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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- Longwood
- Winthrop
- UNC Asheville
- Gardner Webb
- High Point
- Campbell
- Radford (tied 6th)
- USC Upstate
- Presbyterian
- Charleston Southern
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-BIG SOUTH 1ST TEAM:
-Drew Pember – SR, F – UNC Asheville
-Isaiah Wilkins – SR, G – Longwood
-Jordan Gainey – SO, G – USC Upstate
-Zack Austin – SO, F – High Point
-Cory Hightower – SR, F – Winthrop
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-BIG SOUTH 2ND TEAM:
-DeShaun Wade – SR, G – Longwood
-Tajion Jones – SR, G – UNC Asheville
-Winston Hill – SR, F – Presbyterian
-Kareem Reid – SR, F – Gardner Webb
-Ricky Clemons – SR, G – Campbell
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-Longwood is one hell of a success story! They have gone from being one of the poorer programs in all of D1 to now being one of the better programs in the Big South. They nearly ran the table last year (going 15-1), won the conference tournament, and advanced to the NCAAs. Four starters are back from that team so the expectations are once again really high. They did lose their top player to the transfer portal but they have enough coming back to where they should be at or near the top of the league again.
-Winthrop has been a Big South frontrunner for the last several years and it looks as though they will be again this year. Just two starters return, but they have a good-looking recruiting class, some good-looking transfers, and some others who look like they can step into bigger roles. Mark Prosser had a good debut as head coach last year and they should be good again this year.
-UNC Asheville was a modest 8-8 in league play last year, but it was a huge overall improvement from the year before, and with three returning starters as well as some other guys who look like they can step up this team could take another big step forward this year.
-Gardner Webb, like a lot of teams, seemed positioned to have a big year this year, but lost some key players to the transfer portal and are now kind of rebuilding, especially at the guard position. They will be relying on guys who were not exactly stars and have them try to mesh with some non-D1 transfers.
-High Point might be a bit of a dark horse. They have four starters back and while they were just a modest (if that) 11-18 overall last year, they were looking a little better at the end of the year and played Longwood really tough in back-to-back games in the latter part of the season. With the experience they have coming back I think they can finish in the top half of the league.
-Campbell has a decent nucleus of players coming back and also adds a couple of freshmen to the roster that could be contributors right away. They are picked to finish around the middle of the league…and that does kinda sound right.
-Radford is in a rebuilding mode and it may be a while before we see them contend for a conference title. They won just 11 games last year and are now in the process of rebuilding their roster.
-USC Upstate has a good all-around player in Jordan Gainey, who can really shoot from the outside, but their other pieces are questionable. I am a little surprised to see them picked as low as 8th, but having said that, picking them to finish in the top half of the conference feels like a bit of a stretch.
-Presby has four starters back and they should be at least somewhat improved with all of that experience…but it still looks like it will be a rough year.
-Charleston Southern is picked last but they also have some decent players back, and if they can stay healthy this year they should be able to do at least a little better than dead last.