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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- Winthrop
- UNC Asheville
- Charleston Southern
- Gardner-Webb
- USC Upstate
- Radford
- High Point
- Longwood
- Hampton
- Campbell
- Presbyterian
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE 1ST TEAM:
-Phlandrous Fleming – SR G – Charleston Southern (Conference Player of the Year)
-DJ Burns – SO F – Winthrop
-DeVon Baker – JR G – UNC Asheville
-Chandler Vaudrin – SR G – Winthrop
-Jaheam Cornwall – SR G – Gardner-Webb
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE 2ND TEAM:
-Tommy Bruner – SO G – USC Upstate
-LJ Thorpe – JR G – UNC Asheville
-John-Michael Wright – SO G – High Point
-Everette Hammond – JR G – USC Upstate
-Kareem Reid – SO F – Gardner-Webb
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-Winthrop has consistently been the class of this league, and looks to be the near-unanimous favorite this year. Coach Pat Kelsey has done a tremendous job with this program, they won 24 games a year ago, and have 11 players back from that team. This is probably a UTR Top-Ten team, as well as a team that could give someone fits in March if they can get up onto the 12 or 13 line, which is about where they would probably end up. They are a team with a lot of depth and plenty of weapons and it would not shock me if they ran away from the rest of the league.
-UNC Asheville has all five starters back, which is presumably why the media seems to like them to come in second. Two years ago they won just four games, last year they won 15 and were much improved. This year they could take another huge step forward, so Coach Mike Morrell has done a fantastic job at the helm and is one of the more exciting young coaches in the game.
-Gardner-Webb has some nice pieces coming back, including Jaheam Cornwall and last year’s conference freshman of the year Kareem Reid. Expect to see them toward the top of the standings this year.
-Charleston Southern also has a lot of experience coming back, and while there was a time where they seemed to be solidly positioned in the conference standings, that time was not at the end. They finished the season losing five of their last six.
-USC Upstate is another team with a lot of experience coming back (all five starters), but also another team that did not really do much last season to make you think they will be all that much improved. They lost five of their last seven games down the stretch.
-High Point is another team with all five starters back, but yet another team that was not very good last year.
-Radford is completely rebuilding after a 21-win season a year ago. It could be a long season for the Highlanders.
-Longwood finished in 4th place last year, which may not sound all that exciting, but this had perennially been not just one of the worst teams in the Big South but one of the worst teams in the nation. Coach Griff Aldrich has made huge strides with this program in the two years that he has been there. The problem is they lost four key players and are kind of having to start over on their talent cycle, but it will be interesting to see if Aldrich can develop the somewhat overhauled roster.
-Hampton and Campbell are both a little lower than what we have been used to seeing (well, Campbell is anyway: Hampton has only been in the league for a couple of seasons), but they still appear to have enough pieces to compete with the teams that are picked to finish in the middle of the league. Presby on the other hand….oof! They will be relying on a lot of newer/younger players this year.