UTC Men’s Basketball Team Picked 6th and 7th in Preseason SoCon Polls

The coaches, who also picked a preseason all-conference team, were not allowed to vote for their own teams or student-athletes as part of the balloting. The team included 11 members due to a tie in the voting.
Magee, who was named the Malcolm U. Pitt Player of the Year by the SoCon media last season, hit 148 3-pointers, the fifth-most in NCAA Division I history, and was a finalist for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award. He led the league in scoring with 22.1 points per game.

UNCG picked up 78 points and six first-place votes in the coaches’ poll to edge Wofford, which earned the remaining four first-place votes and 74 total points. In the media poll, the Spartans totaled 231 points and 16 first-place votes, while the Terriers accrued 214 points and six first-place votes.

This is the first year that UNCG has been picked to win the conference outright since the SoCon went away from divisional play in 2013-14. The Spartans, who joined the league in 1997-98, were picked to win the North Division five times, in 2001-02, 2002-03, 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2012-13.

Led by SoCon and NABC District 22 Coach of the Year Wes Miller, first-team all-conference pick Francis Alonso and SoCon Defensive Player of the Year James Dickey, who was a second-team All-SoCon pick, UNCG went 27-8 overall and 15-3 in conference play last year, setting a school record for overall wins and claiming its first SoCon tournament title and NCAA appearance since 2001. Alonso and Dickey were named to the preseason all-conference squad this year.

Magee and second-team All-SoCon forward Cameron Jackson helped Wofford go 21-13 overall and 11-7 in the league to tie for fourth. The Terriers, who return all five starters from the squad that knocked off then-No. 5 North Carolina in Chapel Hill last season, made their fifth postseason appearance in nine years when they hosted Central Michigan in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament in March. Magee and Jackson are members of the preseason all-conference team.

ETSU was slotted third in both polls, earning 67 points from the coaches and 198 points and two first-place votes from the media. The Bucs put together a 16-game winning streak from December to February last season, opening league play 13-0 before UNCG halted both streaks. ETSU finished a game back of the Spartans in the SoCon standings and was 25-9 overall, making its third straight appearance in the league tournament’s title game. The Bucs must replace all five starters but return 2017-18 SoCon Freshman of the Year (coaches) Bo Hodges, who was joined on the preseason all-conference team by teammates and junior-college transfers Tray Boyd III and Jeromy Rodriguez.

Furman and Mercer check in at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively, in both polls. The Paladins went 23-10 overall and 13-5 in SoCon play last year, while the Bears were 19-15 overall and 11-7 in the league. Mercer played in the College Basketball Invitational, winning its first game over Grand Canyon before falling to eventual champion North Texas. Furman’s Matt Rafferty and Mercer’s Ross Cummings earned spots on the preseason all-conference team.

The Citadel and Chattanooga were next in the polls, with the Bulldogs checking in at No. 6 in the coaches’ poll and No. 7 in the media poll. The Mocs, who went 10-23 overall and 3-15 in the SoCon to finish 10th, were picked to rebound to seventh by the coaches and sixth by the media. The Citadel, which finished eighth in the SoCon last year at 5-13 (11-21 overall) returns first-team all-conference selection Zane Najdawi, a preseason pick this year.

Samford, Western Carolina and VMI round out both polls, in that order.

The Bulldogs were 10-22 overall and 6-12 in the SoCon last season, finishing seventh after seeing its season derailed by injuries following its 20-win 2016-17 campaign.

Western Carolina, which will be under the direction of first-year head coach Mark Prosser, went 13-19 overall and 8-10 to finish sixth in the SoCon. The Catamounts return two starters from that squad.

VMI returns the media’s 2017-18 SoCon Freshman of the Year in Bubba Parham, who earned a spot on this year’s preseason all-conference team, The Keydets went 9-21 overall and 4-14 in the league, finishing ninth.

This season opens Tuesday, Nov. 6, with nine of the league’s 10 teams in action.

The 2019 Ingles SoCon Men’s Basketball Championship presented by General Shale will be held March 8-11 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Asheville, North Carolina.

2018-19 Preseason Southern Conference Coaches Poll
Team (1st-place votes) Total
1. UNCG (6)                      78
2. Wofford (4)                    74
3. ETSU                            67
4. Furman                         57
5. Mercer                          48
6. The Citadel                   38
7. Chattanooga                 30
8. Samford                        26
9. Western Carolina          20
10. VMI                             12

2018-19 Preseason Player of the Year
Fletcher Magee, Sr., G, Wofford

2018-19 Preseason All-Southern Conference Team
Zane Najdawi, Sr., F, The Citadel
Tray Boyd III, Jr., G, ETSU
Bo Hodges, So., G/F, ETSU
Jeromy Rodriguez, R-Jr., F, ETSU
Matt Rafferty, Sr., F, Furman
Ross Cummings, Jr., G, Mercer
Francis Alonso, Sr., G, UNCG
James Dickey, Jr., F, UNCG
Bubba Parham, So., G, VMI
Cameron Jackson, Sr., F, Wofford
Fletcher Magee, Sr., G, Wofford

2018-19 Preseason Southern Conference Media Poll
Team (1st-place votes) Total
1. UNCG (16)                  231
2. Wofford (6)                  214
3. ETSU (2)                     198
4. Furman                       169
5. Mercer                         136
6. Chattanooga               103
7. The Citadel                  96
8. Samford                       69
9. Western Carolina         59
10. VMI                             45