Men’s Players to Watch

CLAY MOUNCE • F • 6'7" • 210 • SR • Elkin, N.C.

A third team All-Southern Conference choice, Mounce averaged 13.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in 32 appearances for the Paladins a season ago. The Elkin, N.C., native tallied a season-high 25 points in a Paladin win at Samford and scored 22 in victories over Loyola Chicago at Timmons Arena and versus The Citadel in Charleston, S.C. Mounce burst onto the nation season as a sophomore in 2018-19 when his last season dunk propelled the Paladins past 2018 Final Four participant Loyola Chicago. He also scored 26 points in a win at Big South champion Gardner-Webb and 15 in a 76-68 overtime upset of defending nation champion Villanova.

NOAH GURLEY • F • 6'8" • 210 • JR • Fayetteville, Ga.

A third team All-Southern Conference selection in 2019-20, Noah Gurley started all 32 games as the Paladins totaled a schoolrecord 25 wins for the second straight season. The forward averaged 14.3 points, 4.66 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game, while connecting on 53.4% of his field goal attempts, including 40.7% from three-point range. Gurley poured in a career-best 29 points on 11-for-14 shooting in a Paladin victory over USC Upstate last season and notched his first career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds in a win over ETSU at Timmons Arena. He scored 27 at home versus UNCG and added 22 points and seven rebounds in the Paladins’ 67-66 win over Wofford at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.