The first of a three-part review of the 2009-10 High Point University men's basketball season.

In its first season under head coach Scott Cherry, the High Point University men's basketball team improved by six wins. The Panthers finished 15-15 overall and 10-6 in Big South games, showing solid progress over 2008-09 when HPU went 9-19 and 4-14. Sophomore Nick Barbour was named to the All-Big South first team after leading HPU and ranking second in the Big South with 18.9 points per game.

"Overall I thought the season was a success," said Cherry. "We put some things in place and built a foundation of what we're going to be about, how we're going to play and what kind of shape you have to be in to play the way we're going to play. We made a significant jump from nine wins to 15 wins, and to go from four league wins to 10. I'm happy with the way the kids believe in what we want to do and how we want to play. They brought effort every single day."

"But we're not satisfied," Cherry continued. "I thought we were extremely close to getting to maybe 19 or 20 wins. We were very close to getting a home game in the first round of the playoffs, and I felt we were good enough to do that. If you win in the first round and get to the semifinals, anything can happen. I'm frustrated a little bit that we were right there, that close, and we felt like we had a good enough team to beat anyone in the conference. At home we beat every team in the conference except VMI. So it was a successful year, I feel very good about it, but I'm looking forward to getting better next year."

High Point posted a 12-1 record at the Millis Center that included wins over the four teams ahead of HPU in the league standings – Coastal Carolina, Radford, Winthrop and UNC Asheville – but went just 3-14 on the road.

At the halfway point of the season, HPU stood at 9-6 overall and 4-1 in the Big South. The Panthers had won five games in a row, including an 83-77 win over preseason favorite Radford before a sold-out crowd at the Millis Center. Radford was undefeated in league play at the time and got 29 points and 14 rebounds from two-time Big South Player of the Year Art Parakhouski, but could not match HPU's outside play as Barbour scored 24 points and senior Eugene Harris scored 20.

The Panthers had also beaten Presbyterian on the road a last-second layup by Tehran Cox and posted home wins over Gardner-Webb and UNC Asheville. HPU capped the five-game winning streak with a 58-55 road win over North Carolina Central in which Harris hit a three-pointer for the final basket of the game.

But that midterm success was tempered when HPU went on the road for six of their next eight games and went 2-6 over that stretch. The Panthers' two wins were a convincing, 81-53 home victory over Liberty on Jan. 21 (the Panthers led from wire to wire) as well as an 82-80 overtime win over Gardner-Webb on the road on Jan. 30. In the victory over GWU, Barbour scored the basket that forced overtime, then tipped in the winning basket in the last second of OT as part of his second 30-point night of the season. That was HPU's last road win of the season.

High Point closed the regular season strong, going 4-2 over the final six games with the home team winning each contest. The Panthers got a 69-65 win over regular season champ Coastal Carolina on Feb. 11 and took a 71-66 win over Big South Tournament champ Winthrop on Feb. 25. HPU also beat Charleston Southern, 73-68, on Feb. 13 in a payback game for a road loss a month before, and completed a season-sweep of Presbyterian in the home finale. HPU took road losses to VMI and Liberty. VMI was the only team to sweep the Panthers in 2009-10.

Had HPU gotten just one more win in the league, it would have hosted UNC Asheville in the first round of the Big South Tournament. Instead, it was the Panthers making the trip to Asheville, N.C., where they had taken an 83-69 loss earlier in the year. In the playoff game, the Panthers trailed by as many as 18 in the game but closed the gap to eight with just over seven minutes left as Barbour poured in 21 of his 25 points in the second half, but HPU couldn't get any closer and took an 84-73 loss to the Bulldogs.

The 12-1 home record was no coincidence. Since the Millis Center was renovated and reopened in 1992, the Panthers have gone 157-64 on their home court. The Panthers hosted sellout crowds of 1,750 on three occasions and their average of 1,342 was more than 200 better than last season.

"We had tremendous support for this team from the students, the campus and the community," said Cherry. "To go 12-1 at home was a great accomplishment and it wouldn't have been possible without the support. We had a great home atmosphere, it was loud and it was hard for other teams to come in and get a victory."

The 2009-10 season marked the end of the careers of two players who made a significant impact on the High Point University program: Harris and senior center Cruz Daniels.

Harris finished his career ranked 13th in all-time scoring at HPU, with 1,411 points in 121 career games. He is HPU's all-time leader in three-pointers made (283) and attempted (777), ranked second all-time in career games (121) and starts (93), fifth in career assists (263) and steals (129) and was the fifth player in Big South history with over 250 three pointers and assists in his career. As a senior, Harris scored a career-high 14.0 points per game, which ranked 10th in the Big South. In 18 conference games, Harris ranked fifth in the league with 15.8 points per game.

Daniels finished his career as HPU's all-time leader with 297 blocked shots, which also ranks second in Big South history. He tied with Harris for second at HPU in career games played (121), ranked third in starts (87) and seventh in field goal percentage (.586). Daniels led the Big South in blocks twice and ranked second with 75 blocks in 2009-10. He started all 30 games as a senior, averaging 6.3 points and 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks, and averaged 5.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 blocks for his career.

Along with Barbour and Cox, the Panthers return forward Corey Law, who had a great second half and averaged 11.0 points and 8.3 rebounds over the last 14 games. He led HPU with 6.6 rebounds per game in 2009-10 and posted five double-doubles in the last 12 games.

At guard, the 2010-11 Panthers will feature returners Barbour, David Campbell, Cox, David Singleton, Jairus Simms, Adam Hall and Joe Stroman. At forward, HPU returns Law, Earnest Bridges and Moses Burgess. HPU has added three recruits for next season – guard Justin Cheek and post players Travis Elliot and Georges Massoda.

Check highpointpanthers.com soon for a look at the Panthers' returners for next year, as well as an update about HPU's three committed recruits for next year.