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SOCON MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- Samford
- Chattanooga
- East Tennessee State
- Wofford
- Furman
- UNC Greensboro
- Mercer
- Western Carolina
- The Citadel
- VMI
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL SOCON TEAM:
-Quimari Peterson – SR, G – East Tennessee State
-Jaden Seymour – SR, F – East Tennessee State
-Pjay Smith – SR, G – Furman
-Donovan Atwell – JR, G/F – UNC Greensboro
-Collin Holloway – SR, F – Samford
-Rylan Jones – SR, G – Samford
-Honor Huff – JR, G – Chattanooga
-Trey Bonham – SR, G – Chattanooga (Preseason Player of the Year)
-Kyler Filewich – SR, C – Wofford
-Corey Tripp – SR, G – Wofford
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COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-Bucky McMillan has just been sensational since taking over at Samford. When he was hired I thought it was a terrible choice due to what I thought was a lack of experience at the college level. Bucky has shut me up big time. Samford won 29 games a year ago, won the SoCon Tournament, and came very close to upsetting Kansas in the NCAA Tournament. The bad news is that four starters are gone from that team, as well as 7 of their top-9 scorers. Rylan Jones is the only returning starter, and while they do have some guys transferring in with some Power Conference experience, none have really been D-1 standout players before. Still, this is a team that has a tendency to overachieve. They have been so much fun to watch the last few years, and will likely be fun to watch again this year. We LOVE Bucky Ball!!!!
-After a really solid season a year ago, Chattanooga lost some of their key players to the portal. Having said that, they do have Trey Bonham back, who was voted preseason conference player of the year, and per Coach Dan Earl’s style they have loaded up on scorers again this season. I think they will be as good (and perhaps better) than they were a season ago and it would not shock me at all to see them win the league.
-East Tennessee State had what was mostly a blah season, and kind of fell apart in the last part of the regular season, but they did right the ship just in the nick of time and won their last five games before losing in the SoCon Championship game to Samford (and they actually played pretty well in that game). Based on that finish, the expectations are much higher this year for ETSU with three starters returning. Injuries also impacted them last year, so if they can stay healthy then we should see more wins.
-Wofford has not been quite the same since Mike Young left, but perhaps there is reason to hope this year. Four starters are back, which gives them more experience than most of the rest of the teams in the league, and Corey Tripp is one of the better players in the conference. It has been a while since they have managed to win 20 games, but this year they may have the pieces to break that mark.
-Furman had a so-so year last year going 17-16 overall and finishing in the middle of the conference standings. With three starters returning, they have a little bit more experience and we should see some improvement from a year ago. Bob Richey has had a pretty good run as head coach, and I think they may actually be a bit of a dark horse in the league this year. I do not think they will win it, but they should do a bit better than expected.
-UNC Greensboro won 21 games a year ago and was in a tie for 2nd place in the league. They do have to replace quite a bit this year, which is why they’re picked a little bit further down the standings. Donovan Atwell is a fantastic 3-point shooter, but other than him a lot of guys will have to step into bigger roles this year.
-Mercer is a transfer heavy team, and while Ahmad Robinson was a standout player at New Hampshire, most of their roster consists of guys who have not yet played at the D-1 level. It is hard to expect them to finish near the top of the standings when their D-1 experience is so limited.
-Over the last two years Western Carolina has shown substantial improvement, and their 22-win season last year was a big accomplishment. Here is the bad news: virtually everyone is gone and the Catamounts are basically having to completely reset. They do have some guys that were standout players at the JUCO level, but not much in the way of solid and proven D-1 experience.
-(ALLOW ME TO STEP OUT OF CHARACTER AND NOT BE THE PUPPET FOR A SECOND) Citadel vs. VMI is one of my favorite sports rivalries. I am not saying that to be funny: I am completely serious. I know neither team is good. But, have you ever actually watched them when they play each other?? It is GREAT!! I do the daily writeups every day throughout the season and I always feature this game. Unfortunately when they are not playing against each other they are not just bad, they are oftentimes exceptionally bad. VMI won just four games a year ago and their whole roster turned over. The Citadel did a little better with 11 total wins, but is also having to rebuild their roster. On top of that, it is hard for them to attract D-1 caliber players because of what attending these schools requires. I have nothing but respect for the individuals who play on these teams, and I ALWAYS find myself pulling for them whenever I watch them play. Having said that, they will of course almost assuredly finish 9th and 10th in the league, but WOW it is fun when they play against each other!!!