WASHINGTON – American University men's basketball will play three games in a five-day stretch beginning this weekend at the Jerome Kersey Classic hosted by Longwood. The Eagles face host Longwood on Friday evening before taking on Western Carolina in the nightcap on Saturday. Due to a previously agreed-upon home-and-home series, AU will face UMBC in Catonsville on Tuesday to close out the round-robin tournament.
 
QUICK INFO 

• Date/Time: Friday, Nov. 19, 5:00 PM (Longwood) / Saturday, Nov. 20, 7:30 PM (Western Carolina)
• Site: Farmville, Va. (Willett Hall)
• Series History: Tied, 1-1 (Longwood) / First Meeting (Western Carolina) 
• TV: ESPN+
• Talent: Sam Hovan

INSIDE THE SERIES

• American has played Longwood twice but has yet to face Western Carolina.
• The Lancers won an overtime thriller in Farmville the last time these two teams met on Dec. 30, 2006, 81-79.
• AU head coach Mike Brennan is 3-0 all-time against the Big South and SoCon conferences, going 2-0 against VMI (SoCon) and 1-0 against Presbyterian (Big South).

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT AMERICAN

• Stacy Beckton Jr. earned his first Patriot League weekly award on Monday when he was named GEICO Patriot League Men's Basketball Player of the Week. Beckton averaged 21.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 block per game to lead American to its first 2-0 start since the 2010-11 season, with victories against Marist and William & Mary.
• Despite not being on campus last season after opting out, graduate student Marvin Bragg has stepped up early this season as the vocal leader. On the court, the 6-6 guard is known as a lockdown defender that can also shoot the three. Off the court, he serves as the vice president of the AU Black Athlete Coalition. He saw game action for the first time in 621 days on Tuesday at Georgetown, scoring four points against the Hoyas.
• Colin Smalls picked up an injury minutes into the season last year and didn't round into form until late February. The Upper Marlboro, Md., product should step into the lead guard role filled by Jamir Harris, Sa'eed Nelson and PeeWee Gardner over Coach Brennan's tenure and appears poised for the challenge. His decisive play against Georgetown earned him kudos from the Fox Sports 2 broadcast team.
• With the win at William & Mary on Friday night, head coach Mike Brennan now has 100 career wins at AU. He is the fifth coach in program history to reach the milestone. In a player-led celebration, he was doused with water bottles in the locker room postgame.
• Speaking of coaches, the American men's basketball office looks a little different this season. Scott Greenman was elevated to associate head coach in September, while Brennan added Dallas Cameron to his staff in August. Greenman was recently announced as the head coach of US Open Men's Basketball Team for the 21st Maccabiah Games to be held in Israel next July. Cameron joins AU after spending two seasons as a grad assistant at Oklahoma State and a standout playing career at Stephen F. Austin that saw him lead the squad to three straight Southland Conference titles. Cameron, at 27 years old, is the 8th-youngest assistant coach in Division I men's basketball.
• For the first time since 2014-15, the Eagles will participate in an early-season multi-team event (MTE). American will compete in the Jerome Kersey Classic over the weekend of Nov. 19-21. The Eagles will face host Longwood on Friday, Nov. 19, before playing a neutral-site game against Western Carolina on Saturday, Nov. 20. It will be the first time American and Western Carolina have played each other in men's basketball. To close out the event, American will travel to UMBC on Tuesday.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT LONGWOOD AND WESTERN CAROLINA

• Longwood (2-1) features five transfers, including Wake Forest and Virginia Tech transfer Isaiah Wilkins, an infusion of talent that has head coach Griff Aldrich saying this team has the highest ceiling of any team he's coached in his four-year tenure.
• He coached Longwood to the Big South semifinals and 10 conference wins a season ago.
• Wilkins leads the Lancers with 13.7 ppg and 8.0 rpg.
• Western Carolina won their season opener in overtime against Bowling Green before falling to in-state foes Wake Forest and East Carolina last weekend.
• The Catamounts are led by first-year head coch Justin Gray. A three-time All-ACC selection at Wake Forest, he was one of the program's most prolific 3-point shooters, making 319 treys in his career.
• Western Carolina is led by Nicholas Robinson (17.3 ppg) and Travion McCray (16.0 ppg).

KEEP UP WITH US

• For the latest on American University Men's Basketball, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Twitter (@AU_MBasketball), Facebook (/AU.MBasketball) and Instagram (@au_mbasketball).