I had a chance to go to Georgia State on Wednesday afternoon as the Panthers played host to CAA power George Mason. The outcome? How about a tremendous comeback from Rod Barnes' club and a last-second game-winning shot from former Campbell High School star Leonard Mendez? Georgia State won in a tremendous comeback 66-64 at the Sports Arena in downtown.
After being down by 13 to start the second half, the Panthers responded to a long halftime speech from coach Barnes and turned the game around. Mendez led the team with 19 points. This was the first major win for Barnes in his short tenure at the GSU helm.
This was my first trip to see the Panthers in over three years and the mood, attitude, appearance and product that Georgia State has now is a tremendous difference than what it used to be.
Get ready to hear a lot about the Panthers down the road. They have fine tools to work with, including a number of former high-major players on the bench that transferred in and have to sit this season. They are recruiting the state really well, evident by North Clayton's Andre Malone (2009) on hand for the game as well as 2008 signee James "Boom" Fields of Savannah Beach.
The staff is hitting the home state hard and in a competitive CAA, the games are entertaining. HERE is a schedule for the remainder of the season.
