atlanta campus home.
Ware redshirted last season following Louisville's 2013 championship run and will be immediately eligible to establish a new identity outside of that guy with the crazy injury at Georgia State. Harrow stepped out of the Big Blue Nation spotlight last season and found his comfort zone — averaging 17.8 points and 4.2 assists — en route to first-team All-Sun Belt honors.
Georgia State can be one of, if not the best, mid-majors in the country, largely thanks to the return of Harrow and the addition of Ware. Interestingly, neither is the best player on the team. That would be R.J. Hunter, a 6-6 junior, the coach's son and an All-Sun Belt performer with NBA potential who averaged 18.3 points and 4.6 rebounds a game.
Like Ware (6-2, junior)) and Harrow (6-2, senior), Hunter is a high-major type star playing in a mid-major league. The trio will give the Panthers one of the best backcourts in the country, and great guard play is synonymous with March Madness upsets. The fork in the road is getting there. After rolling through the regular season with one conference loss in its first season in the league, Georgia State was leading Louisiana-Lafayette with three minutes left in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship before crumbling in the final minutes.
"There's been no rah-rah speeches," Georgia State coach Ron Hunter said. "We know what we have to do this year."
2013-14 IN REVIEW: 25-9, 17-1 (Sun Belt regular-season champions), lost in Sun Belt Conference Tournament title game, lost in first round of the NIT.
PATH TO THE DANCE: Sun Belt Conference auto-bid. Troy and Louisiana-Lafayette will contend.
PROJECTED TOURNEY SEED: No. 12 seed.
STAR WATCH: Hunter can score at will and his three-point shot is Steph Curry-esque — which made him an honorable mention All-American last season. Harrow plays more of a facilitator role, running the point, but showed he can take over in the Panthers' game against Louisiana-Lafayette in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament title game when he had 37 points.
X-FACTOR: Ware. Hunter said the former Louisville Cardinal has a "chip on his shoulder." During his time with Louisville — before the injury — Ware was more of a reserve guard who could make open buckets and defend. He wants to be more, and he'll get that opportunity.
TEAM STRENGTH/WEAKNESS: The Panthers lost a pivotal piece of last year's team in 6-6 forward Manny Atkins (14.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg). As good as the backcourt can be, the frontcourt could be an area of concern. USC transfer Curtis Washington (7.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg), a 6-10 senior, will be expected to contribute, as will Markus Crider (6-6, junior) and T.J. Shipes (6-7 junior). Rebounding will have to improve from last season as well. Hunter didn't turn to his bench much last season. With a talented incoming freshman class, that should change.
KEY STATS: GSU finished in the top five in the NCAA in fewest turnovers, free-throw percentage, assist-to-turnover ratio, turnovers per game and turnover margin in 2013-14.
FUN FACT: Rapper Ludacris is a Georgia State alum.
BASICS: Georgia State University is in Atlanta, and the Panthers play their home games at GSU Sports Arena, which opened in 1973 and seats 4,500.
About this post: Every week day for the next three months, one of the 68 teams in USA TODAY Sports' projected field will be dissected. In November, the final bracket will be revealed.