Stephen F. Austin Tabbed to Win Southland in Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
HOUSTON -- Stephen F. Austin is the preseason favorite to win the Southland Conference men's basketball regular-season championship, according to the league's 2018-19 men's basketball coaches and sports information directors. Last year's co-champion Southeastern Louisiana is tabbed to finish second while New Orleans is picked third in the poll.
The announcement was made this morning as Southland Conference Basketball Social Media Day commenced at the Toyota Center in downtown Houston. The home of the Houston Rockets is where all 26 head coaches from the league's men's and women's programs are previewing the upcoming season today. Coaches are participating in Q&A sessions, media interviews, social media activities and one-on-one segments. The season is bookended in the Houston area, starting with today's preview event and ending nearby at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas, with the Southland Conference tournament on March 13-17.
Social Media Day can be followed on the Southland's
Twitter,
Instagram and
Facebook accounts, with a preview show streaming on ESPN3 tonight at 6 p.m. The ESPN3 preview show, available via
https://sland.social/ESPN3MD and ESPN apps, will be archived immediately following its initial airing.
Kyle Keller's Lumberjack squad leads all schools with three players on the Southland all-conference preseason first team, including senior guard Shannon Bogues, junior guard/forward Kevon Harris and junior forward TJ Holyfield. The trio helped lead SFA to its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in five years this past season.
Last year's regular-season co-champion and conference tournament runner-up Southeastern Louisiana received two first-place votes while being chosen to finish second. The Lions senior floor general Marlain Veal headlines the league's preseason first team after being named Defensive Player of the Year and leading the league in assists (6.1 per game) a season ago. Veal is joined by two fellow starters from a year ago - Moses Greenwood and Keith Charleston. Jay Ladner begins his fifth year at the Southeastern Louisiana helm with five returning letterwinners.
New Orleans is slated to finish third after a fifth-place finish in 2017-18. The Privateers, led by eighth-year coach Mark Slessinger, will try to repeat the magic of two years ago when UNO won both the regular-season and conference tournament championships.
Abilene Christian, who received one first-place vote, is selected to finish fourth after a 16-16 effort last year. Meanwhile, Lamar and head coach Tic Price are expected to finish fifth.
Sam Houston State is predicted to come in sixth, while McNeese and Central Arkansas were picked seventh and eighth, respectively. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is pegged for the ninth spot and Houston Baptist and last year's co-champion Nicholls tied for the 10
th place spot.
Northwestern State is predicted to finish 12th followed by Incarnate Word.
The preseason poll is voted on by the head coach and sports information director from each Southland school. Each individual ranks the other 12 teams in their predicted order of regular season finish. Ranking one's own school is not permitted.
2018-19 Southland Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
|
School (First-place votes) |
Total |
| 1. |
Stephen F. Austin (23) |
287 |
| 2. |
Southeastern Louisiana (2) |
243 |
| 3. |
New Orleans |
204 |
| 4. |
Abilene Christian (1) |
196 |
| 5. |
Lamar |
186 |
| 6. |
Sam Houston State |
184 |
| 7. |
McNeese |
172 |
| 8. |
Central Arkansas |
136 |
| 9. |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
115 |
| T10. |
Houston Baptist |
101 |
| T10. |
Nicholls |
101 |
| 12. |
Northwestern State |
73 |
| 13. |
Incarnate Word |
30 |