High Point Opened the Season With a Top-75 Offense Two Years Running. The New Roster Has to Keep It.

High Point finished 27th in KenPom offensive efficiency two seasons ago and 62nd last season. They made the NCAA Tournament both years. Flynn Clayman is back for his second season as head coach. The Panthers open against Liberty on November 1 in the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon. The tip is listed at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Last season’s offense

High Point scored 89.7 points per game and made 9.4 threes per game. They shot 48.8% from the field and averaged 16.4 assists. The adjusted offensive efficiency ranked 62nd nationally. The style was volume and pace. They got into the lane, kicked out, and finished. That produced a top-75 offense in the Big South and a 31-5 record.

The scoring showed up in the regular season. They opened with a 97-71 win over Furman. They beat UIC 90-80 in a neutral-site game. In conference play they put up 104 on Gardner-Webb and 112 on the road at Gardner-Webb. They won 87-69 at UNC Asheville in the conference opener and closed the regular season with an 89-87 win over Winthrop. The offense was not limited to blowouts of low-major teams. It produced double-digit margins and 90-point games against the better teams on the schedule.

The last two NCAA Tournaments

Two seasons ago High Point made the program’s first NCAA Tournament as a 13 seed. They lost to 4-seed Purdue 75-63 in the first round in Providence. D’Maurian Williams scored 12 points and Trae Benham scored 11. Purdue outrebounded them 45-24 and pulled away after a close first half. High Point finished 29-6.

Last season they returned as a 12 seed and beat 5-seed Wisconsin 83-82 in the first round. Chase Johnston made a layup with 11.7 seconds left for the win. Rob Martin finished with 23 points and 10 assists. Two days later they lost to 4-seed Arkansas 94-88 in the Round of 32. The game had 15 lead changes. Martin scored 30. High Point finished 31-5.

Roster changes

Martin entered the portal and is not back. Washington is also gone. High Point added eight transfers and three freshmen. Among the new pieces are CJ Brown from South Florida (10.9 points, 4.7 assists), Jason Rivera-Torres from Monmouth (15.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, Second Team All-CAA and CAA All-Defensive Team), and Isaac Garrett from Oakland (13.7 points, 7.1 rebounds). Cam’Ron Fletcher is among the returners who saw meaningful minutes last season.

High Point’s clear weakness the last two seasons was defense. Their adjusted defensive efficiency sat outside the top 125 last season and outside the top 225 two seasons ago. Brown comes from South Florida, which finished 59th in KenPom defense. Rivera-Torres comes from Monmouth, which finished well inside the top 150. Those two are arriving from teams that defended at a higher level than High Point did. Garrett’s Oakland team finished outside the top 250 on defense, so the portal class is not a clean defensive upgrade across the board. The offense that ranked 62nd will still have to be rebuilt around new creators, but the defensive baseline is the part of the roster that has the clearest chance to improve if the new pieces hold up.

November 1

Liberty had one of the stronger offensive baselines in Conference USA last season and returns a solid core. This is not a soft opener. It is the first time Clayman’s new group has to run its offense against a real team on the first day of the season.

High Point does not need to return to 27th in KenPom offense to win the Big South again. It needs the new transfers to create the same volume and efficiency that produced a top-75 offense the past two seasons. November 1 against Liberty is the first night that has to show up on a box score.