The Big South Hoops Hub 2025-26 Big South Preview
The Official Big South Hoops Hub 2025-26 Big South Preview
Foreward:
First off, I want to thank all who have shown support during last season, this offseason and even right now just reading this preview. What started out as a way to burn time because I broke my hip at work has now turned into a true hobby of which I have a true love, and without everyone’s support I don’t know if I would still be doing this, so Thank You.
Just as soon as it started, the offseason has come and went and we are ready for another season of exciting Big South men’s basketball (and all the other conferences and sports out there too). For a second straight season the Big South has 3 new faces at the helm of programs, two being internal hires and one new coach altogether but all 9 coaches have the same goal, hoisting in the Big South Championship on March 8th.
Unlike last season, the portal (and graduation) gutted almost every Big South roster, only one team returned over 40% of their minutes from last season, USC Upstate who returned 64.7% of their minutes from last season. The reigning Big South Champion High Point, 4.2% (doesn’t account for Chase Johnston).
Well we have 9 teams and over 100 players, and numerous games and awards to dive into so lets get to it.
DISCLAIMER:
Predictions on player stats are not my own but are from BartTorvik, the rosters are my own creation.
If a player DOES NOT have a BartTorvik prediction, I have them ITALICISED and will have their stats during the 24-25 season.
Asterisk (*) designates NEW Transfer
Charleston Southern:
Background and 24-25 Recap:
People expected a stronger year from Saah Nimley last season, but after being hampered by injuries to Alahn Sumler and DJ Patrick. Saah and Charleston Southern pushed through to finish 7th in the conference, due in part to a Big South Player of the Year season by Senior Big Man, Taje Kelly.
Despite keeping Sumler, Saah still had a rebuild after losing Kelly, and 7 other players leaving either due to graduation, or transfer portal, and with a mix of D1, D2, D3, NAIA and JUCO players. Coach Saah Nimley might have built one of the best rosters in recent history for Charleston Southern.
Returners:
G: A’lhan Sumler
After missing the 24-25 season due to a hip injury in the preseason, A’lahn Sumler needs to pick up where he left off during the 23-24 season where he became the young budding future at Charleston Southern.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Big South Conference Honorable Mention in 2023-24.
Big South Preseason All 2nd Team selection in 2024-25.
C: Reis Jones
After transferring in from Florida Southwestern, Reis made his impact known in his first season at CSU averaging 5.5 PPG and 5.6 RPG in 32 games and 19 starts. He’s likely the front runner for the starting C spot at CSU, but past experience means little to nothing once November rolls around.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Pulled in the 2nd most rebounds last season for Charleston Southern, only behind Taje Kelly.
Had the 5th most blocks in a single season in Charleston Southern history (41).
G: Anthony Gause
Anthony Gause saw limited action last season at CSU, including one start vs Radford, averaging 4.6 PPG, 0.6 RPG and 0.6 APG across his 17 games.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Scored a career high 19 points vs Morris College last season.
Incoming Transfers:
G: Luke Williams - Maryville (D2)
One of Saah Nimley’s many Non D1 transfer additions, Luke Williams comes in after spending 2 years at Division 2 school Maryville where he was the leading scorer this past season averaging 15.4 PPG, while also tallying the 3rd most rebounds per game at 4.2 RPG and the 4th most assists at 2 APG.
Luke began his career with 2 years at Southeast CC in Nebraska, in his final JUCO season in 2022-23, Williams averaged over 18 PPG with THREE 30 point outings.
Awards/Notable Facts:
All GLVC Sportsmanship Award Winner in 2024-25
G: Armari Carraway - Eastern Arizona
One of Coach Nimley’s two Top 100 JUCO commitments, Armari Carraway comes from Eastern Arizona College in, well, Arizona. In his freshman season at EAC, Carraway averaged over 6 PPG.
In his sophomore season at EAC, Carraway helped lead his team to the Region 1 title leading his team in Points Per Game (14) and Assists Per Game (4.6) while also adding 3.8 RPG which was 4th on the entire team.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Ranked 66th in the 2025 JUCO Top 150 RoundUp.
2024-25 1st Team All Conference and All Region
G: Jaquias Franklin - Georgetown (KY)
One of the biggest unknowns of Saah Nimley’s portal class, is Jaquias Franklin. You have to be a sicko CBB fan to know the Georgetown in Kentucky, but anyone who knows this squad knows that Georgetown, despite being NAIA, is no slouch of a team.
Jaquias has bounced around the lower ranks of college basketball beginning his career at Southwestern Illinois for his freshman and sophomore seasons where he averaged 9.3 PPG and 14.2 PPG in those two years respectively.
Then after his two years at Southwestern Illinois passed, he went to Lenoir Rhyne, where he played in 25 games, starting all but one, where he averaged 11 PPG, 3.8 RPG and 3.2 APG before finally making the move to Georgetown where he helped lead Georgetown to a NAIA Elite 8 and at one point a #1 ranking nationally.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2024-25 First Team All-Mid South Conference
G: Brycen Blaine - Gulf Coast State
The other one of Saah Nimley’s Top 100 JUCO commits, this time Brycen Blaine from Gulf Coast State in Florida. Blaine began his career at James Madison where he saw marginal playing time only playing in 9 games, all in the 2022-23 season.
After missing the 23-24 season due to injury, Brycen made the choice to transfer down to the JUCO ranks to play at Gulf Coast State, and boy did it pay off. Brycen averaged 10.7 PPG, 4.5 RPG and 3.3 APG on efficient shooting on a very successful Gulf Coast State team getting him this chance at Charleston Southern.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Dean’s List (2024) and JMU Scholar-Athlete: Fall of 23’ and Spring of 24’
Ranked 96th in the 2025 JUCO Top 150 RoundUp.
G: Kaleb Lofton - Covenant College
The latest addition of the cycle coming in mid June, Saah Nimley decided to add another guard to his already deep rotation. Lofton had a sophomore breakout at Covenant after a freshman season where he didn’t really play much, in his sophomore season Lofton averaged 7.6 PPG, 3.6 RPG and 1.9 APG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Had his career high of 13 vs Rhodes on 11/22/24.
F: Trent Coleman - Auburn Montgomery
Trent Coleman, was one of the many people who benefited from the JUCO Ruling, as he started his career at Southwest Mississippi State CC where he averaged 17 MPG as a freshman averaging 6 PPG and 4.5 RPG earning him a call and offer from Matt Driscoll at North Florida.
During his two years with Coach Driscoll, Coleman didn’t really find a good footing in the rotation, only playing in 25 games across the 2 seasons. In those two seasons he did show flashes like against High Point and Coastal Carolina where he had 10 points in each outing.
After not really finding any footing at North Florida, Trent chose to transfer to Auburn Montgomery and made the most out of it playing in 25 games, starting 14. In those 25 games, Trent averaged 12.2 PPG and 7 RPG on 48.2% shooting from the field and 36.2% from behind the arc.
Awards/Notable Facts:
ASun Honor Roll in 2022-23 and 2023-24
NABC Honor Court in 2023-24
Gulf South Conference Honor Roll in 2024-25
F: Jesse Hafemeister - Mercyhurst/Catholic
If this was last season, with the current portal environment where a player like Elyjah Freeman goes from D2 to Tennessee, I feel we’d be talking about Jesse Hafemeister being at an A10 or American school but with him missing last season at Mercyhurst, he ends up at Charleston Southern.
Before going to the aforementioned Mercyhurst, Hafemeister had a very prolific career at Catholic University. In his 4 years at Catholic, Jesse started all but 1 game (83/84) averaging 17.7 PPG and 5.4 RPG with very good shooting at 38.4% from 3. This amazing play made him All Conference First Team ALL 4 SEASONS.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2x D3Hoops.com All-Region V First Team (22-23 and 23-24)
4x All-Landmark Conference First Team Selection (20-21, 21-22, 22-23, 23-24)
2024 Catholic Athletics Outstanding Men's Senior Athlete Award Winner
2023-24 Landmark Conference Player of the Year
F: Nate Brafford - Georgia Southern
One of two Brafford brothers, Nate is the more known commodity as he is coming to CSU to close out his college career after spending 3 seasons at Georgia Southern. In his freshman season, he played in 21 games playing in 8 MPG averaging 2.1 PPG and 1.3 RPG.
During his sophomore and junior seasons Brafford saw the court more, including playing in all 33 games in his sophomore season (starting 13) where he averaged 5.6 PPG and 3.4 RPG while shooting over 31% from 3. In his senior season, his minutes declined but did start in 18 games for GSU, in those games Brafford also saw a dip in stats averaging 3.6 PPG and 2.2 RPG but over 40% shooting from behind the arc.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Had 7 double digit games in the 23-24 season. Including 3, 13 Point Games (his career high)
Led Georgia Southern in FT Percentage in the 23-24 season: 91.7% on 36 attempts.
F: Devin Brafford - Siena
The younger of the two Brafford brothers, Devin is coming off a pretty successful freshman season at Siena. Unlike a lot of freshman, especially at the Mid Major level, Devin got to see significant minutes across the season and even got to start down the stretch. In his 20 games, 12 of which being starts, Devin averaged 4.7 PPG and 2.7 RPG with a pretty respectable 8 made 3’s for a 7’.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Has a career high of 15 points (vs Sacred Heart 1/16/25)
One of 3 7’ers in the Big South
Was a Nominee for the McDonald’s All American Game
Incoming Freshman:
G: Jacob Taylor - Wheeler HS (GA)
The first of three incoming Freshman for Saah Nimley is one from a state that has been very nice to CSU in the past, Georgia. During his senior season at Wheeler, Jacob was voted Team Captain. While playing alongside Ole Miss commit Tylis Jordan and 2026 4 Star Colben Landrew, Taylor helped Wheeler win the 2025 5A State Title.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Named by Sports Illustrated as a top-15 player to watch at the Nike Elite High School Classic (2025)
#61 Player in GA according to PrepHoops
G: AJ Gladieux - Grace Christian (NC)
Hailing originally from Holly Springs, N.C. AJ played his HS basketball at Grace Christian and Apex Friendship School. In his senior season, where he played for Grace Christian, AJ averaged 9.1 PPG on over 60% from the field, while also averaging 1.9 APG earning him a plethora of Conference Awards including an All Conference and All Tournament Selection.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Played in the Under Armour RISE U15 National Title
Comes from a BIG Basketball family, having 6 direct family members play the sports at the collegiate level, including his father (Adam) playing at High Point.
G: Easton Hupp - Liberty Christian (TX)
The final member of Saah Nimley’s freshman class, and this time it’s a long distance traveler coming all the way from Texas, Easton Hupp who played at Fort Worth Christian but most recently at Liberty Christian. Easton was a prolific scorer at Liberty Christian averaging 24.8 PPG on 43% shooting from behind the arc in his senior season.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2 Time First Team All-State Selection
District MVP and 3 Time All District First Team Selection
Roster Prediction:
Roster Thoughts/Rating:
Backcourt: B
A’lahn Sumler: If you read last year’s preview, you would have noticed I was very high on Sumler, and just like last year I am high on him again. While I do believe Sumler will still have some lingering affects from his injury, I still think he’s an All Big South Level talent and will play to that level this season.
Luke Williams: When Luke first “entered” the portal, I was wondering who would take the chance on him. Well Saah Nimley was the guy who took the risk and I like it, Luke was prolific scorer in the GLVC and while the GLVC isn’t a TOP TOP D2 conference, it’s a very competitive league and I think while Luke will see a drop in production, it won’t be enough to make him a non factor, really love the low risk, high upside add by Saah Nimley.
Armari Carraway: The final of my “starting” guards is the JUCO Top 100 recruit, Armari Carraway. Trying to find a 3rd guard was very tough between him, Blaine, Gause and even Franklin and I would not be shocked to see any of them being the 1st guard off the bench. I do like Carraway the most and his JUCO production, I believe is the most likely to translate into a starting/6th man role.
Frontcourt: C-
Jesse Hafemeister: One of the truly more underrated transfer additions for Charleston Southern this year, mostly due to Jesse Hafemeister not actually playing at Mercyhurst last year. During his 4 year career at Catholic, Jesse just filled up that stat sheet and I don’t see it falling off at Charleston Southern, maybe not to the 17 PPG and 6 RPG he had at Catholic, but I could very well see 12 and 5 or something like it.
Nate Brafford: Sometimes getting one player leads to a domino effect, whether that be do to friendships or maybe just a special connection. For Nate and Devin, it’s the blood connection, and I think Nate will make the INSTANT impact for CSU as he’s the most mature of the two, and best fits the system for Coach Nimley, Nate is a perfect pick and pop 4-5 and will fit into any rotation that Coach Nimley and the staff put him in.
Trent Coleman: When Trent first committed, I thought he was going to be one of the “big fish” gets for CSU this year, I thought he was a LOCK for the Starting 5 and it was just a matter of would he play the 3 or 4, now I’m not as sure. I still love Trent, he has amazing talent but CSU has just added A LOT of talent so he will need to compete for it but I still feel either starting 5 or first forward off the bench. Trent WILL make his presence known early and often.
Reis Jones: The lone scholarship returning big man for the Bucs, and my forecasted starting center, Reis Jones is due to have a solid senior season. With the loss of Taje Kelly, Reis Jones is now the tenured big man in an offense that last year ran through the big man. Do I think Reis will have a Big South POY type season… probably not. Do I see him being a 7-8 PPG player who plays his role and protects the rim and glass…Yes.
Depth/Bench: B-
Thoughts: I truly think CSU has one of the best “pound for pound” depth/bench in the conference. By “pound for pound” I mean looking from the starters to the bench, how much production they will lose. For CSU I really don’t see much of drop in production if any, especially at the guard position. Whether Lofton, Blaine, Franklin or even Gause are very comparable to the starters.
At the forward spot and center spot, same idea, Devin Brafford is very much a ying to Jones’ yang, and you also have amazing depth with Coleman, Nate Brafford and Hafemeister. Coach Nimley saw how depth ruined the potential of last season and he made sure it wouldn’t happen again.
Overall Roster Grade: C+
Gardner Webb:
Background and 24-25 Recap:
After the loss of Coach Tim Craft to nearby Western Carolina, Gardner Webb chose to keep it in-house, hiring longtime GWU assistant coach, Jeremy Luther, and Coach Luther was able to bring back two GWU studs in Anthony Selden from Rice and Jamaine Mann from Georgia State.
Sadly for Coach Luther, it wasn’t the season he would have wanted in Year 1, despite starting the season 4-3 and winning the Cancun Challenge. Gardner Webb entered conference play at a record of 5-8 and ended the season with a loss to High Point ending their season at 11-20.
Now after losing Selden and Mann to graduation and their budding star, Buddy Simmons to the portal, Coach Luther only returns two players from last season.
Returners:
G: Jacob Hudson
The most productive of the two scholarship returners, but isn’t saying too much. Hudson was a big piece off the bench last year for Gardner Webb, and his role became larger down the stretch playing over 20 mins in 3 conference games compared to 0 in the non-conference portion. Hudson averaged 4.1 PPG and 1.4 RPG in 13 MPG, but in his last 5 games he averaged 6 PPG and 1.5 RPG including an 11 point and 6 rebound game vs High Point.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Held offers from Iona, Siena and Fairfield before committing to Gardner Webb
G: Colin Hawkins
The other of the two scholarship returners is sophomore Colin Hawkins. Unlike Jacob Hudson, Hawkins saw all his playing early in the season, not playing at all after January came to a close vs Longwood. Hawkins had some good performances in his freshman season including an 8 point outing vs Elon and a career high 9 points vs Wofford. Across his 20 game freshmen campaign Hawkins averaged 2.4 PPG, 0.7 APG and 0.6 RPG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
#4 Player in Colorado before heading Sunrise Christian Academy for a Prep School Season.
Hawkins averaged 14 PPG and 5 RPG at Sunrise Christian Academy in 23-24.
Incoming Transfers:
G: Aaron “Ace” Talbert - St. Francis PA
Likely the most proven of Coach Luther’s transfer portal class, Aaron Talbert comes from St. Francis PA after having his sophomore campaign ruined to a knee injury in the 5th game of the season. Despite only playing 5 games, Talbert showed improvement after a very solid freshman season averaging 10.2 PPG, 2.8 RPG and 1.8 APG in 28.2 MPG.
Unlike most freshmen, Talbert was an almost instant starter in his freshmen season playing in 29 games and starting 21 of them averaging 8.3 PPG, 2.2 RPG and 2.2 APG with over 38% shooting from behind the arc in just over 28 MPG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
All Academic Basketball All American in High School.
Post 12 double figure games and one 20+ point game in his freshman season.
G: DJ Jefferson - Longwood
One of the 4 intra-conference transfers, Gardner Webb was the only Big South teams to lose and gain players from within the conference losing Pharrell Boyogueno but picking up former Top 100 recruit DJ Jefferson. DJ began his career as the 85th ranked player in the 2022 High School class committed to Tennessee and like another DJ, just didn’t find his footing at Tennessee as Jefferson only played one game across two seasons for the Vols putting up 3 points and 2 rebounds vs Tennessee Tech.
Unlike the other former Tennessee commit named DJ who entered the Big South, he didn’t find home on his first transfer. At Longwood, DJ again struggled to find the court, only playing in 13 games averaging 3.7 PPG and 2.3 RPG playing only 7.3 MPG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
85th ranked HS player in the Class of 2022, #1 Player out of Minnesota ranked above Tre Holloman, Pharrel Payne and Cam Heide
2022-23 First Year SEC Honor Roll and 2023-24 Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll
G: Spence Sims - Alabama
Probably the most unknown or unproven addition for Gardner Webb is Alabama transfer guard Spence Sims. The Bama transfer was a Walk-On last season at Alabama after having a storied high school career at Fairhope HS in Florence, Alabama in which he averaged 19 PPG and 3.8 APG in his senior season.
At Alabama he was behind guards like Mark Sears, Labaron Philon both of which were NBA prospects, Sims did not play at all during his freshman season, meaning he has 4 remaining years of eligibility.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Hold the Fairhope HS Single Game Scoring Record: 46 points
Was a McDonald’s All American Nominee
G: Julius Clark - Tallahassee State College
Probably the biggest addition aside from maybe Ace Talbert, Julius Clark was a Top 150 JUCO Round Up player, one of two who committed to Gardner Webb. In his freshman season at Tallahassee State, Clark played in 33 games, starting in 13 and averaged 5.9 PPG and 2.9 RPG leading Tallahassee State to the FCSAA Region 8 Tournament.
Julius’ sophomore season was a big breakout as he played and started in 29 games where he averaged 16 PPG, 5.3 RPG and 1.8 APG earning his 1st Team All Conference Honors.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Ranked 76th in JUCO Top 150 RoundUp
Earned Tallahassee State College Student Athlete of the Year (2024-25)
F: Curtis Williams - Northwest Florida State
The other of Gardner Webb’s JUCO Top 150 addition, Williams actually began his career at Pepperdine University where he actually had pretty good success including a 12 point game vs LIU in just his 4th EVER college game. In his freshman season at Pepperdine he averaged 1.7 PPG, 0.5 RPG and 0.2 APG across 23 games.
Then after transferring to Northwest Florida State, Williams helped lead NWF to a 20-9 record while averaging 8.9 PPG and 2.9 RPG with over 34% shooting from behind the arc.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Ranked 140th in JUCO Top 150 RoundUp
Was 3 Star Recruit in HS with offers from USC, SDSU and Portland State
F: Ahmadou Ndiaye - Southwest Mississippi CC
Nicknamed “Hami”, Ndiaye is the final JUCO addition for Gardner Webb in this class, coming from Southwest Mississippi CC after beginning his career at Southern Connecticut State where he only played in 7 games across his freshman season averaging 0.9 PPG and 0.9 RPG playing 5.6 MPG.
During the 24-25 season which he played at Southwest Mississippi CC, Ndiaye played in 24 games, starting 19 of them playing just over 20 MPG. Ndiaye averaged 6.6 PPG and 5.4 RPG with an amazing 38.6% 3PT percentage.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Had a 21 rebound game vs Baton Rouge Post Grad Academy
Had his best game with 19 points and 7 rebounds vs Northwest Mississippi CC
F: Na’vuan Peterson - Trevecca Nazarene
One of the better additions in the frontcourt for Gardner Webb is Trevecca Nazarene grad transfer Na’vuan Peterson. Peterson began his career at Lewis and Clark CC, hence why he gets a fifth year. In his freshman season across 18 games (15 starts), Peterson averaged 8.6 PPG and 3.9 RPG and improved in his sophomore season averaging 13.2 PPG and 4.9 RPG in 26 games (25 starts).
After he ended his JUCO career, Peterson went to D2 Kentucky Wesleyan where in 29 games, 3 of which being starts, he averaged 4.8 PPG and 3.1 RPG in just over 13 MPG. After that season he made the move to Trevecca Nazarene where he played 18 games, averaging 9 PPG and 6.7 RPG across 27 MPG including a 25 point game vs Alabama Huntsville.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Started the Exhibition Game in which Kentucky Wesleyan beat Louisville in 2023-24.
F: Jacob Hogarth - Iona
The lone Division One addition to the front court for Gardner Webb is Iona transfer Jacob Hogarth. Before committing to Iona, Hogarth was the #6 player in CT according to New England Recruiting Report and the #20 player in all of New England.
During his freshman season at Iona, in which he averaged 1.1 PPG and 1.1 RPG. Hogarth showed he can play at this level appearing in 18 games and even starting 1 of them vs Delaware. He played over 10 mins in multiple games including vs West Virginia where he played 20 mins, a career high for him.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Won the NEPSAC Class-AAA Title in High School during the 22-23 season.
Held offers from Fairfield, Buffalo, Quinnipiac and Maine before committing to Iona.
F: Riek Riek - Drury
For the final of the Gardner Webb transfers is D3 Drury University big man transfer Riek Riek. Riek Riek transferred to GWU after two years at the JUCO level with Walters State and Sauk Valley before he went and spent two seasons at Drury. At Walters State, Riek only averaged 2 PPG and 1.7 RPG but at Sauk Valley, Reik averaged 10.6 PPG and 6.7 RPG earning him his chance at Drury.
During his first season at Drury, Riek played in 28 games starting 6 of those 28 in which he averaged 3.7 PPG and 2.8 RPG on over 30% shooting from behind the arc. During what was going to be his final season of college hoops before the NCAA JUCO ruling, Riek averaged 4.1 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 1.6 APG in 27 games and 15 starts before now using the JUCO waiver to head to Gardner Webb.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Had a season high 13 points vs McKendree on 1/16/25.
Riek Riek’s parents are originally from South Sudan.
Incoming Freshman:
G: Jamias Ferere - Putnam Science Academy/Southern Guilford
The first of the high school commits comes from a familiar school for Gardner Webb’s coaching staff and fan faithful, Putnam Science Academy. Putnam Science has provided Gardner Webb greats like Buddy Simmons and D’Maurian Williams, and Jamias hopes to put himself on that same list.
Before making the move to Putnam, Ferere had a successful career at Southern Guilford where he averaged 17 PPG, 7 RPG, and 5 APG during his senior season earning him 2023-24 3A Offensive Player of the Year as well as NC District 7 Player of the Year and All-District Team.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Held offers from Manhattan, Albany, Fairfield and Bryant before committing to GWU.
Ranked as the 23rd best player in Connecticut by New England Recruiting Report.
G: Ashton King - Millbrook HS
GWU late in the offseason made one more addition from the High School ranks adding NC guard Ashton King to their roster. During this past season at Millbrook High School in which King took to the 2nd round of 4A Playoffs, King averaged 23.5 PPG and 4 APG including 4 30 points games. King earned All District Team Honors in part to his performance.
Awards/Notable Facts:
32nd in North Carolina in PPG as a senior, 321st in the nation.
Roster Prediction:
Roster Thoughts/Ratings:
Backcourt: C
Ace Talbert: Likely the biggest get and maybe most talented player on the team in my opinion, Talbert’s success and a lot of GWU’s success depends on if he can be the player he was at the start of last season before his injury. If he is 100%, GWU might be able to avoid the basement of the conference, if he isn’t 100% or doesn’t return to form, it will be a long year for Gardner Webb.
Jacob Hudson: I think we see Jacob Hudson pick up right where he ended the season with playing time, just progressively carving his role into the offense. Hudson was clearly gaining more playing time, and with the other returner (Hawkins) being injured to end the season last year, I think it will take Hawkins time to work back into the rotation where as Hudson can pick up where he left off being a fringe starter.
Julius Clark: Finally as the last fringe starter/first guard off the bench, I think Clark comes away with this role, I’m not convinced anyone else just has it to beat out Clark. Clark was the 76th JUCO player for a reason and everyone else is either inexperienced player or freshman.
Frontcourt: D
Na’vuan Peterson: Probably the forward addition I like the most, if Peterson can stay on the court he has proven he can make an impact. He was good at Trevecca when he was on the court, but once again like Talbert, it’s about being there TO PLAY and being healthy.
Curtis Williams: Williams should have the highest floor for all the forwards, coming in as the 140th ranked JUCO player in the Class of ‘25 along with experience at Pepperdine. I just can’t see him having more of a breakout or seeing him being much more than a solid role player as a starter.
Jacob Hogarth: Either Hogarth or Riek Riek will likely be the starting center, I’m not sold on either but I’m more sold on Hogarth, at least he has played D1 ball and has shown flashes of being a solid D1 level player. I just do not think a 6’9” center will be enough to really compete in the Big South especially with lack of projected guard production.
Riek Riek: As I said in the Hogart comments, I am not sold on Riek Riek. I truly don’t know if any other Big South school would have added him and if they did it would be as a 3rd string forward/center. Riek Riek will likely see substantial minutes at Gardner Webb, and I do not think it bodes well for Gardner Webb’s hope to relive 2019.
Bench/Depth: D
Thoughts: The depth is where the issues really show their face for GWU, there is none. The guard depth is lacking, DJ Jefferson being the only depth player with D1 experience. Sims, while being an amazing HS player, I don’t really know if he’s a D1 player then you are already to the freshmen of King and Ferere, I would assume Ferere will be the big freshmen for GWU and I do think he will be pretty good.
For the forwards, well I mentioned all the rostered forwards in the starter section, they have one rostered outside of those 5 at forward Amhadou Ndiaye, in fact according to their team site they have FOUR forwards as Ndiaye is listed as a guard but I think he will NEED to play forward at some point.
Overall Roster Grade: D+
High Point:
Background and 24-25 Recap:
It was the revenge year for High Point, after a heartbreaking end to their 2023-24 season losing to Longwood. High Point came in as the odds on favorite to win the Big South in 2024-25, and the won the regular season title and had two BIG scares vs Radford despite leading the whole game and then the famed Winthrop game, the game where Mean Mug Mania took over the College Hoops world, but after a loss to Purdue in the Round of 64, HPU was poised to run it back with Alan Huss at the helm.
Until, April 10th when it was announced that Alan Huss had officially taken an Assistant Coach position (and most importantly Head Coach in Waiting) at his alma-mater, Creighton. Then in a coaching search that seemed like it was going to take at least one week with some of the people linked to the job, High Point chose to keep the momentum going and hiring Flynn Clayman, the Associate Head Coach under Alan Huss.
Now we are in the FlynnStones Era at HPU, and with this roster, it could become the WINstone Era.
Returning Players:
G: Chase Johnston
Despite entering the portal, Chase Johnston has had a change of heart choosing to return to High Point for his final season of college sports. I don’t know if Chase could have had a hotter start to his High Point career with 31 in the season opener vs Coppin State and lit it up from behind the arc all season with 71 threes and shooting at over 40% from behind the arc.
Awards/Notable Facts:
ASun 2nd Team All Conference (2021-22)
1,500+ Career Points
Highest Returning Offensive Rating in the Big South
F: Terry Anderson
Despite missing the first 5 games of the season due to injury after transferring in from Lamar and having to work his way into the offense, Terry finally found his footing when it mattered most, the Big South tournament was a VERY BRIGHT spot for Terry.
16 points, a season high for Anderson vs Gardner Webb in the first round. 5 points off the bench vs Radford, and then playing a massive part in High Point’s resurgence vs Winthrop with 8 points and 5 rebounds. Now with no preseason injury in the way, expect Anderson to make an impact from Day 1.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2024 Southland Conference All-Tournament Team
2023-24 2nd Team All Southland Conference
Was a Top 30 JUCO Player before going to Lamar
F: Josh Ibukunoluwa
The Aussie big man had a pretty successful Year 1 in High Point, playing in 25 games averaging just under 10 MPG on a very successful High Point squad, and those weren’t blow out minutes.
Josh had some really amazing performances including 10 points and 5 rebounds on National TV vs Longwood then the next game scoring 13 points and grabbing 8 rebounds vs Winthrop. Josh also had 6 points and ELEVEN rebounds vs Non D1 Carolina University.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Won Big South Freshman of the Week (2/17/25)
2nd highest ranked Australia recruit in the 2024 recruiting class.
F: Braden Hausen
The final scholarship returner Braden Hausen, Hausen only appeared in 7 games early in the season for High Point while they were dealing with depth issues only in the season, but Hausen did look good and showed flashes in those 7 games including 6 points vs American and 5 points vs Pfeiffer.
Awards/Notable Facts:
His brother Brendan Hausen plays basketball at Iowa
Was the 275th ranked player in the Class of 2024
Was featured in All Hail Cullen’s Tour of HPU’s Campus (Video Here)
Incoming Transfers:
G: Rob Martin - Southeast Missouri State
High Point wasted NO TIME getting players in the portal as within the first week they landed Rob Martin from Southeast Missouri State. Martin began his career at Indiana State where he only played in 12 games averaging 0.9 PPG and 0.8 APG before transferring to Southeast Missouri State.
Once Rob stepped foot at SEMO, it was very clear that Rob was talented. In his sophomore season he led SEMO in scoring with 11.9 PPG and led the team in assists with 3.5 APG across 31 games. During his junior season, Rob stepped it up even more averaging 14.8 PPG and 4.5 APG again leading the team in both stats, helping lead his team to the OVC Title Game where they fell to SIU Edwardsville.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2024-25 First Team All-Ohio Valley Conference
Rated fifth in the OVC in assists and sixth in assist/turnover ratio in 2023-24.
Led the Ohio Valley Conference in assist rate last season.
G: Scotty Washington - Cal State Northridge
High Point kept it pushing with landing highly talented scorers at the guard position adding CSUN transfer Scotty Washington. Washington began his career at Cal Baptist with 3 seasons at CBU, only playing 2 due to redshirting his freshman season. In his RS-Freshman season Scotty Washington averaged 5.1 PPG in 28 games including two starts in the WAC Tournament. In his sophomore season Washington finally carved out a starting role at CBU playing in 33 games and starting 18 averaging 8.5 PPG and 1.6 RPG.
After two pretty successful seasons at CBU, Scotty made the move to Cal State Northridge for his RS-Junior season where he had a pretty big breakout averaging 14.6 PPG and just over 3 RPG on 29.2 MPG. He was 2nd on the team in scoring playing alongside two high major transfers in Marcus Adams and Keonte Jones.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2024-25 All-Big West Honorable Mention
10th best Free Throw Percentage in CSUN history.
G: Vincent Brady - Missouri State
A familiar face to the High Point faithful who happened to watch the Cayman Islands Invitational where Brady scored 27 points to beat High Point in the 1st Round. Brady began his career at IU-Indy (IUPUI at the time). Where as a freshman he started all but one game where he happened to be a bright spot on what otherwise was a pretty bad IUPUI team, averaging 10.9 PPG and nearly 4 RPG. During his sophomore campaign, his stats took a slight slip averaging 9.1 PPG and 3.4 RPG and so did his playing time only starting 21 games, as opposed to 31 the previous season.
After the firing of Matt Crenshaw at IUPUI, Vincent Brady transferred to Missouri State to play for storied Head Coach Cuonzo Martin and was an impact the second he stepped on the floor scoring 21, 15, 14 and 27 in 4 of his first 5 games at Missouri State, Brady also had 29 vs MVC power Bradley. Brady had 13.5 PPG and 4.3 RPG in just over 32 MPG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Horizon League All-Freshman Team in 2022-23
Nominated for the 2021 McDonald's All-American Game.
IUPUI Academic Advisor's List (3.0 GPA or Higher): Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024
G: Conrad Martinez - Arizona
One of the more high upside gets for Flynn Clayman and High Point, Conrad comes from a very well run program at Arizona. Despite not playing much in his first two seasons, he has shown flashes of being a good player.
Of the available film out there from his two seasons at Arizona, the vision is undeniable and his shooting ability is clearly there. Martinez also played for Spain in the U18 Euros where they finished runner up to Croatia. In 7 games for Spain, Martinez averaged 6.7 PPG and 3.3 APG including 10 points vs France and 7 assists vs Croatia in the final.
Awards/Notable Facts:
One of two Spainards on High Point’s 25-26 Roster
2nd highest Spain recruit in the 2023 recruiting class
G: Babacar Diallo - Missouri-Kansas City
The final of High Point’s transfer guards is the Senegalese transfer of Babacar Diallo. Mostly added after the loss of Jaydon Young to UNC, and I actually think Diallo is a better player than Young. Diallo began his career at St Peter’s but left after one season where he only appeared in 12 games, transferring to Navarro College for his sophomore season where he averaged 2.8 PPG and 3.4 RPG.
After his JUCO season at Navarro, Diallo moved to UMKC where he would spend 3 seasons in which he role grew bigger year in and year out going from 3.5 PPG to 4.2 PPG to 7.4 PPG in this most recent season, but Babacar provides his biggest impact on two areas, playmaking and defensive skillset. Babacar averaged 3.5 APG this past season with a 33.8% Assist Percentage and Diallo also tallied 1.2 SPG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2023-24 Summit League All Defensive Team
#1 Ranked Player in Senegal in 2016
Played in the 2019 FIBA World Cup for Senegal
F: Cam’ron Fletcher - Xavier
One of the most high profile additions of the offseason for the Big South, Cam’ron Fletcher has had a storied career beginning when he was the 88th ranked recruit headed to Kentucky to play for Coach Calipari, but only played in 9 games for Kentucky averaging 1.7 PPG and 1.7 RPG before transferring to Florida State.
At Florida State, Fletcher saw more time on the court but still battled with knee injuries in his 2nd and 3rd seasons at FSU only playing a combined 17 games after a successful sophomore campaign in Year 1 at FSU. Fletcher showed flashes of how well he could play at FSU with 6.8 PPG off the bench in Year 1, 10.8 PPG and 7.5 RPG in Year 2 as a starter, and then 6.7 PPG off the bench in Year 3. After 3 seasons at FSU, Cam made the choice to find another home, in which he went to Xavier.
In his most recent season at Xavier, Fletcher couldn’t find the court much, only playing in 9 games for the Musketeers in which he played sparingly. In the action he did see, Fletcher played really well including 8 points and 6 rebounds on perfect shooting vs Morgan State.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Dated WNBA Superstar Angel Reese
Was at one point a Top 40 HS Recruit, held offers from North Carolina, Michigan State and many other Power 5 schools
2024 ACC Academic Honor Roll
F: Owen Aquino - Liberty
The second of the Spainards on High Point’s roster, Owen Aquino comes from C-USA powerhouse and former Big South member, Liberty. Aquino actually began his career at Eastern Florida State, a JUCO in Cocoa, Florida. In his two years at Eastern Florida State Aquino started all but 3 games (all in his freshman season), averaging 4.9 PPG and 6.8 RPG in his freshman year before a stellar sophomore year averaging 14.9 PPG, 8.3 RPG and 4.4 APG, earning his a myriad of honors including being a Top 50 JUCO recruit.
At Liberty, Aquino picked up where he left off with being an impact player starting all 35 games for the Flames this past season, averaging 8.6 PPG and 5.5 RPG on nearly 60% shooting from the field, including a 28 point and 10 rebound performance vs NC A&T. Aquino also helped lead Liberty to the school’s first C-USA title and Liberty’s 6th NCAA tournament appearance before losing to Oregon in the Round of 64.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2022-23 All Central Conference Team (Eastern Florida State)
NJCAA Division 1 All American Nominee
Played for Spain’s U-16 Team in 2019
On Spain’s B Team Roster with players like Baba Miller and Great Osobor
F/C: Youssouf Singare - UConn
The final of High Point’s stellar portal class is a former national champion from UConn, Youssouf Singare. Singare comes to High Point after not playing much behind a STACKED frontcourt at UConn which had Donovan Clingan, Tarris Reed, Samson Johnson and Alex Karaban. Singare only played in 39 across 2 seasons at UConn averaged 0.3 PPG and 0.7 RPG, his career high was 4 points vs Xavier in the 24-25 season.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Won a National Title in 2023-24 with UConn
Was a Top 140 Recruit in the Class of 2023
Incoming Freshman:
G: Kasen Krueger - Amador Valley
One of only three incoming freshman for the Panthers is Kasen Krueger, a guard from the NoCal area having played his basketball at both Monte Vista for his Freshman and Sophomore season before transferring to Amador Valley for his Junior and Senior seasons.
Kasen is a a part of a very exclusive group of players in the state of California with OVER 1500 career points and 500 career assists, Kasen ended his career in HS with 1705 points and 579 assists.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Has a younger brother Cade in the Class of 26’ who also holds a High Point offer
Held offers from UCSB, USC Upstate and Southern Utah
G: Dorian Grosber - SSV lok Bernau Alba
One of the later additions for the entire Big South, Dorian Grosber is an international prospect who played professionally in Germany. Grosber had spent time with Alba Berlin. In his most recent season for SSV lok Bernau Alba, Dorian averaged 9.2 PPG and 4.2 RPG and during the NBBL season for Alba Berlin averaged 11.6 PPG and 7.2 RPG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Became the first Luxembourg born player to score in a EuroLeague Game.
Played for the Luxembourg National Team in FIBA Pre Qualifiers.
F: Caden Miller - Moravian Prep/YNG Dreamerz
Caden Miller, the final of the incoming freshman for High Point comes from Overtime Elite, but is most known for his time playing HS basketball in Kentucky at Covington Catholic. During his senior season at Covington Catholic, Caden averaged a double double with 15.6 PPG and 10.7 RPG helping lead his team to a 24-5 record.
Caden was a 3 star commit coming out of HS holding offers from Missouri, Mississippi State and DePaul early in his HS recruitment.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Was the 306th HS Recruit in the Class of 24’, was a high as a Top 170 Recruit
Voted for as a Mr. Kentucky Basketball Nominee
Roster Prediction:
Roster Thoughts/Ratings:
Backcourt: A-
Rob Martin: Very few teams can replace a guard like Kezza Giffa at any level HM or MM, even fewer upgrade from a guard like him. High Point didn’t just replace Kezza, I think they upgraded. The only place where Rob doesn’t stack up to Kezza is inside the paint but Rob makes up for it with his playmaking and defensive abilities.
Scotty Washington: Speaking of replacing and upgrading, I don’t know if Scotty Washington is an upgrade of D’Maurian Williams, but he is easily on the same level at least, and with D’Maurian being an All Conference Level player and could have been Conference POY if it weren’t for Taje Kelly and Jordan Marsh. I would expect Scotty to make that kind of impact.
Vincent Brady: Between Conrad, Chase Johnston, Diallo it was hard to pick the 3rd guard I would cover in depth but I chose Vincent Brady. Vincent and Chase are probably the 2 most ready to be a starter/6th man. Either way, if they got with Brady, Conrad, Chase or Babacar, whoever they pick as the 3rd guard/SF spot, HPU will have an amazing rotation of guards that any coach would salivate to have.
Frontcourt: B+
Owen Aquino: Probably the most proven of the starting caliber forward, I would expect Aquino to have a big role in the offense. While he doesn’t have the ability to pop it like Kimani did, he has the playmaking ability and the strength to play down low. I also do think Kimani relied on his ability to shoot a little too much and led to some bad possessions, maybe Owen coming in takes the HPU offense to the next level.
Cam’ron Fletcher: I think Fletcher will be the biggest talking point/question on the roster for High Point this offseason. If Cam is fully healthy, he might be the best player in the conference. If Cam isn’t healthy and can’t get healthy, HPU won’t be in trouble but it would really hurt their chances of getting an At Large and maybe even chances to win the Big South. I still love High Point taking him on, very low risk, and the talent IS and HAS been there in the past.
Terry Anderson: Probably the returner who will play the most besides Chase Johnston maybe. A fully healthy Terry Anderson could be scary for the Big South, he showcased a bit of it during the Big South tournament but I think we will see more consistent showings from Anderson as either the 1st forward off the bench or maybe even in the starting 5.
Josh Ibukunoluwa: The battle for the starting center will be BIG in High Point, do they play small ball with Aquino or play taller with Singare or Ibukunoluwa. Either way HPU will be very mobile, if there was one thing Bodo Bodo was lacking, it was mobility. Ibukunoluwa will have an impact either as a reserve big man, bench big man or starter and that’s big for HPU.
Bench/Depth: A-
Thoughts: I really love the guard depth with High Point. If I was doing this by position grouping, HPU would get an A++++. Diallo is one of the most overlooked and underrated additions, Conrad Martinez is an amazing talent and of course Chase Johnston has a green light from anywhere beyond half court. If you are trying to beat High Point, you won’t do it through guard play.
The forward depth is the only small question mark I have for the roster, and even then they are DEEP at the forward position, it’s just a lot of either unproven talent like Singare, Hausen or players who have had health issues like Fletcher and Anderson but either way High Point has some of the best depth in the conference and even all of MM basketball.
Overall Roster Grade: A-
Longwood
Background and 24-25 Recap:
Coming off a Big South title victory and returning many key pieces and replacing the ones who left, Longwood was expected to be a Big South contender. Early in the season they looked to be neck and neck with High Point with both schools entering their MTE’s undefeated. Even looking to be ahead of High Point after beating them on a Colby Garland buzzer beater, but alas Longwood would succumb to the injury bug and end up a 6 seed and lose to Winthrop in the conference tournament.
Then in the offseason, Ryan Odom takes the job at UVA and rumors start circulating about Griff maybe joining Odom at UVA. Then, that is exactly what happens as Griff joins UVA as the General Manager for Basketball, leaving an opening at Longwood. In the same post that Longwood acknowledges Griff’s departure they announced the promotion of Ronnie Thomas, the coach that Griff had been preparing to become a head coach. One of Ronnie’s first assistant hires was D3 Head Coach at Guilford, Tom Palombo, the reason for mentioning this hire. One he’s an amazing coach, and two he was another coach who Ronnie worked under. Will Ronnie Thomas take Longwood to the promise land, or could it be a sour year 1 for Longwood.
Returning Players:
G: KJ McClurg
One of my top rated transfers from last year, KJ McClurg started out really well but seemed to lose his touch a little one the stretch and had his season cut short after Feb 1st vs Charleston Southern. The flashes of what his ceiling was were there, like on Nov 16th and 19th vs UT Martin and Binghamton where he had 25 and 20 points in each game.
Before moving to Longwood, KJ was a top D2 player at Cal (PA) Vulcans just shooting the cover off the ball ranking 8th in the country in D2 scoring with 22.6 PPG. He was a 1st Team All American at Cal (PA) in the 2023-24 season. In his two seasons there at Cal (PA) he had over 1,100 points.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2023-24 D2 All American
2024-25 Big South President Honor Roll
G: Emanuel Richards
One of the main role players in the 2023-24 Longwood team that made the tournament, Richards knows what success looks like but also knows what it doesn’t look like. Last season, like McClurg missed a large amount of time during conference play, and seeming that caused him to lose his touch. Before getting injured, Richards was good for about 6.5 PPG and 2.9 RPG on 41.7 FG%, after his missed time Richards averaged 1.5 PPG and 3.3 RPG on 20 FG%.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2023-24 Big South All Freshman Team
Career High of 12 points vs SMU (12/29/24)
G: Jaylen Benard
Another returner who happened to be a freshman on the Big South title winning team is Jaylen Benard. Benard started to really carve out more minutes for himself during the end of season, in part due to injuries, earning 2 of his 7 starters in the last 2 games of the season vs USC Upstate, and Winthrop during the Big South Tournament. Benard was actually very solid down the stretch in conference play with 9 points vs Winthrop, 14 vs Charleston Southern and 12 at USC Upstate.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Held offers from USC Upstate, Incarnate Word, Stonehill and Cal Poly before committing to Longwood
Has a career high of 14 vs Charleston Southern
F: Johan Nziemi
Despite both big men entering the transfer portal, like Trilly Donovan says, “Sometimes the best gets, are the ones you already have.” As Nziemi chose to return for his final season of eligibility. Nziemi had a very solid season at Longwood despite missing time after an ankle injury vs Charleston Southern, averaging 9 PPG and 4.4 RPG across 28 games (6 starts). The season (23-24) before Nziemi was a reserve player for Longwood only averaging 2.9 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 6.7 MPG.
Before transferring to Longwood, Nziemi was at Independence Community College where he played two seasons. In his freshman season, Nziemi was a solid freshman playing 31 games, starting 27, where he averaged 11 PPG and 7.5 RPG. During his sophomore season at Indy CC, Nziemi added on where he left off with 14.5 PPG (ranking 19th in the KJCCC) and 6.0 RPG across 30 games.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2022-23 2nd Team All-KJCCC
Had 11 points and 11 rebounds vs USC Upstate (his only D1 Double Double)
Has a career high of 16 vs UW Milwaukee this past season.
F: Elijah Tucker
Another one of the players who entered the portal but chose to run it back in Farmville, Tucker should be comfortably in the starting 5 this season as he was the past season only not starting 6 games. Tucker had a solid season in his 24-25 season averaging 9.7 PPG and 5 RPG but was usually good for either double digit points or double digit rebounds per game, having one of those two in 15 games last season. Tucker took his massive leap as a junior when he entered the program in the 23-24 season, after two lackluster seasons at Xavier. During the 23-24 season, Tucker averaged 7.9 PPG and 4.3 RPG across 34 games (10 starts).
Awards/Notable Facts:
120th ranked recruit according to 247Sports with offers from Clemson, Iowa, VCU and St John’s before picking Xavier
Had back to back 20 point games at SMU and at Presbyterian
Incoming Transfers:
G: Jacoi Hutchinson - George Washington
Probably the best incoming transfer, based off last season’s production, Hutchinson comes to Longwood after two pretty successful seasons at George Washington. During his freshman season Hutchinson really shined, playing in 32 games as a fringe starter averaging 7.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG and 2.3 APG on nearly 40% shooting from 3. In his final 7 games of the 23-24 regular season Hutchinson had 6 double digit point games playing over 32 in all 7 of those games.
Hutchinson hoped to have a sophomore leap, but like many, that leap didn’t come. During the sophomore season, Hutchinson saw a drop in efficiency going to 33.7% from the field and 25.3% from 3, Hutchinson also saw a drop in stats only averaging 6.5 PPG, 2.2 RPG and 2.4 APG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
3 Star Recruit out of High School with offers from Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Maryland and LSU
Was McDonald's All-American nominee in 2023
G: Redd Thompson Jr - James Madison
Coming to Longwood after a freshman season at James Madison in which he played in 10 games averaging 4.3 MPG and 1.3 PPG, most of his playing having come against Non D1 teams (Mary Baldwin and Midway). Redd had his career high vs Midway with 7 points, also his career high in rebounds with 2.
Coming out of John Marshall High School where he led his team to back to back state titles including a 28-0 season in the 2022-23 season, Redd was one of the better freshman for James Madison being a 3 star recruit with a myriad of offers from mid major powerhouses including Big South foe High Point.
Awards/Notable Facts:
3 Star Recruit by 247Sports, #9 Player in VA for the Class of 2024
Named MVP at the 2022-23 Chick-Fil-A Classic
Two-time VHSL First Team All-State selection
G: Elijah Jones - College of Charleston
Knowning as “Chicken Bone”, Longwood’s new transfer is a really interesting addition in many ways. Elijah Jones who began his career at Southern Indiana which was a D2 school at the time (is now a post season eligible D1 team), then went JUCO for one season and won a national title, then was on the most successful UW Green Bay team in recent memory, then went to Charleston, and is NOW at Longwood.
In his freshman and RS freshman seasons, Jones was at the D2 of Southern Indiana where he appeared in 33 games, across the 2 seasons with 16 starts all coming in his RS Freshman season. In the first 2 seasons Jones averaged 3.6 PPG and 3 RPG most of which coming during his RS Freshman season where he averaged 4.7 PPG and 4.0 RPG.
After his JUCO season at John A Logan College where he averaged 8.1 PPG and 6.7 RPG across 35 games, he then took that skill to help UW Green Bay have their best season in 4 seasons going 18-14. Then Jones went to College of Charleston but didn’t see the court much, only having 2 PPG and 2.7 RPG across 12.3 MPG in 31 games.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Makes music under the name ChickenBone
Lettered in basketball at Marian Catholic High School
2022-23 JUCO National Champion
F: Alphonzo Billups - VCU
One of the most highly touted transfers in this class for Longwood and maybe even ever for the Lancers, Billups comes from VCU where he entered college as the 7th best recruit in VCU history, but it just never panned out for Billups. In his freshman season, he appeared in 8 games, then had to get a medical redshirt after a season ending hand injury.
During his RS-Freshman season, Billups got healthy playing in 27 games, all from the bench in which he averaged 4.9 PPG and 1.2 RPG with just over 40% shooting from behind the arc but showed flashes like 23 vs Penn State, and 13 vs Memphis. During the 2024-25 season, Billups once again played all his games from the bench, appearing in 23 games averaging only 2.9 PPG and 0.9 RPG, but once again showed flashes of greatness having a season high 14 points vs Georgia Southern.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Former Top 150 Recruit with offers from Florida, Ole Miss, St. John’s and Clemson
2022 McDonald’s All-America Nominee
F: Jaylin Payne - Daytona State College
The lone JUCO transfer of the 2025 class for Longwood, and really the lone non freshman big man addition Jaylin Payne. Payne having begun his career at Blinn College, he struggled to find the floor only averaging 3.4 PPG and 2.2 RPG across 16 games.
After the lackluster season at Blinn, Payne chose to take his talents to Daytona State College where he saw the court much more averaging 9.3 PPG and 5.9 RPG in just under 18 MPG. Payne helped lead Daytona State to a 29-6 record and NJCAA Quarterfinal Berth before losing to Connors State.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2024-25 Region 8 All Tournament Team
2024-25 2nd Team All Conference
87th ranked JUCO Recruit in JUCO RoundUp Top 150
Incoming Freshman:
G: Jerome Williams - Mt Zion Academy
Hailing from Minneapolis, MN but having played most recently at Mt Zion in Maryland. Williams comes in as the 13th PG in the state of Maryland according to PrepHoops. In his most recent season which came at Mt Zion, Williams averaged 19 PPG and 8 APG and on the AAU circuit averaged 14 PPG and 6 APG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
3 Star Recruit
2024 UAA Circuit Champion with Team Thrill
F: Elijah Kelly - Miller School
Coming from Charlottesville, VA by way of the Miller School, Elijah Kelly is one of the big freshman for Longwood entering as a Top 250 recruit. Despite missing his senior season, Kelly showed enough promise on the grassroots circuit and his junior year to attract Longwood along with many others to offer Kelly. During his junior year Kelly averaged 11.3 PPG and 4.4 RPG in route to a VISAA Division 2 State Title, en which they would repeat in Kelly’s senior season.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Won Back to Back State Titles at Miller School
235th ranked recruit with offers from Radford, Arkansas State and Norfolk State among others.
F: Isaiah Kalala - Sunrise Christian
Coming from Sunrise Christian Post Grad, originally from WT White HS in Texas, Isaiah Kalala is another nationally ranked forward addition for Longwood. At WT White High School in Texas, during the 23-24 season Kalala averaged 7.2 PPG and an amazing 7.9 RPG helping lead his team to a 25-7 record. Kalala’s 22-23 season was better, nearly averaging a double double with 10.1 PPG and 9.1 RPG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
426th player according to 247Sports, Chose Longwood over SIU Edwardsville and Mississippi State
#3 Ranked player in Kansas according to Prep Hoops
F: Quadri Bashiru - Hill School
The final of the incoming freshman for Longwood is Quadri Bashiru. Bashiru spent 4 years the Hill School in Pottstown, PA being the #6th ranked Center in all of PA according to PrepHoops. At the Hill School, one of the top Independent PA High School’s, Bashiru gained lots of praise for being a good finisher at the rim helping lead his team to a 30-7 record in the 24-25 season.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Held offers from Stonehill and Bucknell before committing to Longwood
Roster Prediction:
Roster Thoughts/Ratings:
Backcourt: B+
Jacoi Hutchinson: Likely the clear starting PG for Longwood this year and looking to bounce off the success of former Longwood guards Walyn Napper and Colby Garland, and I could see it happening. Garland before coming to Longwood was a 21% 3PT shooter, comes to Longwood plays amazing, moves to San Jose State. Napper comes to Longwood after being a solid role player at Southern Miss, and ends up a Big South champ and Longwood legend. Hutchinson enters Longwood after being a role player, who wasn’t the most efficient at George Washington, and now comes to Longwood looking for a new start.
KJ McClurg: The talent is there clearly for KJ, you don’t just luck into scoring 20+ PPG at the D2 level. Sometimes it takes players a bit to develop to the D1 game and style of play, a great example of that is Chaney Johnson, transferred to Auburn from D2 and in Year 1 only had around 5 PPG, next year was a solid 9 PPG player on a Final 4 team. With the level change, along with missing half the season, I’m not selling any KJ stock, if anything I’m buying more.
Jaylen Benard: Either playing the 3 or being the 1st guard off the bench, one thing is a guarantee for Benard, he will have the energy to keep this team in games, or just flat out win them. Benard might not be the most talented player on the floor at any given time, but he likely has the most heart and motor, and that will propel Longwood down the stretch if any shortfalls happen.
Frontcourt: C+
Elijah Tucker: One of the best returners for Longwood, and even the entire Big South conference. Tucker is a known commodity that just seems to keep taking steps forward, now being the fortified starting big man with the loss of Christmas opening up the spot at the 4 for Nziemi.
Johan Nziemi: The other returning big for Longwood, and likely playing the 4 for Longwood. Nziemi and Tucker would be a miniature twin towers for Longwood, both were good for around 9 and 5 last year, with each cutting into their own minutes. Now that the roles are clearer, and the minutes are more open, I expect BIG things from the two big men down low.
Elijah Jones: Jones’ role will come down to if Longwood plays the traditional NBA style with 2 guards and 3 forwards, or if they follow the likes of High Point and even Longwood at times last season and play 3 “guards” and put 2 forwards out there. Either way Jones is talented enough to not be buried on the bench, and he’s mobile enough to play the 3rd guard spot and would have amazing positional size if he does so.
Alphonzo Billups: It’s hard to find a role for Billups but he will find the court somehow, whether that be as a bench forward, starting 3, or maybe even just a 1-4 utility player. His skills are just something that you can’t bring onto your team and not use, he will play, just I think it could play anywhere from PG to PF, maybe even a small ball 5.
Bench/Depth: C-
Thoughts: The depth on this Longwood team is interesting, for guards you have Emanuel Richards who is an amazing bench piece who would start on a good chunk of Big South and Mid Major teams. Redd Thompson a young talented guard whom was a top recruit last season from James Madison. Then deep in the reserves Jerome Williams and Gerald Burr who are both young freshman who both have a decent amount of promise.
The forward depth, like many Mid Majors, is lacking, not to the fault of Longwood at all. The one part that makes their young forward crew more steady than other teams is they recruited Post Grad freshman and JUCO players so they do have extra years of development compared to other forward groupings. Payne is really solid on the defensive end but can leave some stuff up on the offensive end. Kalala will probably get the most play out of all the freshmen forwards just due to his age and experience but both Kelly and Bashiru have very good strengths and could see some serious play and do well if needed.
Overall Roster Grade: C+
Presbyterian
Background and 24-25 Recap:
Coming off the 2nd postseason berth in Presbyterian history in the 2023-24 season, Coach Ferrell was hoping for another good season and boy did it happen. Their best conference record since 2018-19, tied for their best regular season standing finish ever with 5th, and another postseason berth in the CBI. All of this, despite losing one of their main big men in Johan Pierce, only 7 games into the season.
After their loss to Illinois State in the CBI, the current season ended, and the offseason began. Pierce is back, Peterson is back, but Mincy left for George Mason, Scott and Stewart are out of eligibility. If Coach Ferrell wants to repeat or improve on last year, he needs to retool, and develop all the in-house talent that PC always does.
Returners:
G: Carl Parrish
One of the most promising returners, Carl Parrish coming off a season in which he was almost a 50/40/90 shooter averaging 6.9 PPG and 2.1 RPG on 47.8% shooting from the field, 39.3% from 3, and 92.1% from the free throw line. Parrish really showcased his true potential vs Manhattan where had 23 points and 9 rebounds in 41 minutes of action before fouling out late.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Two Time All-State Selection at Miami Norland
2nd best returning Big South 3PT Shooter
G: Iverson King
In the 2024-25 season, Iverson King was one of the highly touted freshman for Presbyterian even earning Preseason Freshman of Year from some publications and he proved it early. If it weren’t for Mister Dean, Iverson King could have a compelling case for Big South Freshman of the Year. Iverson averaged 5.6 PPG and 3.4 RPG in 19 MPG including 15 starts, all of which coming during conference play.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Two Time Big South Freshman of the Week and Big South All Freshman Team Member
3 Star Recruit and the 55th SF in the country.
G: Triston Wilson
Another Miami Norland guard staying for at least one more season at Presbyterian, Triston Wilson whom was a high school teammate of Carl Parrish. Wilson had a very respectable freshman season at Presbyterian, playing 30 games with one lone start vs Winthrop. In those 30 games Wilson averaged 2.5 PPG and 1.5 RPG in 9 MPG, but had performances like against UNC Asheville where Wilson piled in 21 points off the bench for the Blue Hose.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Rated as the 12th best player in Florida by MaxPreps in 2024
A 3 time Miami Herald All-Dade County selection, Was First Team selection as a senior.
G: Khalon Hudson
Non Presbyterian fans or Big South roster knowers might be asking, Khalon Hudson didn’t play at Presbyterian, how is he a returner? Simple answer, Hudson missed last season and took a medical redshirt, but don’t let that lower expectations for you. Hudson is very talented. During Hudson’s time at Spartansburg Methodist, Hudson averaged 18.5 PPG and 9.3 RPG in 30 games and 11 starts, including a 30 points and 13 rebound game vs USC Salkehatchie.
Note: During Hudson’s time Spartanburg Methodist was JUCO, not NAIA as they are now.
Awards/Notable Facts:
NJCCA All American Honorable Mention
2023-24 First Team All-Region X
F: Jaylen Peterson
One of the best defensive players, not just on Presbyterian, but the whole conference Jaylen Peterson is returning to Presbyterian for his junior season. In his sophomore season, Peterson saw a massive jump playing in all 33 games and of which 10 starts compared to 14 in his Freshman season, and averaged 6.1 PPG and 5.6 RPG. Peterson had a career high 6 blocks vs Winthrop, en route to 52 blocks on the season.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Set Presbyterian's Division I era record for blocks in a season with Big South leading 52 blocked shots in 2024-25.
Had two double-doubles vs Columbia (SC) and Tennessee Tech
F: Johan Pierce
After a solid junior season in which Johan played in 33 games with 3 starts, Johan was hoping for a solid senior season and early in the season it seemed to be headed that way. Through 7 games, Pierce had been averaging 14.4 PPG, 7.7 RPG and 1.7 APG with 4 of those coming during starts before getting injured vs Monmouth and missing the rest of the season leading to Pierce getting a medical redshirt.
Before coming to Presbyterian, Pierce was a star at Francis Marion where he averaged 13.7 PPG and 8.8 RPG. In his sophomore season Pierce nearly averaged a double double with 14.4 PPG and 9.5 RPG with 11 double double performances including 22 points and 18 rebounds vs Coker and 31 points along with 15 rebounds vs Southern Virginia.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2021-22 Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year
2022-23 Conference Carolinas All-Conference Third Team
F: Chidi Chiakwelu
Having redshirted a freshman season, many may not have heard about Chidi last year but he is a really interesting player. During his High School career at George Ranch, where he was called Mr Double Double, due to averaging a double double in his senior season with 14.2 PPG and 10.2 RPG with an average of 3 BPG across his entire HS career.
Awards/Notable Facts:
3 Time All First Team District Selection
Incoming Transfers:
G: Erik Taylor - Sam Houston State
Coming to Presbyterian after a pretty solid freshman year for Sam Houston, Erik Taylor will likely see an increased role at PC. During his lone college basketball season at Sam Houston, Taylor averaged 3.1 PPG, 0.8 RPG and 0.8 APG across 23 games including 4 double digit performances with a career high of 13 vs UNC Wilmington.
During his HS career at Edgewater HS in Orlando, Florida Taylor averaged 12.2 PPG, 2.8 APG and 3 RPG, before transferring to The Rock School in Gainesville known for producing D1 talent, along with former NBA MVP Joel Embiid.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Played alongside UNC Asheville Freshman Myles Mayfield in HS at Edgewater
He is ranked as the No. 29 player in the state of Florida with offers from Temple, Drake, Wichita State among others.
G: Josh Pickett - Denver
Likely the most productive of the new Presbyterian transfers, Josh Pickett comes in from Denver after their coach was fired this past season. His time for Denver only last one season but he made the most of it, averaging 5.4 PPG and 2.2 RPG as a true freshman for the Pioneers as a fringe starter with 32 games, 15 of which being starts including 2 double digit performances to end the season versus St Thomas and South Dakota State.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Chicago Sun-Times Top-50 Player and Dec. 14 Chicago Tribune Player of the Week
Held offers from Northwestern, Eastern Michigan and others before committing to Denver.
Incoming Freshman:
G: Amare Anderson - Greer HS
The lone freshman from the state of SC for Presbyterian, Amare Anderson comes from Greer HS was viewed as one of the best players from SC earning a 3rd Team All State this season after averaging 19.5 PPG. The most interesting part is for me, Anderson has been doing this for a while, having averaged 19.2 PPG. In each of those seasons he helped Greer get 20+ wins, each time making decent playoff runs including a Final 4 run in the 2022-23 season.
Awards/Notable Facts
Won Prep Hoops Mid Major Superlative for the State of SC.
Ranked #8 in SC and the #2 PG in SC by Prep Hoops.
Scored 14 points in the Carolinas Classic.
G: JD Bowden - Ambassador Christian
Coming in from Ambassador Christian (Huntersville, NC) was one of the later signings for Presbyterian, but it might be one of their bigger ones this season. Bowden comes in with some of the highest assist numbers in the country averaging 4.0 this past season but being a 4.6 APG player across his career. During the 23-24 season he won the NC State Title with United Faith Christian Academy.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Held offers from FIU, High Point, Western Carolina, Radford and others before picking Presbyterian.
Ranked #18 in the North Carolina, and the #3 PG in NC, along with being a Ranking Riser.
F: Augustine Ayelyine - University Christian
One of the biggest needs for PC is usually height; this year they addressed it with what will likely be their tallest player on the roster at 6’10, Augustine Ayelyine. Ayelyine is very comparable with Jaylen Peterson, just 3 inches taller. Both are dangerous on the defensive end with their ability to get up and either block or rebound the ball, and will never be out willed for the ball. In high school Augustine averaged 2.6 BPG and nearly 9 RPG at University Christian in Jacksonville, Florida.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Ranked #37 in the state of FL and #8 C in the State of Florida.
Tallest Presbyterian player in over 10 years.
Roster Prediction:
Roster Thoughts and Ratings:
Guards: C
Erik Taylor: Probably the likely point guard for Presbyterian, Taylor comes off a decent freshman season and with the way PC develops guards, Taylor could have an amazing season, the efficiency is there with being a 42% 3PT shooter and over 80% from the Free Throw line, if it can follow him with the minutes increase, he could be a Top Big South PG this season.
Carl Parrish: Coming off a near 50-40-90 season last season, I think Parrish has earned the right to be shooting guard, as he likely will be this season. That kind of efficiency is rare in this day of college basketball, especially at the MM level. I don’t think Parrish will shoot 50-40-90 this season, but even a 50-35-80 season would do wonders for Presbyterian.
Khalon Hudson: For the 3rd guard spot, I think Hudson gets it despite coming off injury. Hudson is extremely talented, especially for the Mid Major level. Even if he’s not 100% to what he was pre-injury, he will definitely be a useful piece in a really underrated and pretty high potential backcourt in Mid Major college basketball.
Forwards: C-
Jaylen Peterson: One of the best defensive, if not the best, players in the conference. It will be impossible to keep Peterson out of the starting 5 in my opinion, having his shot blocking ability along with pretty solid interior offensive game is something very few players have in this conference, easily a DPOY and maybe late Big South All Team candidate.
Johan Pierce: If Pierce can come back from his season ending injury and come back to where he left off from, the Big South might have a tough time coming. Before the injury Pierce was averaging 14 PPG and 7 RPG while not being the #1 option, now that he would likely be the #1 option, it’s not crazy to say Pierce if fully healthy isn’t a 16 PPG and 8 RPG player.
Josh Pickett: Pickett could have very well been put at the 2nd or 3rd guard spot, but with him being 6’5” and Presbyterian usually running short lineups, he likely will flip between guard and forward. Pickett could very well start games in anywhere from 1-4 in this lineup as a swiss army knife, and with his scoring that’s an amazing role for him.
Augustine Ayelyine: Eventually Peterson will need to come off the court, Ayelyine is the perfect replacement. Ayelyine is just an amazing rim protector, just like Peterson and both are very decent on the interior in the offensive world. I also think that is an amazing way to hone in on those skills by leaving him the ability to play in that role at the D1 level.
Depth/Bench: D+
Thoughts: The guard depth is really young, but I like the potential they have even with their two freshmen. Anderson and Bowden both were multi year producers in High School and both were pretty successful at winning.
The forward depth, if you can say they have any, is lacking with their only one being Chidi Chiakwelu. I do like the promise of Chidi and think he will be a solid player but that’s not helpful when he is the only big, Wilson and King can play the 3-4 but that wouldn’t be ideal but then again, with how deep the guard core is, it might work out well.
Overall Roster Grade: C-
Radford:
Background and 24-25 Recap:
After losing to the eventual champion in High Point out in Johnson City, it seemed like Radford was ready to run it back with Darris Nichols. Then plans changed as on March 11th, it was announced that Coach Nichols would be taking the job at La Salle. Many CBB pundits, including myself, thought Radford would just promote Shane Nichols but they didn’t.
Just four days later, after a finalist list was put out there, including Kyle Getter, Shane Nichols, and JD Byers. Radford went out of the box and hire little known SMU assistant coach Zach Chu, who was most known for his time as an analytics manager for the Indiana Pacers. Many questioned if Zach could build a good roster, and I can’t lie, he did a pretty job at building this roster.
Returning Players:
G: Zion Walker
One player chose to return to Radford, star freshman guard Zion Walker. Just as Zion was really finding his stride last season, Zion Walker gets injured and misses the last 5 games off the season. Zion showed very good flashes in both games vs Winthrop where he had 30 and 17 in each of the two games, he also had a 12 point game vs Colorado State and an 11 pointer vs High Point. Zion ended up at season’s end averaging 5.9 PPG, 1.1 RPG and 1 APG in 11.3 MPG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Won Big South Freshman of the Week twice during the 2024-25 season.
3 Star Recruit with offers from Wake Forest, Eastern Carolina, and was committed to Mount Saint Mary’s before decommitting and going to Radford.
Incoming Transfers:
G: Brennan Rigsby - Minnesota
Following two former assistants in Marcus Jenkins and Josh Adel from Minnesota, Rigsby committing was what put some people on notice to Radford. Rigsby during both his time at Oregon and Minnesota was a good 5 PPG, 2 RPG kind of player. Last season at Minnesota, Rigsby averaged 5.4 PPG and 1.9 RPG on less than stellar shooting but was good enough to be a fringe starter at Minnesota.
During his two seasons at Oregon after being a Top 15 JUCO prospect. In Rigsby’s first season he averaged 4.2 PPG and 2.3 RPG despite missing the first 8 games of the season. The next season Rigsby added on in most statistical categories averaging 6.1 PPG and 2.7 RPG while being a fringe starter, starting in 13 of the 36 he appeared in, helping Oregon make the tournament and even win a first round game over 6 Seeded South Carolina.
Awards/Notable Facts:
3 Star Recruit coming out of Northwest Florida State with offers from Oklahoma, Missouri and others before committing to Oregon.
NJCAA National Champ and scored a game high 24 in the championship game.
G: Jaylon Johnson - Tennessee Tech
One of the more highly touted Mid Major guards in the portal was Jaylon Johnson from Tennessee Tech, and it’s easy to see why, in his 3 stops at Concordia College, Southern Idaho, and now Tennessee Tech, he has produced at a high level. During his most recent season at Tennessee Tech, Johnson averaged 14 PPG, 4.8 APG and 4.3 RPG in 35 MPG on decent shooting with a 35% 3PT percentage.
Before ending up at Tennessee Tech, Jaylon spent time at both College of Southern Idaho and Concordia University. During his freshman season at Concordia, Johnson averaged 19.6 PPG and 4.5 APG in 17 games (15 being starts) including two 30+ point games vs McMurry and East Texas Baptist. After that lone season at Concordia, Johnson transferred to Southern Idaho where he again had an amazing season averaging 14.9 PPG and 4.8 RPG in 30 games, starting all but one game.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2024-25 Ohio Valley First Team All Conference and All Newcomer squad
2022-23 Region 10 Rookie of the Year
2023-24 Region 18 All 2nd Team
G: Mari Jordan - Tulane
Beginning his career at Georgia before heading to Tulane last season, Jordan was a very highly touted recruit coming out of HS being ranked as high as 95th in the 247Sports Rankings and ended up committing to Georgia. Jordan did not play for the Bulldogs before he made the move to Tulane where he averaged 7 PPG and 3.6 RPG on just under 35% 3PT shooting as a fringe starter, having started 11 games of the 32 he appeared in.
Awards/Notable Facts:
108th ranked recruit in the Class of 23’ with offers from Nebraska, Xavier and Georgia Tech before committing to Georgia.
G: Del Jones - Clemson
Coming over from Clemson, Jones was another one of Radford’s former highly ranked HS recruits as Del Jones was 145th player in the Class of 2024 according to 247Sports and once as high as 62nd. In his freshman season at Clemson, Jones averaged 3.8 PGG, 1.5 RPG and 1 APG in 32 games for Tigers. Jones showed lots of promise, actually seeing most of his playing time come early in the season, but also had large periods of playing time during conference play, including 24 minutes against Virginia Tech in which Jones scored a career high 13 points.
Del Jones was a part of some offseason news. Brad Brownell came out publicly in late July and said Radford out bid Clemson for Jones’ services which seemed to turn some heads across social media.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Held offers from Arizona State, Ole Miss, Rutgers and others before committing to Clemson.
Made the NCAA Tournament in the 2024-25 season with Clemson.
G: Lukas Walls - Samford
Lukas Walls comes to Radford looking to improve on two pretty solid seasons at Samford, after coming off the bench in all but one game over those two seasons. Walls is a deadly 3PT shooter having shot 46.7% during his freshman season and a very respectable 38.5% during his sophomore season while undertaking a bigger workload playing over 12 MPG more in his sophomore season. During Walls sophomore season, he averaged 5.8 PPG and 3.3 RPG with the aforementioned 38.5% 3PT percentage.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Named Tennessee’s Mr. Division II-AA during his senior season in 2023.
Made the NCAA Tournament with Samford in the 2023-24 season.
G: Dennis Parker Jr - NC State
Another one of the highly rated recruits, turned Radford transfer gets, Dennis Parker comes to Radford after two pretty uneventful seasons at NC State. Parker’s freshman season was undoubtedly his best season, having averaged 4.7 PPG and 3.2 RPG and even starting 12 of his 27 games played. This past season at NC State, Dennis saw his role diminish, only playing around 12 MPG compared to over 15 MPG in the season before and his stats also took a hit averaging 2.9 PPG and 2.3 RPG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
123rd ranked recruit according to 247Sports, but was ranked as high as 26th in 2021.
Made the Final 4 as a member of the 2023-24 NC State team.
Held offers from Kansas, Georgetown, Xavier, Maryland and others before committing to NC State
F: Bradley Land - Colorado Christian
Likely one of the least talked about impact transfers in the Big South and maybe across all of Mid Major Basketball, Bradley Land will likely make one of the best impacts on the team. Land whom comes from D2 Colorado Christian was one of the top scorers in D2 basketball over the past few seasons averaging over 11 PPG in the 23-24 season and over 14 PPG in the 24-25 season. Land was almost a very good rebounder averaging over 5 RPG across his two seasons at CCU while also be an over 30% 3PT shooter.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2024-25 RMAC Second Team All-Conference
2023-24 RMAC Honorable Mention
F: Louie Jordan - UMBC
One of 4 players on Radford with international experience, Jordan coming from England and having played his high school hoops at Charnwood College before making the over the pond first playing for Weber State. In his two seasons at Weber State, Jordan played sparingly only averaging about 5 MPG in both his freshman and sophomore seasons and only averaging 1.3 PPG and 0.7 RPG causing him to enter the transfer portal.
The next destination for Louie Jordan was to UMBC, where he spent the 2024-25 season. At UMBC, Jordan saw his role massively increase starting all but one of his 31 games played averaging just over 22 MPG. With that increase in minutes, Louie also saw his stats skyrocket averaging 7.5 PPG and 3.9 RPG on a stellar 49% 3PT shooting with over 120 attempts across the season.
Awards/Notable Facts:
7th best 3PT shooter in the 2024-25 season according to KenPom, 3rd best returning shooter in the NCAA.
2022-23 Big Sky All Academic
F: Tyson Brown - Georgia Southern
One of the true journey men of college basketball, having used his COVID and still playing in college basketball, Tyson Brown is entering year 6 thanks to the JUCO waiver. Brown began his career at Western Texas where during his freshman season he averaged 4.5 PPG and 4.2 RPG in 21 games with only 2 being starts, then improving to averaging a double double with 11.9 PPG and 11.2 RPG as a sophomore. After two good seasons at Western Texas, Brown transferred to Florida Southwestern for another JUCO season where he averaged 11.6 PPG and 9.4 RPG across 28 games, 23 of which being starts.
After a rare 3 JUCO seasons, Brown transferred to the D1 level to play for Rhode Island, and during his one season at Rhode Island as fringe starter he averaged 4.3 PPG and 4.1 RPG across 32 games with 16 of those being starts. After that season at Rhode Island, Brown transferred to Georgia Southern and became a bigger impact on the court averaging 7.3 PPG and 6.8 RPG across 33 games with 29 of those being starts.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2021-22 All WJCAC Honors
2022-23 All Southern Conference (JUCO) First Team
Georgia Southern Single Season FG% Record Holder (.634 in 2024-25)
Incoming Freshman:
G: Diogo Alves - Tualatin HS
One of the three freshman with international experience, Diogo Alves played for Team Brazil in the 2023 South American Championships and the FIBA U18 Americas Championship, shooting over 34% from behind the arc across those two tournaments. Alves played his high school seasons at multiple elite schools including Salt Lake Academy, Lakeridge HS and Tualatin HS which is where he most recently played.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Earned a Bronze Medal with Team Brazil in the 2023 South American Championships
Also played in the 2023 Basketball Without Borders
G: Warren Keel Jr. - Putnam Science Academy
A very late August 2025 get for Zach Chu and his squad, but it’s a good one in Warren Keel Jr. Coming off a Prep National title for Putnam Science Academy, really showed out at the 3SSB 17U Circuit with 11 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 3.8 APG during the Palmetto Session. That stellar performance caused many teams to offer Keel, whom was already a Top 300 recruit in the Class of 26’, but Keel chose to reclassify to Class of 25’ and play for Radford.
Awards/Notable Facts:
227th ranked recruit in the Class of 26’ according to 247Sports with offers from Fordham, Rutgers, Texas A&M and more.
Won the Prep National Title with Putnam Science Academy in 2024-25.
G/F: Frederik Erichsen - Ratiopharm ULM
One big thing for Radford this upcoming season is POSITIONLESS basketball, and there is no better example of that than Frederik Erichsen. Erichsen comes to Radford after playing overseas in the Basketligaen (Highest level of Danish basketball) in the 23-24 season and both the G-Pro B and select games in the G-BBL (Highest level of German basketball). During his season playing in his home country of Denmark, Erichsen averaged 7.2 PPG and 1.7 APG for the Bakken Bears, and 11.8 PPG, 3.7 RPG and 2.5 APG for the Bears Academy team.
In the 24-25 season Erichsen moved to play for Ratiopharm ULM and their development team, OrangeAcademy spent most of his time with OrangeAcademy. Erichsen averaged 13.4 PPG, 4.9 RPG and 2.4 APG for OrangeAcademy and in select games for ULM he averaged 2.3 PPG and 0.7 RPG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Erichsen played for the Denmark National Team in U16 and U18 competition, even playing 3 games for the Denmark National Team in EuroBasket Qualifiers.
Helped Bakken win the 2023-24 Danish Championship
C: Gabriel Ferreira - NBA Latin Academy
The final of the Radford freshman commits comes from a place that Radford assistant Conor Dow knows very well, the NBA Academy. Gabriel spent a total of 3 seasons with the Latin Academy, in the most recent season (2024-25), Ferreria averaged a double double with 15.5 PPG and 10.1 RPG, while also adding 1.6 BPG with over 38% 3PT shooting. Gabriel also appeared on the Brazilian U17 and U18 teams along with playing in the BWB Borders Event.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Won a Bronze Medal with Brazil U17 in the South American U17 Championships.
Was a 2023 BWB All Star and Won Defensive MVP in that same season.
Roster Prediction:
Roster Thoughts/Ratings:
Guards: A-
Jaylon Johnson: You know exactly what you are getting with Jaylon Johnson, around a 10-15 PPG and 4-5 APG leader, he has followed that model at both JUCO stop and at Tennessee Tech. I just don’t see this changing, maybe gets to the lower end of the career averages just thanks to being backed up by very talented stars, but Johnson will still be one of the best guards in the Big South this season.
Del Jones: Jones is almost the opposite of Jaylon Johnson, you really don’t know what you are getting, but it’s clear that Jones has potential. Brad Brownell doesn’t want to keep players for no reason. Clearly Del Jones had potential in at least two coaches’ eyes, and with a good coach like Brownell wanting to keep Del, I then also feel inclined to think Zach Chu has a similar vision of Del Jones.
Mari Jordan: Mari Jordan is one of the maybe 2-3 guards I could have had in this spot, that’s just how loaded Radford truly is with talent. I chose Jordan over guards like Walker, and Parker because he had over 7 PPG at Tulane and likely will take another leap forward, but whether it’s Jordan, Walker, Parker or someone else, Radford has maybe the highest upside for a backcourt in the Big South, with a very good floor.
Forwards: A-
Louie Jordan: Jordan should be a shoe-in to start this season, you just can’t keep someone with his shooting ability off the floor. Even if Jordan sees a 5% dip, he will still likely be the best shooting big man in the Big South and maybe all of mid major basketball.
Bradley Land: I really love Bradley Land, he is probably the transfer that I want to see play at this level the most. The RMAC is no slouch of a D2 conference but Land also had a very high usage rate at CCU. I don’t think Land will be averaging 14 PPG like he did at CCU but I think he’s a good 7-8 PPG starter at the D1 level.
Frederik Erichsen: I think Euro players and just overall foreign players are the future of College Hoops and I think Erichsen might be the best freshman in this conference. This is due in part to I don’t see many freshmen playing, but I also think Erichsen is UBER talented, but his best ability is to play 1-4 and everyone knows availability is the best ability.
Tyson Brown: Brown will likely be the starting big man for Radford, and this is likely to make up for Louie Jordan’s lack of rebounding ability. Brown is a glass cleaner with still a very serviceable offensive ability. Brown could very well be on double double watch depending on his work load, if he gets above 25 MPG, I think 10 and 10 isn’t too far out of the cards for the graduate transfer.
Bench/Depth: A-
Thoughts: As I alluded to while talking about Mari Jordan, I really think Radford has a deep guard room. Zion Walker, the lone returner, showed very good flashes especially with two amazing games vs Winthrop. Dennis Parker is one of the best defenders in Per 40 stats, Lukas Walls is an amazing Catch and Shoot guard, and then three pretty interesting freshman with Keel and Alves.
The forward depth does leave a little to be desired with Gabriel Ferreira being the only forward I didn’t mention but that doesn’t cause too much concern for me. The forward group they have is all pretty talented and Ferreira is still very good in his own right, especially as a freshmen, it’s rare to have this level of big men on your bench, especially at the mid major level.
Overall Roster Grade: A-
UNC Asheville:
Background and 24-25 Recap:
Despite not playing a home game until Dec 7th, due in part to Hurricane Helene. UNC Asheville did not let Helene define their season as they ended the season 2nd in the Big South standings behind High Point and before losing to a flaming hot Winthrop team in the Big South semifinals.
Now after losing Jordan Marsh, but brought back maybe the best returner in the conference with Toyaz Solomon along with one of the better freshmen from last season in Kameron Taylor among others. Now with 7 new players and 1 transfer from last year who got injured, Mike Morrell is on the chase to bring his 2nd Big South title back to Asheville.
Returning Players:
G: Justin Wright
Justin Wright’s UNC Asheville debut was put on hold last season due to injury, but Wright is now ready to be the WRIGHT player to take Asheville far. Wright began his career at NC Central, where he played 3 seasons for the Eagles. The latter two being the most fruitful in which he averaged 14.9 PPG, 4.7 RPG and 2.1 APG across his sophomore and junior seasons.
Wright moved cross country to Loyola Marymount after those two successful seasons at NC Central, slightly less playing time but similar success at LMU. As in his lone season for Loyola Marymount, Wright averaged 11.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG and just shy of 2 APG as a fringe starter having started 12 of 29 games for LMU, including 12 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists at Gonzaga.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2021-22 All MEAC First Team (Youngest Player in NC Central to receive the honor)
2022-23 All MEAC Second Team
2022-23 All MEAC Tournament Team
G: Julian Clarke
Mostly stuck behind Jordan Marsh last season, Julian Clarke still saw decent playing time across his true freshman season. In 7 games of the 24 games Clarke appeared in he saw 10 or more minutes including having his career high of 8 points twice both vs VUL and Bluefield. Over the span of the 2024-25 season, Clarke averaged 1.3 PPG and 0.7 RPG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Held offers from Kennesaw State and Stetson before committing to UNC Asheville.
G: Connor Dubsky
After coming over from Rhode Island last season, Dubsky made his promise shown early in the season with 2 20+ point games against Bluefield and St Andrews, most of which coming from behind the arc having shot 5-11 and 5-10 from 3 in those games. Dubsky spent most of conference play stuck behind Fletcher Abee, but did see anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes per game for most of conference play. Dubsky finished the season averaging 4.5 PPG and 0.5 RPG across 28 games.
During Dubsky’s freshman season at Rhode Island in which he appeared in 14 games for the Rams, he averaged 2.1 PPG and 0.4 RPG with almost all of his shots coming from behind the arc, only taking 4 shots that weren’t from 3PT land. He did show strong promise with an at the time career high of 9 points coming off the bench vs VCU.
Awards/Notable Facts:
3 Star Recruit according to 247Sports, held offers from Maryland, Kansas State and George Washington before committing to Rhode Island
Has only taken 13 2PT FG attempts in his college career so far, compared to his 97 3PT FG attempts
G/F: Kameron Taylor
Likely one of the best budding stars for this Asheville roster, Kam Taylor had a very valid case to win Big South Freshmen of the Year over Mister Dean last season. Taylor averaged 8.9 PPG and 4.2 RPG across 32 games, including 2 starts vs Ohio and Radford, as one of the mains stars for a 21 win Asheville roster with most of his best action coming down the stretch with 8 of his double digit performances coming during conference play or the conference tournament.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2 Time Big South Freshman of the Week
2024-25 Big South All Freshman Team Member
F: Toyaz Solomon
Toyaz Solomon is THE only returning member from ANY of the Big South All Conference Teams from the 24-25 season. Coming off a season where he was the only Bulldog to start all 32 games, Solomon is another one of the great big men that Mike Morrell has been able to get everything and even more out of. Last season, Toyaz averaged 15.7 PPG and 7.2 RPG, a massive jump over the 6 PPG and 3 RPG from the season prior in 2023-24.
Before coming to UNC Asheville, Solomon played at Caldwell Community College in which both seasons he was a pivotal piece for Caldwell averaging well over 10 PPG and 7 RPG across both seasons. During his 2022-23 season, Solomon averaged 14.9 PPG and 9.6 RPG which had him 27th in the country for JUCO players.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2024-25 Big South All Conference Second Team
2022-23 Region X Player of the Year
F: Sage Tolentino
The lone 7 footer for UNC Asheville this season, Sage Tolentino is poised to likely be one of the starting big men for Asheville this season. Last season Sage played in 14 games for UNC Asheville, including 24 minutes in the season opener vs Alabama. Across those 14 games, Sage averaged 2.6 PPG and 2.3 RPG as the only big man off the bench.
Before coming to Asheville, Tolentino was a highly rated recruit who happened to go to Cincinnati. Sage only played 7 games across two seasons for the Bearcats in which he averaged 0.7 PPG and 0.4 RPG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
250th ranked recruit in the Class of 2022 according to 247Sports, held offers from Auburn, Kansas and Tennessee State before committing to Cincinnati.
Incoming Transfers:
G: Mitchell Taylor - South Carolina State
Coming over from South Carolina State after two pretty successful seasons is Mitchell Taylor. During both his freshman and sophomore seasons, Taylor saw multiple starts 17 in his freshman season and 20 in his sophomore season. In his freshman season at SC State, Taylor averaged 8.2 PPG, 2.9 RPG and 2 APG including 9 double digit performances out of his 14 conference games. During Taylor’s sophomore season, Taylor averaged 8.5 PPG, 2.1 RPG and 2.5 APG but raised his 3PT shooting up to 42.9% compared to 27.5% during his freshman season.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2023-24 MEAC All Rookie Team
2 Time MEAC Rookie of the Week
G: Jakel Powell - Florida Atlantic
Coming to UNC Asheville after redshirting the past two seasons at FAU, Powell is coming back to the state of North Carolina where he was a star in HS at Raleigh Christian. During his senior season at Raleigh Christian, Powell led the team with 16.9 PPG, while also averaging 4.5 RPG, 2.2 APG and a pretty impressive 2.1 SPG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
3 Star Recruit in the Class of 2023, #15 Player in NC.
Held offers from UNC Asheville, High Point, ECU and App State before committing to FAU out of HS.
G: DJ Patrick - Charleston Southern
One of the four in conference transfers, and one of the two to come from Charleston Southern. After spending 2 seasons in Blue and Gold, DJ is trading it in for Blue and White to play for UNC Asheville. Patrick whom missed most of last season due to injury, only playing in a total of 3 games. In those 3 games, Patrick averaged 11.3 PPG and 5 RPG including a 19 point game vs Gardner Webb to mark his return for Charleston Southern. The season before Patrick averaged 10.2 PPG and 4.1 RPG in 25 games starting all but one game for the Buccaneers.
Before coming to the Big South, DJ Patrick played at USF for two seasons, one being cut short only 4 games in due to injury. Across the two seasons at USF, Patrick averaged 3.5 PPG and 1.2 RPG in 34 games, 3 of which being starts. Patrick began his career at Triton Junior College where he averaged 14.6 PPG and 4.3 RPG across 18 games as a freshman.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2024-25 Charleston Southern Team Captain
F: Daniel Thomas - New Mexico
Daniel Thomas is ready for his first Division 1 action as he transfers in after redshirting last season at New Mexico. During his HS career at Dallas Carter HS in Dallas, Texas, Thomas helped lead his team to 3 straight 30+ win seasons including a 31-8 record and Final 4 Appearance in his senior season. Thomas earned All State Honors during his senior season along with District 13-4A Defensive Player of the Year.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Committed to New Mexico over Troy and other local Texas schools
McDonalds All-American nominee
F: David Hermes - UTSA
The last of UNC Asheville’s transfers came in from UTSA in David Hermes. Hermes was at UTSA last season where he started 18 of his 26 games but only played around 11.8 MPG. In those 26 games, Hermes averaged 1.9 PPG and 1.8 RPG including a season high of 11 points vs Southwestern Adventist.
Before coming to UTSA, Hermes played at Indian Hills Community College in Iowa. Across his two seasons there at Indian Hills, Hermes averaged 4.7 PPG and 2.6 RPG mostly coming off the bench having only started 8 of his 43 games. Hermes did have some very good shooting stats at Indian Hills including shooting 39.3% from 3 on 61 attempts during his final season at Indian Hills.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Played for the Syrian National Team in the 2023 World Cup Asia Qualifiers.
Hermes also played overseas in Spain for Ciudad de Huelva Baloncesto.
Incoming Freshman:
F: Brayden Rivers - Huntsville HS
Coming from a Top 25 High School team in which he was the star, Brayden Rivers is moving from Huntsville to another “ville” in Asheville. Rivers actually enters as Asheville’s 2nd highest ever recruit according to 247 behind 2020 recruit Silas Mason. Last season Rivers helped lead Huntsville to a 32-2 record before falling to eventual 7A champions and #6 Team in the nation, Hoover.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Won 2024-25 Al.com Fans Player of the Year
381st Ranked Recruit according to 247 Composite, held offers from Jacksonville State, South Alabama and Murray State before committing to Asheville.
F: Myles Mayfield - Edgewater HS
The 208th ranked recruit according to PrepHoops and 3 Star Recruit if you ask ESPN, Myles Mayfield is headed to UNC Asheville. Last season en route to a state title appearance, Mayfield averaged 15 points and 9 rebounds and helped Edgewater get 20+ wins for the first time in the 2018-19 season.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Preseason Finalist and Finalist for Florida 6A Player of the Year
Held offers from FIU, Rhode Island, Chattanooga and others before committing to UNC Asheville
Roster Prediction:
Roster Thoughts/Analysis:
Guards: B+
Justin Wright: Last year, many believed Justin Wright was going to be one of the best guards in the conference but missed the season due to injury. This year, and VERY (un)shockingly, I believe Wright will be one of the best players. Wright is still an insane talent in the Big South.
DJ Patrick: Another player coming off injury, DJ Patrick only played 3 games for CSU last season, but in those 3 games Patrick showed he still has it with a 19 point game vs Gardner Webb and 12 points against Longwood. I think Patrick will live up his first season at CSU and be an integral piece of UNC Asheville’s success this year.
Mitchell Taylor: Mitchell Taylor is an interesting player, he seemed to play his best ball in MEAC play last season. If you get MEAC Mitchell Taylor, you might have a Jordan Marsh level season where Taylor competes for Big South POY, if you get Non Con Taylor, it’s no biggie, still a very solid guard with really good pick and roll ability.
Forwards: B-
Toyaz Solomon: The lone returning Big South All Conference Player, and likely a Preseason All Conference Player this season. The job Toyaz Solomon has done to develop as a player shouldn’t go unnoticed, and his willingness to stay at Asheville is rare in this area of college basketball. Solomon should be the typical UNC Asheville big man this season.
Sage Tolentino: Tolentino is due for a breakout, his first three seasons haven’t amounted to much outside of a few flashes here and there. Asheville seems to hit on big men who leave P5 schools, whether that be Pember or Gantt. Morrell has found ways to make big men really good and I feel Sage has the talent to breakout and be the next UNC Asheville big man success.
Kameron Taylor: Kam Taylor coming back is big for Asheville, this would be if Mister Dean had come back for Upstate or if Darryl Simmons came back for Gardner Webb. Taylor has some unreal potential and that was really on display later in the season. Year 2 Kam Taylor could very well be an All Conference player.
David Hermes: When you look at Hermes’ UTSA stats, it does leave a lot to be desired, but if you look at his sophomore JUCO stats, you start to see a vision. He shot 39% from 3 on decent volume, and stretch bigs who can shoot 35% on good volume are always a good addition. If Morrell can get that level of shooting out of Hermes again, UNC Asheville could be looking at Cody Jute style shooting big man.
Bench/Depth: C+
Thoughts: The guard depth for Asheville rivals some of the top teams in the conference. You have everything you would want coming off the bench. You have shooting off the bench with Connor Dubsky, the promise of Powell and Clarke, and even the ability of Kam Taylor to play the two if he needs.
The forward depth is where I am worried/not impressed, two freshmen, whom both I do like as freshmen, but not as main bench pieces. I do think Patrick could end up playing decent minutes at the 3-4 since that is what he did at Charleston Southern but even then, you either have Hermes, Tolentino or maybe Taylor off the bench and I don’t think that compares with the upper teams of the conference.
Overall Roster Grade: B-
USC Upstate
Background and 24-25 Recap:
Entering in as a journey man coach, but first time Division 1 Head Coach. Marty Richter was entering the hardest job so far of his career, having to bring in basically a whole new team and he did a very good job. Two star freshmen with Carmelo Adkins and Mister Dean, JUCO and D2 studs like Karmani Gregory and Brit Harris, resulting in one of the best first seasons for a coach in USC Upstate history.
Now a new challenge comes to Richter, although one he is well accustomed to, rebuilding. Richter was one of the top JUCO coaches earlier in his career, and you have to rebuild almost every year there. JUCO is also one of Richter’s main sources of talent with over 8 of his rostered players having JUCO experience. Richter also targets prep/OTE kids have 3 Prep/OTE players on the roster, Richter should be looking ahead to another leap towards the ultimate goal of a Big South championship.
Returning Players:
G: Karmani Gregory
One of Richter’s main hidden gem finds coming from the JUCO ranks, Gregory really showed some good moments last season at USC Upstate. Across 32 games at USC Upstate last season, Gregory averaged over 11 PPG and nearly 4 APG but was limited due to being very inefficient, only shooting 40% from the field, 27% from behind the arc, and 64% from the Free Throw Line.
At Florida Southwestern as a RS Freshman, Gregory was a very good fringe starter playing 20 games, starting in 9 of those. In those 20 games, Gregory averaged 9.3 PPG with over 35% shooting from behind the arc, while also having 2.6 APG with 1.6 RPG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
During the 22-23 season, Gregory took his redshirt at Florida Southwestern
2024-25 Big South All Academic Team
G: Chico Johnson
After redshirting one season with Coach Richter at Drake, Chico followed Marty to Upstate and had a pretty solid freshman season coming mostly off the bench. Chico averaged 4.9 PPG and 1.6 APG in 32 games for the Spartans, starting 9 of those 32 games. Chico showed very nice flashes with 5 double digits games including 16 in the second game of the season vs Piedmont.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Held offers from Akron, Kent State, EMU, Bowling Green, Ohio and Toledo before committing to Drake.
Four Star Recruit according to ESPN.
G: Carmelo Adkins
One of two former Diamond Doves players on the roster, Adkins came over in Richter’s first year after originally being committed to West Virginia before flipping after their new staff came in. In his freshman campaign at Upstate, Adkins started 25 of 32 games for the Spartans averaging 10.1 PPG and 4.8 RPG with over 33% shooting from behind the arc. Adkins really closed out the season well with 5 of his last 9 games having double digit points, including a double double against Winthrop with 17 points and 11 rebounds along with 4 assists.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Earned 2024-25 Big South All Freshman Team Honors
Ranked as the 3rd highest USC Upstate Recruit, and highest besides the 2019 recruiting class.
F: Kanye Jones
After what seemed to be an amazing start of the season for Kanye with 6 point vs NC State and 10 points with just over 60 seconds left against Piedmont, it all came unraveled with an injury ending his season. Before coming to Upstate, Kanye Jones played at Buffalo where across two seasons for the Bulls, Jones averaged 3.7 PPG and 1.1 RPG but excelled during his second season at Buffalo where he averaged 8 PPG and 2.9 RPG across 9 games for the Bulls.
Jones began his career at Boston College where during his freshman season, Jones averaged 1.9 PPG and 0.7 APG across 30 games for the Eagles. Jones did see some big playing time in spurts at Boston College including 22 minutes against Dartmouth in which he scored a season high 12 points, along with playing 22 minutes vs Florida State later in the season.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Held offers from Charleston Southern, Towson, Elon and others before going to Boston College.
Also held an offer from Drake during Coach Richter’s tenure at Drake.
F: Isaiah Skinner
Returning for his senior season for USC Upstate, Isaiah Skinner showed lots of promise last season. While Skinner only averaged 3.7 PPG and 2.8 RPG, he had some amazing performances like against UNC Asheville and Winthrop where he had 9 points and 11 points in each game. Skinner also performed well against Iowa, in front of a very large contingent of his family.
Before coming to USC Upstate, Skinner was a JUCO Star at Mt. San Jacinto College in Skinner’s home state of California. Across 3 seasons (one being a medical redshirt), Skinner averaged 16.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 2.3 APG with over 30% shooting behind the arc. Skinner was also a pivotal player on Mt San Jacinto’s 27-4 season in the 23-24 season, eventually losing in the Southern California Regional Final.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2023-24 3C2A First Team All State
2023-24 Inland Empire All Conference First Team
F: Breylin Garcia
One of the best stories in the Big South, Breylin moved to the US at 17 years old, not knowing a lick of English to attend Life Christian HS, then Daytona State College, and now had found a home at USC Upstate. At Upstate this past season, Garcia really was a star that got outshadowed by others, Breylin averaged 8.5 PPG and 5 RPG before getting injured and ending his season in early Feburary. Breylin played his best basketball near the end of the season with over 10 PPG in 5 of his last 8 full games.
Before his time at USC Upstate, Garcia was a star forward at top JUCO program Daytona State College. In his freshman and sophomore seasons at Daytona State, Garcia saw substantial playing time starting 39 of 59 games across the two seasons. In both seasons Garcia averaged over 11 PPG and 6 RPG, with a slight jump from 11.2 PPG to 12.9 PPG and 6.2 RPG to 6.7 RPG from his freshman to sophomore seasons.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Member of the Dominican Republic U15 and U16 teams in 2018 and 2019.
2023-24 Second Team All Citrus Conference
2022-23 Second Team All Central Conference
F: Nic Book
The last returner for Marty Richter’s squad is the big man from Christchurch, New Zealand, Nic Book. Nic is coming off a freshman season where as mostly a bench player with 9 starts across the season in which he averaged 3.7 PPG and 4 RPG but really showed some flashes. In his first two games of the season he had 14 and 10 points in each game, his own double digit point games of the season, while also pulling in 9 boards in both games.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Came to notoriety after dunking on star forward and Kansas commit Flory Bidunga in a HS game.
Played on Team New Zealand for U16 and U17 basketball
Incoming Transfers:
G: Tyler Smith - Trinity Valley CC
Coming off a national championship playing under former New Mexico State Head Coach Greg Heiar, Tyler Smith is hoping to bring some hardware home to Spartansburg. Tyler Smith began his career at Mineral Area Community College in Missouri, where as a freshman was a very pivotal bench piece averaging 8.2 PPG along with 2.4 RPG and 2.4 APG in 32 games, 3 of those being starts.
After Coach Heiar moved on to Trinity Valley, Tyler Smith chose to follow Coach Heiar and it paid off, starting all but one of his 35 games for Trinity Valley and averaging 10.1 PPG, 4.8 APG, and 3.4 RPG and only suffering 3 losses all season en route to a JUCO national title, the first in Trinity Valley CC history.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2024-25 NJCAA D1 JUCO National Champion
Held offers from Stonehill, Alcorn State and EIU before committing to USC Upstate.
G: Mason Bendinger - Salt Lake CC
One of the best JUCO scorers in the country, Mason is hoping to put a spark out there for Upstate, after ending up being a Top 20 scorer in all of JUCO last season. During Mason’s freshman season at Salt Lake, he averaged 7.9 PPG, 2.4 RPG, and 0.8 APG coming off the bench, having only started 5 of his 34 games that season. In two of those 5 starts against Community Christian College, Mason had 31 and 26 points each. In his sophomore season, Mason exploded with 17.5 PPG, 3.6 RPG and 1.5 APG including a 45 point outing against Western Nebraska CC.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Ranked as the 150th player in the Rivals JUCO Top 150, held an offer from Cal Baptist and took visits to Green Bay and Pacific before committing to USC Upstate
JUCO Teammate to fellow USC Upstate player Coen Collier
G: Learic Davis - Milwaukee
The lone D1 addition for USC Upstate was Milwaukee transfer, Learic Davis. During his two seasons at Milwaukee, Learic was mostly a bench player, only starting two of his 51 games, all of those starts coming as a freshman. In his most recent season, Learic played in 18 games for the Panthers, averaging 2.2 PPG, 0.7 RPG and 0.3 APG but showed promise with 12 points against North Central College, along with 11 points against Lakeland. Learic showed this same promise during his freshman year with 10 points against Cleveland State. Learic began his college career at Tennessee State but took his redshirt season seeing no playing time.
Awards/Notable Facts:
3 Star Recruit in HS according to 247 Sports with offers from Texas A&M and Robert Morris
F: Jafeth Martinez - Florida Southwestern
One of the more famous additions for USC Upstate, is Jafeth Martinez from Florida Southwestern, but don’t let social media fool you, Jafeth is a baller. Martinez began his career at South Georgia Tech where as freshman he averaged 5.4 PPG and 5 RPG including a 3 game stretch with 14, 15 and 10 points respectively.
After that successful season, Jafeth moved up in competition to Florida Southwestern where he averaged 7.7 PPG and 7 RPG including an 8 game stretch from Jan 25th to Feb 26th where in 10 games, Jafeth had 8 games in double digit points and 5 games with double digit rebounds.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Has 82,000 followers on Instagram as a basketball influencer.
First Honduras born player to receive a scholarship at the D1 level.
Played for the Honduras National Team in the 2024 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.
C: Coen Collier - Salt Lake CC
The final transfer addition for Marty Richter and his squad is one of the few 7’er’s in the conference, Coen Collier. The JUCO center spent both of his junior college seasons at Salt Lake CC, playing alongside Mason Bendinger. During Coen’s freshman season at SLCC, Coen played in 31 games only making two starts averaging 2.8 PPG and 4.6 RPG. In his sophomore season, Coen took a real leap averaging 5.5 PPG and 6.1 RPG while also being serviceable shooting, hitting over 33% from 3PT land.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Played alongside Mason Bendinger at Salt Lake CC.
Incoming Freshmen:
G: Dylan Novak - Overtime Elite (Diamond Doves)
Likely the most famous player to ever enter the Big South conference, Dylan Novak is a tiktok star, but he isn’t just a Tiktok dancer, he can hoop. Novak first began his high school career at Gilbert North in Arizona where he was a star freshman and sophomore player averaging 16.9 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 4.4 APG during his freshman season and 21.6 PPG, 4 RPG and 4.5 APG during his sophomore year. This amazing performance drew the eyes of Overtime Elite, where he has been the past two seasons for the Diamond Doves. This past season in OTE, Novak averaged 7.7 PPG, 2.7 RPG and 4.9 APG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Has over 350k Instagram followers and 50k+ on TikTok
G: TJ Lewis - Blythewood (SC)
The final freshman for USC Upstate comes from nearby Blythewood, SC in TJ Lewis. In his most recent season, TJ filled up that stat sheet leading the state of SC in FT’s Made, 3PT’s made, and was 5th in SC in PPG with 25.8 PPG. TJ also had 5.4 RPG and 1.6 APG helping lead his Blythewood HS team to a State finals appearance before losing to Ridge View.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Had a 5.1 GPA during his High School tenure
Selected to the 2024-25 5A All-State Team
Roster Prediction:
Roster Thoughts/Ratings:
Guards: C+
Karmani Gregory: One of the best, if not the best returning true PG for this season, keeping Gregory is big. If Gregory can bring the turnovers down, keep the playmaking ability as is, and even gain the efficiency he had at the JUCO level, Gregory could very well be an All Conference level guard.
Carmelo Adkins: I love Adkins as a true breakout candidate, a player who was overshadowed by an unreal freak of a player in Mister Dean. Adkins really had a case for Big South FOY if Mister Dean was not there, and when Dean missed the Iowa game. Adkins stepped up with 14 on very efficient shooting. Now Adkins can become that main star if he’s ready for that role.
Tyler Smith: Tyler Smith is really interesting, despite being a national championship roster, and putting up very good stats, Smith went very under recruited and unranked. I think Smith really challenges Gregory for the starting position, Smith seems to be more secure with the ball, even if Smith doesn’t start, a true ball handler with very good security is something rare at the mid major level.
Forwards: C-
Breylin Garcia: One of the better players for USC Upstate last season before having his season derailed by injury, Breylin Garcia should once again be another impact player for Upstate. Breylin was playing his best ball right before the injury and that gives me more of a reason to see another solid season out of Garcia.
Learic Davis: I think Learic Davis is where Upstate’s success will run though. Many have been very excited with this addition, me included. I see Learic, at least when he entered CBB, 2 seasons ago, as a more polished Mister Dean on the offensive end, and that is what Upstate needs, a more polished shooter than Dean with the same talent, if Davis lives up to the hype, Marty Richter could be in for a gold mine of a season.
Jafeth Martinez: Upstate finished 338th in defensive efficiency, Jafeth will change that. Jafeth ended last season in Top 10 in FSW history in rebounds and blocks, during his time with Honduras in 2024, he averaged over 2 BPG, along with 7.8 RPG. If Jafeth averaged the amount of blocks at Upstate, that he did during the FIBA Pre Qualifiers, he would cement his name in Upstate history with the most career blocks per game. I can’t guarantee he will break the record, but he will be a big benefit for Upstate.
Nic Book: Nic Book returns for another go around at USC Upstate after a pretty successful end to last year for him seeing almost 15-20 mins per game near the end of the season, mostly due to the injury of Breylin Garcia. Nic is a good bench piece who has pretty good athleticism but I don’t see him being much more than a bench big man.
Bench/Reserves: C-
Thoughts: The guard depth is pretty nice for what I expected compared to last season, I think the additions on Novak and Lewis, both can play ball in their own right, Kanye Jones looked good before his injury and Chico Johnson looked good and was a person who Marty clearly has a lot of trust in as a player bringing him over from Drake. Mason Bendinger provides a flamethrowing ability off the bench if he is in fact coming off the bench.
The forward depth also is a pretty good strong point with Skinner, Kanye can stretch to the 3-4 if needed, then adding Coen Collier as center is really big, especially when many teams don’t have a 7’er to compete downlow with Collier, but outside of Skinner and Collier, there is question marks as Skinner hasn’t played much at the D1 level and Collier wasn’t the biggest stat sheet filler at Salt Lake CC.
Overall Roster Grade: C-
Winthrop
Background and 24-25 Recap:
Entering the season, Winthrop was looking towards March 9th being the only other Big South team with a first place vote in the preseason poll, and they had a very interesting path to do so. They entered Johnson City as the 3 seed after tying with UNC Asheville to end the season causing them to face Longwood, and they won. Then they faced the monster slayer in UNC Asheville, and again they won. After beating the only two Big South teams to beat High Point all season, many thought they COULD do it, and for the first 24 minutes it seemed like they could.
Then it all fell apart, High Point went on a massive run led by their bench and ended Winthrop’s season along with the college careers of their big 3 in Kasen Harrison, KJ Doucet and Kelton Talford. Now Mark Prosser had to rebuild and try to make a run at a conference where he is now one of the stalwarts of the conference, in the city that is known for being the pinnacle of Big South hoops.
Returning Players:
G: Isaiah Wilson
Coming off almost two missed seasons due to injury, it was refreshing to see Isaiah Wilson play again. It was even better seeing Wilson play significant minutes across 33 games last season. While Wilson only averaged 2 PPG and 2 APG, that is more than what I would have expected with him coming off such a massive series of injuries. He even showed some flashes of pre-injury Isaiah with 8 points against Bob Jones and 6 points against Longwood in Johnson City.
Before coming to Rock Hill, Wilson was a solid young player at Richmond playing in 53 games for the Spiders, starting 18 of those 53, most coming in his sophomore season as a fringe starter for the Spiders. In his sophomore season, Wilson averaged 2.3 PPG, 1.1 RPG and 0.7 APG across 33 games and 15 starts. This was off the heels of a freshman season where Wilson played in 20 games, averaging 1.8 PPG and 1 RPG, including 3 starts.
Awards/Notable Facts:
277th ranked player by 247Sports in the Class of 2020 with offers from UMass, Drexel, DePaul, Georgetown and more.
F: Tommy Kamarad
Returning thanks to the JUCO waiver ruling, Tommy Kamarad is hoping to build off a pretty successful season last year at Winthrop. In the 29 games, Kamarad played in for the Eagles he averaged 3.9 PPG and 2.8 RPG but started 14 of those 29 games, and did a lot of this that weren’t noted on the stat sheet. Along with that, in those 14 starts, Kamarad averaged 5.8 PPG and 3.9 RPG helping Winthrop have a 10-4 record in those games.
Kamarad came to Winthrop after two very good seasons at Arkansas Tech in which he averaged 7.8 PPG in his junior season and 12.2 PPG in his senior season while shooting over 35% from behind the arc in both seasons. The move to Arkansas Tech came off the heels of two seasons at Otero College in which Kamarad averaged 8 PPG and 9.8 PPG across both his freshman and sophomore seasons, also shooting over 35% from behind the arc, including shooting 44% in his freshman season.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2023-24 GAC All Tournament Tech
2023-24 All GAC Honorable Mention
C: Logan Duncomb
The last of the returners for Winthrop is former Indiana Hoosier, Logan Duncomb. Last season Duncomb played mostly behind established Winthrop big men in KJ Doucet and Kelton Talford in which he averaged 3 PPG and 2.5 RPG but really started to show good promise down the stretch last season. During the non conference portion of the season, Duncomb only averaged 2.1 PPG and 1.7 RPG compared to the conference portion in which Duncomb averaged 3.4 PPG and 2.9 RPG including tying his career high 10 points vs Charleston Southern.
Before coming to Rock Hill, Duncomb spent time at two other stops but only played for Indiana, as Duncomb stepped away from basketball for health reasons before ever playing for Xavier. Duncomb played two seasons at Indiana in which he was mostly a reserve player only appearing in 18 games across two seasons averaging 2.9 PPG and 0.7 PPG in those two seasons in the candy stripe pants.
Awards/Notable Facts:
68th ranked recruit in the Class of 2021 according to 247 Sports with offers from Cincinnati, Wisconsin, Purdue, Xavier and others.
McDonalds All American Nominee
C: Tai Hamilton
Returning after coming over from William and Mary last season, Tai Hamilton is ready to fight for the #2 big man spot, and maybe the starter. Last year, Tai appeared in 26 games for the Eagles averaging 1.9 PPG and 2.5 RPG across around 8 MPG as the 2nd/3rd big man. Tai had an amazing stretch between late Nov and late Dec in which he played over 10 MPG, except against Mercer in which he played 9 minutes. During this stretch Hamilton averaged 3.5 PPG and 3 RPG.
During Tai’s freshmen season at William and Mary, Tai actually had a bigger role playing over 12 MPG in the same amount of games for the Tribe. During that 26 game stretch, Tai averaged 1.5 PPG and 3.1 RPG and ended up ranking 14th in Blocks in the CAA conference, including 8 games with 2 or more blocks.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Led the state of NC in Blocks in 2021-22 at 1 of 1 Academy
Selected for the Queen City All Star Game in 2023
Incoming Transfers:
G: Kareem Rozier - Duquesne
Coming from Duquesne after playing in all but one game (against Winthrop) in the past three seasons, Rozier comes to Winthrop as one of best transfer guards in the conference. Last season at Duquesne, Kareem averaged 6.7 PPG and 3.3 APG with only 1.1 turnovers per game as a fringe starter only starting 10 of 32 games. The seasons before Kareem averaged 5.2 PPG as Duquesne’s as a sophomore while starting 21 of 37 games and averaged 3.9 PPG as the bench point guard during his freshmen season in the 2022-23 season.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Ranked 10th this past season in the NCAA for Assist/TOV Percentage.
Was Duquesne’s active game leader with 101, and most active consecutive games at 90.
G: Daylen Berry - Charleston Southern
One of two intra-conference transfers to make the move to Rock Hill, Daylen Berry comes for Charleston Southern. During his most recent season at Charleston Southern, Berry was thrust into the starting lineup, starting all 32 games for the Buccaneers averaging 13.8 PPG, 5.3 RPG and 2.8 APG and was the first CSU player since 2015 to have more than 50 steals in one season.
Before moving to the Big South, Berry played sparingly in two seasons at Charlotte. During his two seasons in Charlotte, Berry only played in 37 games, 16 in his sophomore season in which he averaged 1.6 PPG, and 21 in freshmen season where he averaged 1.4 PPG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
One of only 6 players last season to play 53 minutes or more in one game. (Played 53 minutes vs Winthrop on Jan 15th)
Played over 39 minutes in 11 games last season.
G: Joshua Meo - Coastal Carolina
Another player who played against Winthrop in the previous season, this time as a non conference opponent, Joshua Meo coming over from Coastal Carolina. Last season at Coastal Carolina, Meo averaged 8.5 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 2.2 APG including a 10 point performance in his game vs Winthrop. Meo started all but one game for Coastal Carolina, in the one game Meo didn’t start he played 30 minutes per game against Georgia Southern in which he scored 15 points.
Before making the move to Coastal, Josh played two years in the JUCO ranks, one with Mineral Area CC and the other at St. Petersburg College. During his time at Mineral Area, where he played with Upstate transfer Tyler Smith, Meo led the team in scoring with 14.2 PPG while also averaging 4.6 RPG and 3.3 APG. At St. Petersburg, Meo also led his time in scoring this time with 16.2 PPG, also tallying 4.6 RPG and 2.8 APG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2023-24 NJCAA 3rd Team All American
2023-24 NJCAA Region 16 Player of the Year
G: Braylhan Thomas - Georgia Southern
Mark Prosser might be one of the best post game handshake recruiters in the country, as Thomas was another player whom comes from a team Winthrop faced, albeit Thomas didn’t play in that game. During this season, Thomas played 25 games in which as a freshman, started 8 of them, averaging 3.1 PPG and 2.5 RPG for the Eagles this past season. Two of Thomas’ best games came against Western Michigan and South Alabama where he had 11 in each game.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Won SC 2A Player of the Year in the 2023-24 season
Was the FIRST Georgia Southern freshman since 2005 to have 11 points and 13 rebounds in any contest (vs Western Michigan)
G: Kody Clouet - San Diego
Making an over 2,300 mile trek from San Diego, comes Kody Clouet, whom has had a very interesting college career beginning in NAIA, then D2, then WCC and now to the Big South to play for Winthrop. During his most recent stop at San Diego, Clouet averaged 8.9 PPG and 2.7 RPG but had some stellar performances like 35 points in the regular season finale against Portland including shooting 8-10 from 3. In his last 4 regular season games and first conference tournament game, Clouet averaged 20 PPG and 3.6 RPG.
Before making the move to San Diego, Clouet played at both Southeastern Oklahoma State and at now defunct St. Katherine’s. At SE Oklahoma State in both seasons Kody was one of the stars of the show. In his junior season, his first at SE Oklahoma State, Kody averaged 11.9 PPG and 5.4 RPG while also having a 4.0 or higher in school. During his second season at SE Oklahoma State, the stats continued to climb averaging 17.6 PPG and 5.1 RPG helping his team win the GAC Conference Title. At St. Katherine’s as a freshman Clouet averaged 16 PPG and 6 RPG earning his Male Scholar of the Year at St. Katherine’s.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2022-23 GAC Elite Scholar (Only one to win the award that season)
2023-24 All GAC First Team
2023-24 Second Team Academic All American
F: Pharrell Boyogueno - Gardner Webb
The second of the two intra conference movers this time Pharrell Boyogueno from Gardner Webb. This last season at Gardner Webb, in which Pharrell started all the games except for two when he was coming back from injury, he averaged 7.9 PPG and 4.3 RPG including a 13 point game against his new team in Winthrop.
Before ending up in Shelby, NC, Pharrell played at Caldwell Tech for two seasons at the JUCO level at Caldwell Tech. In his sophomore season which happened to be his breakout, Pharrell averaged 14.2 PPG and 9.5 RPG on a stellar 49.5% 3PT shooting on over 100 attempts including 5 20+ point games. In his freshmen season Pharrell put up a respectable 8 PPG and 6.5 RPG with only 6 of his 23 games played being starts.
Awards/Notable Facts:
2023-24 First Team All Region 10
2023-24 Region 10 Defensive Player of the Year
F: Seifeldin Hendawy - Loyola Chicago
Coming from Loyola Chicago where Hendawy really didn’t see the court much at all, only playing 70 mins during the entire season. Of those 70 minutes, 35 of those came across 3 games, 12 minutes against Non D1 Eureka which was his best game with 4 points, 2 steals and 2 assists, 12 minutes against Charleston with 2 points and 1 assist, and then 11 minutes vs Murray State with 4 points. Coming out of the NBA Africa Academy, Hendawy was very highly touted after a strong U17 FIBA World Cup in which he averaged 13.4 PPG and 5.9 RPG.
Awards/Notable Facts:
161st ranked recruit in the Class of 24’
Played with the Egypt Senior National Team in the 2025 AfroBasket Qualifiers.
F: Edward Nnamoko - New Mexico State
Hailing from Lagos, Nigeria, Edward has had a long journey to Rock Hill having played for both Georgia State and New Mexico State before ending up at Winthrop. The most recent of those two stops was New Mexico State when Edward averaged 1 PPG and 1 RPG in limited playing time only appearing in 20 games and only averaging 5.2 MPG and only seeing double digit minutes twice.
Before going to New Mexico State, Nnamoko spent two seasons at Georgia State in which he saw pretty good playing time, playing in 56 games across the two seasons. In his sophomore season, Nnamoko averaged 3 PPG and 4.4 RPG recording his first double double vs Toccoa Falls with 11 points and 16 rebounds. As a freshmen, Nnamoko saw all 19 starts of his college career up to this point with 16 of his 28 games being in the starting 5 in which he averaged 1.8 PPG and 3.6 RPG, but was usually around the 5-6 rebound range outside a few outliers to the downside.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Led Georgia State in Blocks in 2023-24
Finalist for SBLive’s Florida High School Boys Basketball 3A Player of the Year Award
Held offers from Winthrop, Tulsa, Temple among others before committing to Georgia State
Incoming Freshmen:
G: Kaleb Evans - Lexington HS (SC)
Considered one of the best, and by some people the best recruit in South Carolina, Kaleb Evans chose to stay in state to play for the Eagles. Last year, Evans spent time at both Lexington and Moravian Prep. In this past season at Lexington, Evans had multiple double double’s and was usually the best player on the court this past season.
Awards/Notable Facts:
Crossed the 1,000 point mark on Dec 5th
2024 RoundBall Classic All Tournament Team
Roster Prediction:
Roster Thoughts/Ratings:
Guards: B+
Kareem Rozier: 5’9 guards have been successful in the past of this conference, especially ones that are very quick and can shoot. Rozier does both at a very good level and with the ability to keep the ball secure with amazing playmaking skill. The only concern is he can’t shoot at the rim, but I like the center group’s ability to make sure he doesn’t need to do that.
Joshua Meo: One of the more interesting adds for Winthrop is Josh Meo, he wasn’t really efficient at the D1 level at Coastal Carolina. That same lack of efficiency followed Meo from St Pete and Mineral Area. He can shoot the 3 at a good clip with around 30%+ but that’s really all he does at a good level. If he’s a catch and shoot guard than it’s a good add, if you expect more then I fear you’ll be disappointed.
Kody Clouet: Having a shooter is very important and getting one with Kody’s level is very big in this conference. Clouet shot 32% at San Diego but hit almost 90% from the line, and now he enters a system that is usually Top 5 at getting to the free throw, could be a big year for Winthrop if Clouet can get to the line.
Forwards: B
Tommy Kamarad: I really enjoy Tommy Kamarad, I don’t know if he will take over the KJ Doucet role of a forward who can stretch the floor while your traditional big man stays down low but if he can do that, it should be a pretty good season for Tommy.
Logan Duncomb: If Tommy Kamarad fills in the KJ Doucet role, Logan will likely need to fill in the Kelton Talford role. The only area where Duncomb is being more secure with the ball and a better shooter but in limited minutes last season he wasn’t too far off KT’s analytical stats.
Pharrell Boyogueno: Pharrell is a very interesting player, he is a defensive stud with just stellar length and ability to change the game either with blocks and steals but also with just shutting down players. The offense is there, but shows up in spurts, some games he’s good for 15 points, some games you get 0-2 from him. If the offense can get figured out, a stellar addition from Coach Prosser. If the offense stays inconsistent, it’s still a very good addition.
Tai Hamilton: If I had to pick one word to describe Tai Hamilton, it’s raw. He’s raw in two ways, one he doesn’t really have defined playstyle outside of being a decent paint defender but even then I wouldn’t say he excels at it, he’s also raw because he has not played a massive amount. I do expect Tai to build out and not be considered raw at the end of the year, to what extent he will be more known is to be seen.
Bench/Reserves: B-
Thoughts: Winthrop has a very solid guard group as a bench with Isaiah Wilson who can be a solid PG option off the bench. Daylen Berry whom could very well start, especially with his stamina ability. Braylhan Thomas while not having played as much as the other two has looked very good in his time that he has played. Then to cap it off, a young star in Kaleb Evans who very well could be Paul Jones-esque and be an impact freshman.
The forward core, much like the guard core, is pretty deep. You have Edward Nnamoko who is just a solid big man to have off the bench. You have Seifeldin Hendawy who was a highly touted prospect and showed during U16-U18 competition and then likely Tai Hamilton as another bench big who can just be a defensive stalwart and another body to use off the bench.
Overall Roster Grade: B
Big South Prediction/Awards:
Finally, the moment or moments, everyone has been waiting for, my Big South standing predictions and awards predictions.
First I will provide my 1st, 2nd and Freshmen Teams.
Then my Coach of the Year, Freshman of the Year, DPOY, Newcomer of the Year, and finally Player of the Year.
Then I will provide my standings for 9 to 1, with a little concise reasoning on why (which is probably wrong, but that’s the fun of it.)
Preseason All First Team:
Guards: Jaylon Johnson (Radford) and Rob Martin (High Point)
Jaylon: As I stated during the Radford part of the preview, is kind of a known commodity with what he brings to the team. He averaged 14/4/5 at Tennessee Tech and with that being similar-ish competition, I believe you see a similar output from Johnson and if you look to last season’s All Big South teams, 14/4/5 was above what one of the guards (Kezza Giffa) averaged thus earning Johnson this placement.
Rob: In the two seasons that High Point has had their new look culture and offense, they have had at least ONE Big South First Team guard. I don’t see that changing, Kezza earned that honor twice, and I think his replacement in Rob Martin will earn that same honor, he did so in the OVC, alongside Jaylon Johnson. I see them repeating in that honor in the Big South Conference this season.
Forwards: Cam’Ron Fletcher (HPU), Owen Aquino (HPU) and Toyaz Solomon (UNCA)
Cam’Ron: This is simply a bet on the talent, Cam might be the player with the most raw talent in the conference in a really long time. Has Cam missed a lot of time? Yes. Does he have extreme talent? Yes. If Cam stays healthy, he very well could be the best player in the conference. I’m here to give a prediction based off what a player can do, and I know one thing for sure, Cam Fletcher CAN hoop.
Owen: Owen enters as one of the best defenders in the conference, he reminds me a lot of Bodo Bodo but more offensively gifted. Both were extremely talented defenders, I would even give the edge to Bodo Bodo on that end, but the ability that sets Aquino apart is his offensive skillset is more well rounded than Bodo Bodo and truly sets him just one step above Bodo Bodo in my eyes.
Toyaz: The far and away best returner from last season, Toyaz should be on almost everyone’s first team this preseason. He made strives last year and truly had a case to be first team if it weren’t for two stalwart leaders of their teams and the best defensive player in the conference. Now those three players are gone and I think Toyaz earns first team honors this season.
Preseason All Second Team:
Guards: Kareem Rozier (Winthrop) and Scotty Washington (HPU)
Kareem: It was hard to narrow it down to four guards between the first and second team but I believe Kareem will get some honors in the postseason. He is likely the best playmaker, and if not best, second best behind Jaylon Johnson. He very well could get first team honors but it’s like splitting hairs between 1-6 for the guards this season in my opinion.
Scotty: Scotty Washington was one of the best pure scorers across the half court last season. Anywhere from the rim, to mid range, to 3PT was in his shot diet. He reminds me of D’Maurian Williams, I do think he will have a smaller roll than Williams did this past season but I think he will still do enough to be on a postseason team at seasons end.
Forwards: KJ McClurg (Longwood), Louie Jordan (Radford) and Jaylen Peterson (Presbyterian)
McClurg: While not a traditional forward, I do think KJ McClurg gets his name called for an award this season. I said I am all in on McClurg again, it’s not rare to see D2 players take a season to adjust and get back to their new normal. I am convinced that is what happened last season, that mixed with this being his last season, makes me think KJ is hungry for a good season.
Louie: The Big South has had two forwards shoot about 40% from 3 since 2015. Jordan Drowning whom earned All Conference Honors, and Liam O’Reilly whom probably should have earned honors, but did represent Team Big South in 3x3 action so he was clearly highly regarded. If Louie can shoot 40%, I think we see a similar response with him being honored at some point during and I think after the season.
Jaylen: Last year, as a partial bench player early in the season for the Blue Hose, still broke the record for blocks in a single season. Now Peterson is expected to be a starter for the Blue Hose. Usually one player from PC has a breakout and sometimes even receives honors, I see that happening for what I consider one of the best defenders in the conference.
All Freshmen Team:
Guards: Kaleb Evans (Winthrop) and Warren Keel Jr (Radford)
Kaleb: Finding any freshmen who I really think will play, especially at the guard spot in the conference is hard, but I think Kaleb Evans could. Kaleb Evans is one of the few freshmen guards who I think has the lack of senior depth along with the skills to play off the bench day one at Winthrop.
Warren: Another freshmen who I like to play a decent amount during their freshman year, was actually the latest freshmen to commit. That being Radford freshmen Warren Keel. Keel was considered a Top 300 recruit in the Class of 26, but reclasses showing Radford had a want for Keel, and they wanted him NOW. I think that is a sign that they believe he can help now.
Forwards: Frederik Erichsen (Radford), Augustine Ayelyine (Presbyterian) and Isaiah Kalala (Longwood)
Frederik: If there was one freshmen who I see starting, it would be Erichsen. Erichsen comes over from a very solid league of basketball and was viewed as a lower HM level player by some overseas scouts. The fact that Erichsen landed at Radford is very big for Radford, and potentially big for himself.
Augustine: I do really love Augustine as a raw prospect, but his intangibles are still very solid for this level. I think Augustine is likely the back up center for PC this season and that will lead to some of the most playtime in the conference. With that playtime, Augustine will have the best chance to produce and that likely leads to him earning Big South All Freshmen Team honors this offseason.
Isaiah: I will be honest, it was slim pickings for the final forward spot, but I chose Isaiah Kalala. Kalala is likely the best incoming freshmen that hasn’t been named so far by me. I think Kalala will play the most of the Longwood freshmen, and simply because of that he likely earns honors in my opinion.
Freshman of the Year
Frederik Erichsen - Radford
For me, this choice was pretty easy. Frederik Erichsen is the best incoming freshmen in my opinion and will likely play the most by far. The professional experience mixed with just raw intangibles makes it hard to not pick Erichsen to win the award. If Radford is successful this season, Erichsen will play a big role in it.
I will make the prediction that Erichsen averaged around 12 PPG, 5 RPG and 2 APG. Which usually isn’t enough to win the award, but this year I don’t think any freshman will see significant time unless an injury or something completely out of left field happens. So my prediction came down to most talent and most playing time and Erichsen likely leads the incoming class in both.
OTHERS CONSIDERED: Kaleb Evans (Winthrop) and Augustine Ayelyine (PC)
Defensive Player of the Year
Jaylen Peterson - Presbyterian
Presbyterian has never had a defensive player of the year winner, I expect that to change this season. Jaylen Peterson is the most analytically underrated defender in the conference. Peterson had a 9.9% Hakeem Percentage, a 7.9% Block Rate and was one of the best rebounders in the Big South last season, as a BENCH player.
I only see those stats getting better with higher minutes and an offseason of development. The only returner to receive votes for the award was Toyaz Solomon, but when you look, Solomon and Peterson had very comparable stats and Peterson played 10 less minutes per game. Peterson SHOULD have gotten votes last season, and he likely SHOULD win the award this season.
OTHERS CONSIDERED: Toyaz Solomon (UNC-A) and Babacar Diallo (HPU)
Newcomer of the Year
Cam’ron Fletcher - High Point
As many can probably tell, I enjoy making fun predictions, well here is another pick that is probably far from consensus. The talent is there and it’s hard to deny it, the only question mark for Cam is health. I’m not in the game of being a doctor, and if I was, I’d probably be bad at it. There is one thing you don’t need to be a doctor to notice, HPU brings in guys who they think will work, injuries be damned.
If Cam can stay healthy, I would have him as a Big South POY contender. High Point does an amazing job of bringing the most out of former as some consider “failed” prospects. Bobby Pettiford won Big South Tournament MVP, Kimani Hamilton excelled in his two years. I think we see a new High Point for Cam’Ron Fletcher’s career this season.
OTHERS CONSIDERED: Jaylon Johnson (Radford) and Rob Martin (High Point)
Coach of the Year
Flynn Clayman - High Point
It might be a new guy in the first chair of HPU’s bench, but I think one thing will stay the same, an HPU coach winning Big South Coach of the Year. If you ask around about Flynn Clayman it is hard to find anyone who would disagree with the man being a true ball knower and being one of the brighter young minds in the sports.
The reason I gave it to Flynn over other coaches in the conference is one experience. Flynn has coached as a head before both at SUU and when Alan Huss has been removed from games. Along with point two of Flynn being one of the master minds for High Point success, especially on the offensive end including helping Southern Utah have 3 Top 100 offenses and then helping High Point have 2 Top 50 offenses.
OTHERS CONSIDERED: Zach Chu (Radford)
Player of the Year
Toyaz Solomon - UNC Asheville
It’s hard to bet against proven talent and a proven coach, so I’m going with Toyaz Solomon to win Big South Player of the Year. Since the COVID season, every Big South Player of the Year winner has been a big man, two of those being under the watchful and successful eye of Mike Morrell.
Last year proved, your team doesn’t need to have the most success to win the award. Charleston Southern was a 7 seed entering the Big South tournament and while I do think UNC Asheville won’t be a 7 seed. I definitely do not have UNC Asheville as a Top 2 team in the conference. I see another step forward for Toyaz, and with him being the best returner, I think the voters will give him his flowers much like they did for Taje Kelly this past season.
OTHERS CONSIDERED: Cam’ron Fletcher (High Point) and Jaylon Johnson (Radford)
Big South Standings Prediction
Finally the part everyone may or may not have been waiting for, my completely correct and never incorrect Big South rankings.
(don’t check last years, just trust me I wasn’t wrong, please don’t check last years)
Since I basically gave my thoughts on every team in their preview section, I will just provide a short reasoning on each team’s position.
9. Gardner Webb
I have a lot of trust and praise for Jeremy Luther, from the people I’ve spoken to about him. He is the right man for the job, but it is a different era in college basketball. Coaching simply can’t just will your team to wins like it used to, money controls the game and GWU being a football school really hurts their ability to take basketball as seriously as the non football schools.
Things I like:
Jeremy Luther is an excellent coach and will keep this team in games where there is a larger talent difference.
I do expect Na’Vaun Peterson to look really good, very high on him coming up to the D1 level.
Younger roster, only two players will leave via graduation.
Things I don’t like:
Very lacking forward depth, though is aided by some very large guards.
Ace Talbert, a player coming off a big injury, being a focal point of the offense and likely team.
8. USC Upstate
After a tough year one in Spartanburg, I like what Richter did retaining the most in the conference along with being one of the most underrated coaches in the conference. Returning 3 starters (and 4 if you consider Kanye was likely going to start) is tough in this era. Upstate is probably the 2nd or 3rd toughest job, even with rev share but it seems Marty is in for the long haul.
Things I like:
Returning Karmani Gregory, Breylin Garcia, Kanye Jones, and Carmelo Adkins along with Chico Johnson, Skinner and Nic Book.
Added much needed height with Jafeth Martinez.
Things I don’t like:
Still believe defense will be a bottom defense in the conference even with recent additions.
No clear #1 or star entering the season, same issue led to Mister Dean with 31% of possessions last season.
Health, only two players played in all 32 last season.
7. Presbyterian
Coming off the best season in program history, I do see a little regression in Presbyterian. It is very hard to replace Kory Mincy, Kobe Stewart and others and while I think they did replace a few of the losses. I do not think they replaced enough to make a run to the Top 5 of the conference.
Things I like:
Really good freshmen class, especially Augustine Ayelyine but overall a good 3 player class.
Josh Pickett is quietly one of the best portal gets in the conference, coming off a really solid freshmen season.
Carl Parrish is wildly efficient, almost shot 50/40/90 last season.
Things I don’t like:
No real PG, likely will need to have someone take a leap as a passer or struggle a lot.
What can we expect from Johan Pierce coming off his hip injury? If he’s back 100% great, but hip injuries are no joke.
6. Charleston Southern
The other scholarship football school in the conference, CSU is in a slightly better spot but mostly due in part to just returning some of their best players. Losing Taje is a big loss, so is losing Patrick and almost all the starting 5 from last year, but I do love the fit of the transfers for CSU.
Things I like:
Getting a two for one transfer with Nate and Devin Brafford, bigs are a hot commodity in the Big South so getting two is big.
Love the addition of guys who know how to score, Luke Williams, Franklin, Coleman along with Blaine and Carraway from JUCOs.
Unreal depth, some of the best compared to the starting 5 in the conference.
Things I don’t like:
Is A’lahn 100% healthy, much like Johan Pierce for PC, hip injuries are no joke.
Just no real amazing top end talent, no one who makes you say “Oh, that’s an all conference player.”
5. Longwood
Choosing to hire internally really paid off for Longwood as they return their two big men whom had both entered the portal along with KJ McClurg, Emmanuel Richards and Jaylen Benard. Along with that Longwood brought in a lot of potential talent who maybe hasn’t had the chances to prove it.
Things I like:
KJ McClurg returning for me is a big needle mover, the kid can hoop, doesn’t matter the level. If he had done his D2 stats last season, he’d be P5 right now.
Love taking a risk on Billups, low risk high reward, sure betting on talent may not have worked with Jefferson but Billups is better than Jefferson was at their previous stop.
Returning Nziemi and Tucker are big for a frontcourt that would be extremely raw, gives the younger guys a year to grow as players.
Things I don’t like:
Putting a lot of trust into a younger guard core, Jacoi is good and is a pretty solid guard but behind him it’s a young group.
The offensive fall off in the frontcourt from starters to bench is a little concerning.
4. UNC Asheville
Losing Jordan Marsh is a tough loss, but keeping Toyaz for one more year isn’t the worst consolation prize. Asheville added a ton of project guys in the offseason along with some solid former SC college stars in Patrick and Mitchell Taylor. Mike Morrell built a team with a solid chance of getting him his 2nd Big South Title.
Things I like:
Returned the only Big South All Team player from last year.
A Kam Taylor breakout seems extremely likely
Very high upside roster, if everything clicks, Johnson City would be rocking with Rocky.
Things I don’t like:
Mitchell Taylor has some of the wildest splits which is scary if bad Taylor shows up.
A lot of the depth is unproven, lots of talent but very unproven.
3. Winthrop
Winthrop was one game away from another NCAA Tournament, really actually about 15 minutes away from that NCAA Tournament berth. Now for the first time in a very long time, Winthrop does not have Kelton Talford or KJ Doucet to lead the team. This offseason was a big one for Winthrop to try to keep up with High Point and stay within arms reach of a title.
Things I like:
Grabbing an elite playmaking guard like Kareem Rozier and pairing him up an amazing P&R Threat with Duncomb but also an elite shooter like Clouet.
Added one of the better freshmen in the conference with Kaleb Evans, could be a Day 1 impact player.
Added an elite free throw shooter in Kody Clouet as usually one of the highest free attempt teams.
Things I don’t like:
Josh Meo is a weird fit, very ineffective at times last year and was also a net negative player.
A lot of mouth to feed on offense some being very inefficient, there could be some very awful games if they don’t play team basketball.
2. Radford
After losing a close game to High Point and losing their coach. Radford decided they need to go out of the box and hired SMU Chief Strategist, Zach Chu. Now with a mix of MM darlings, HM drop downs with promise, D2 studs and European and Overseas commits. Coach Chu and the squad are poised to make a run at the giant at High Point.
Things I like:
Bradley Land, I watch a decent chunk of D2 hoops, especially RMAC Hoops. This kid is the real deal.
Frederik Erichsen is a player who can truly play 1-5, every person I’ve spoken to whom knows European hoops is very high on Erichsen, and loves the addition.
Overall, might be the best roster in conference, just very few flaws
Things I don’t like:
Very small at the center position, only 1 player at or above 6’10 and that player is a freshmen.
Lack of experience from Zach Chu, he has never been in the HC chair, I do love the staff around him though, it’s a group of ball knowers.
1. High Point
Last year, I picked High Point to win the league, this year much of the same. High Point, despite having a new face in the head coaches seat, is still High Point. HPU only returned around 5% of minutes according to BartTorvik but still looks to be the best team in the conference.
Things I like:
Really athletic big man, Aquino, Ibukunoluwa and Miller are all really athletic, and Singare isn’t unathletic in his own right.
Didn’t really try to fix a working system, brought in similar players to the ones they lost.
Pretty favorable non conference schedule
Things I don’t like:
Wished they could have tested themselves more in the non conference, but that’s not really on High Point, it’s on High Majors and the NCAA.