Tonight, Clark Atlanta University men's basketball enters a new era when new head coach George Lynch leads his Panthers on the floor in their season-opener against Lynn University tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Miami Shores, Florida.  Weekend host Barry University will then take on the Panthers Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m.

Tonight's game will be streamed live at http://sunshinestateconference.tv/lynn/?bfplayvid=96928, while Saturday's game will be streamed at http://www.sunshinestateconference.tv/barry/?bfplayvid=91690.

In a weekend where Lynch, a former NBA and North Carolina star, will be leading his first game as the CAU head coach, it also will mark his debut as a head coach.  Lynch came to CAU after serving as an assistant coach with NBA "G" League's Grand Rapid Drive.  Before that, he was at Southern Methodist University and the University of California-Irvine.

"I'm very excited to get going," Lynch said.  "[Assistant] Coach [Melvin] Scott and I have been talking about the game plan, delegating responsibilities for managing minutes, controlling time outs, etc.  But we do have similar backgrounds by being Carolina guys.  My first game, I'm going to treat it as if I were playing – stay focused, don't try to do anything that I'm not capable of doing, and staying within what we've been teaching our guys."

Lynch takes over a team that for the past two years wowed the Clark Atlanta community.  Led by Darrell Walker, who is now at Arkansas-Little Rock, the Panthers twice reached the NCAA tournament and went 24-6 last season.  They won 20 of their first 21 games, including a torrid 15-game winning streak.

But much of that is gone this season as only three players – senior guards Austin Donaldson, Shelvick Henry, and Jalen Mitchell -- return from that squad.  But those three players are part of a nucleus that Lynch is excited about. 

Donaldson was a consistent floor leader, averaging 10 points and nearly four assists a game before a knee injury sidelined him midway through the season.  Henry brought fiery passion and 11 points per game off the bench for CAU last season, while Mitchell also averaged 11 points per game.

"First things first is how many minutes Austin is capable of playing," Lynch said. "How far along is he in coming back from his knee injury.  We don't want to rush him back because the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule is most important, but I'm excited to see him on the floor.  He's shown spurts of being a high-level, Division I player and if we get that out of him the first eight or nine games, we can get some momentum going into conference play.

"Shelvick is ready for the opportunity to be a starter," Lynch said. "Jalen Mitchell has lost ten to 15 pounds, and shown great control attacking the rim.  And it will also be exciting to see what forward Romaine Thomas can give us this year.  He didn't have an opportunity to play last year, but I think he will be a sleeper in the conference this year."

"But I think the four guys that I've mentioned, if they are able to come together as a unit and play together as a team, we will be an exciting team to watch," he said.  "They are definitely exciting players. They should be four of the top players in the conference."

Tonight, they open against a Lynn team that finished 14-13 last season and had a winning record in the tough Sunshine State Conference.  The Fighting Knights were the league's second-best defensive scoring team, only giving up 75 points per game.  Offensively, the return guard Brandon Bornelius who averaged 12 points a game as freshman last season and in two games this season, he has scored 22 in their win over Florida Atlantic and ten against ACC power Maryland.  Their fourth-leading scorer a season ago, Michael Baez also returns after averaging 10 points a game off the bench.  He scored 21 against Florida Atlantic this season.

"Lynn has guys coming back with experience," Lynch said. "The point guard played a lot as a freshman and three of their other four starters played a lot of minutes."

Home-standing Barry University was an NCAA team that defeated West Florida, Claflin and Eckerd to win the South Region and advance to the NCAA Elite Eight before losing a close game to Ferris State last season.

This year, despite losing their top three scorers from that team, the Buccaneers are picked to finish second in the Sunshine State Conference.  They are led by guard Evan Walshe, who scored a team-high 14 points in an exhibition loss to ACC team Miami last week, and forward Daniel Mortensen who averaged nearly 12 points and seven rebounds a game last season.

"Barry is definitely coached well," Lynch said. "I know Head Coach Butch Estes, as he has a Carolina background. His team shows discipline. We've stressed that in practice. We have to be sound defensively and we have to make them guard. I think if we can make them defend ball screens, and pick and rolls and make them play on both sides of the floor, I think we can catch them in some mismatches and take advantage of it. But they are definitely a disciplined team."

After this weekend's games in Miami, the Panthers follow that up with a visit to Montevallo Tuesday and then Xavier-Louisiana next Saturday.   The Panthers then have their home opener on Nov. 20 when host Alabama-Huntsville in L.S. Epps Gymnasium at 8 p.m.

Lynch says to expect more exciting basketball from his squad this weekend and this season.

"We have a fun offense, guys really get to utilize their skillset and hopefully the hard work that they put in during the offseason will pay off," he said. "Coach Walker demanded that they played defense and that they played hard.  I demand the same thing.  It will be a style of play that CAU fans and alums will appreciate."