Next up in our preseason conference previews is the Atlantic Sun Conference. The ASun of course made tons of noise two years ago when Florida Gulf Coast became the first 15 seed to ever reach the Sweet 16. Mercer followed up FGCU’s run by winning last season’s automatic bid and going on to defeat Duke in the NCAAs. Gulf Coast also played in the postseason last season, losing to Florida State in the NIT, while South Carolina-Upstate and East Tennessee State both played in the CIT.
Two of those four postseason participants, Mercer and ETSU, moved on after last season and are now members of the Southern Conference. Their exits, combined with USC-Upstate’s loss to graduation of Torrey Craig, leaves Florida Gulf Coast as the clear favorite to win the conference this year. Brett Comer and Bernard Thompson return for their senior seasons and give the Eagles the best backcourt in the conference. However, FGCU should be challenged by a solid Lipscomb team featuring twin brothers Martin and Malcolm Smith, who are two of four returning players for the Bisons that averaged over 13 points per game last season.
Predicted Order of Finish:
1. Florida Gulf Coast: Comer and Thompson will get help from three transfers, Julian DeBoise (Rice), and Brian Greene, Jr and Nick Pellar (both from Auburn)
2. Lipscomb: The Smith twins are joined by J.C. Hampton and Josh Williams to give the Bisons a very strong chance
3. North Florida: Beau Beech and Dallas Moore will lead the way, but they need to cut down on the turnovers (one of the worst teams in the nation in this category last year)
4. Northern Kentucky*: Chad Jackson returns from a redshirt season to join five returning starters
5. Kennesaw State: With most of last season’s roster back, this team could surprise
6. Jacksonville: Jarvis Haywood should score a ton of points this season, but the team will need newcomers to step up as not much else is back
7. USC-Upstate: Not having Torrey Craig will make this a tough season, though Ty Greene and Mario Blessing are seniors with experience in the backcourt
8. Stetson: Brian Pegg will have to star for this team to have any chance to avoid the conference basement
*Northern Kentucky is ineligible for the NCAA tournament as a third year transitional team. They will participate in the ASun tournament. In the event NKU wins the tournament, the team they defeat in the finals will receive the conference’s automatic bid.