- Jim Root

(check out the Big South preseason preview here)

Final Standings:

3MW’s All-Conference Team:

Player of the Year: Carlik Jones, R Jr., Radford
Coach of the Year: Pat Kelsey, Winthrop
Newcomer of the Year: Chandler Vaudrin, R Jr., Winthrop
Freshman of the Year: D.J. Burns, Winthrop

Season Storylines:

I spent too many hours in the offseason debating between Radford or Winthrop as my title pick, and it turns out all of that time was wasted (though Radford did get the one seed). The lesson? Don’t pick a side, sit on the fence, and predict a tie. People love that kind of lukewarm analysis!

Josh Ferguson was the rock for the newcomer-heavy Eagles’ roster, but Division II transfers Hunter Hale and Chandler Vaudrin made instant impacts, and the Winthrop freshman class is loaded too (technically including Tennessee transfer Mr. Burns). Radford, meanwhile, rode the guard trio of Carlik Jones, Travis Fields, and Donald Hicks to a title; those three are surely salivating at a chance to avenge their title game loss (at home) to Gardner-Webb last year.

Speaking of Gardner-Webb, the Bulldogs won six of their final eight games following the departure of leading scorer Jose Perez, and they immediately become a prime Ewing Theory case study. Charleston Southern looked to be on a similar arc after ripping off four straight wins without Dontrell Shuler, but the Buccaneers’ lack of depth caught up to them down the stretch.

Hampton’s duo of Jermaine Marrow and Ben Stanley accomplished the incredibly impressive feat of both ranking in the top 10 nationally in PPG (Marrow 4th at 24.3 PPG, Stanley 8th at 22.5 PPG). Unfortunately, the Pirates could rarely be bothered to even pretend to play defense; perhaps a do-or-die scenario for Marrow’s illustrious career will change that.

Tournament Preview

Kind of a fun format here with Radford hosting the quarters and semis, but if the Highlanders lose before the title game (unlikely given the terrifying presence of the massive inflatable Highlander in the corner of the gym), the championship shifts to the location of the highest seed. This happened last year, as Radford got to host the title game after 1-seed Campbell fell to Gardner-Webb in the semifinals.

In an odd standings quirk, 11-seed Campbell is actually the 4th-highest rated team at KenPom, so if you’re looking for a mega-value pick, the Camels are your squad. Still, despite Gardner-Webb’s Perez-less surge, this feels like an exceedingly top-heavy league, as Radford and Winthrop combined to lose just four games to teams not named Winthrop and Radford.

Tournament Predictions

(10 ) High Point over (7) USC Upstate
(11) Campbell over (6) UNC Asheville
(8) Charleston Southern over (9) Presbyterian

(2) Winthrop over (10) High Point
(3) Gardner-Webb over (11) Campbell
(1) Radford over (8) Charleston Southern
(5) Hampton over (4) Longwood

(2) Winthrop over (3) Gardner-Webb
(1) Radford over (5) Hampton

(1) Radford over (2) Winthrop