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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON COACHES’ POLL:
- UNC Greensboro
- Furman
- East Tennessee State
- Mercer
- Wofford
- Western Carolina
- Chattanooga
- Samford
- VMI
- The Citadel
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON MEDIA POLL:
- Furman
- UNC Greensboro
- East Tennessee State
- Mercer
- Wofford
- Western Carolina
- Chattanooga
- Samford
- VMI
- The Citadel
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE TEAM:
-Ledarrius Brewer – JR, G – East Tennessee State
-Ty Brewer – JR, F – East Tennessee State
-Mike Bothwell – JR, G – Furman
-Noah Gurley – JR, F – Furman
-Clay Mounce – SR, F – Furman
-Ross Cummings – SR, G – Mercer
-Jeff Gary – JR, G – Mercer
-Isaiah Miller – SR, G – UNC Greensboro
-David Jean-Baptiste – SR, G – Chattanooga
-Mason Faulkner – SR, G – Western Carolina
-Storm Murphy – SR, G – Wofford
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-I am a huge fan of this Furman team. Like, really big. Like, not only is this a potential at-large team, I think it is a potential top-25 team. Four starters are back from a team that won 25 games a year ago and finished the regular season winning 10 of their last 11 with the only loss being at East Tennessee State before losing in the conference tournament. Coach Bob Richey has done a phenomenal job with this program, and he probably has his best team yet this year. They have a frontcourt that I would put up against almost anyone, and a solid backcourt as well. This is gonna be a fun team to watch!
-UNC Greensboro won 23 games a year ago despite being plagued with injuries. Only two starters are back, but this is a team that goes deep into its bench so the have a lot of solid pieces who can step up this year, including Isaiah Miller, who is one of the best guards in the conference. This is another team that I think has the potential to land inside the bubble.
-East Tennessee State won the conference last year, won 30 games, and would have probably been seeded inside the bubble on the 11-line had we had the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately they never got that opportunity, and virtually everyone from last year’s team is gone, including all five starters and the head coach. While they are in complete rebuilding mode they do have some solid transfer players who could make an impact right away.
-Mercer has three starters back from a team that saw quite a bit of improvement this year, but lost what were probably their two best players to graduation, so it is hard to imagine them finishing near the top of the league.
-Western Carolina did not get a whole lot of love at Media Day, but they are probably worth paying attention to. They won 19 games last year after winning just 7 the year before, and while they did lose who was seemingly their best player they still have some good pieces coming back, including Mason Faulkner, who is one of the better guards in the league.
-Wofford seems to still be adjusting to life without Coach Mike Young and the great teams that they had a few years ago. They have three starters back from a .500-ish team last year, and once again look to be a middle-of-the-league-.500-ish team this year.
-Chattanooga has just one starter back and appears to be in rebuilding mode. They had their best season in several years last year, but have gone through an overhaul of the roster and will rely heavily on transfer players this year.
-Samford is starting completely over with a new head coach in Bucky McMillan and very few returning players. They had seemed to be improving as a program up until last season and it was kind of a surprise that they struggled as much as they did.
-VMI and The Citadel are rivals who will likely be fighting it out for a 9th place finish in the league. Both teams have a fair amount of returning players and should be more experienced, but given how much they struggled last year I am not sure if that is a good thing.