Big South

NCAA Basketball Conference Ranking: 2008-09

CHN — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:31:09 -0500

CHN's 31 conference ranking, including 10 year historical averages based on average RPI finish. For more information on historical RPI averages, check out the Conference Data Page. Links lead to league preview pages.

Big East

10 Year Average: 3

10 Year Average: 1

10 Year Average: 2

10 Year Average: 5

10 Year Average: 6

10 Year Average: 4

10 Year Average: 10

10 Year Average: 7

10 Year Average: 9

WCC

10 Year Average: 12

11 Conference USA

10 Year Average: 8

12 Colonial

10 Year Average: 14

13 MAC

10 Year Average: 13

14 WAC

10 Year Average: 11

15 MAAC

10 Year Average: 17

16 Horizon

10 Year Average: 15

17 Southern

10 Year Average: 19

18 Sun Belt

10 Year Average: 16

19 Big West

10 Year Average: 18

20 Patriot

10 Year Average: 23

21 Southland

10 Year Average: 27

22 Ivy

10 Year Average: 24

23 Big Sky

10 Year Average: 20

24 America East

10 Year Average: 21

25 Summit

10 Year Average: 26

26 OVC

10 Year Average: 22

27 NEC

10 Year Average: 28

28 Atlantic Sun

10 Year Average: 25

29 Big South

10 Year Average: 29

30 MEAC

10 Year Average: 30

-Independents

31 SWAC

10 Year Average: 31

Big South Basketball Preview: 08-09

CHN — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:06:28 -0500

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Conference Rank: 29th

Conference Page

All-BIG SOUTH Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Amir Johnson	Radford	Jr
G	Chavis Holmes	VMI	Sr
G	Anthony Smith	Liberty	Sr
F	Charles Corbin	Winthrop	So
F	Omar Carter	Charleston So.	So
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
none		Points: Chavis Holmes 18.3 Rebounds: Kenny George 7.0 (injured) Assists: Amir Johnson 5.5

BIG SOUTH Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

104	UNC Asheville*	Big South	1	NCAA
139	Winthrop**	Big South	2
164	Gardner-Webb	Big South	3
209	High Point	Big South	4
232	Radford	Big South	5
252	Liberty	Big South	6
276	Coastal Carolina	Big South	7
295	Charleston So	Big South	8
330	VMI	Big South	9
343	Presbyterian	Big South	10

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

** returning conference champion

Note: A lot has changed for UNCA since this preview was written months ago, and they would almost certainly not be our #1 pick at this time.

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the Big South?

Other BIG SOUTH Content

Conference Media Poll

Big South Poll: Winthrop the Favorite

Other

Rise & Fall: Big South

Daily Conference Poll: Who Will win the Big South?

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:51:08 -0400

Big South Preseason Poll: Winthrop The Favorite

Press Release — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:34:53 -0400

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. - After a one-year hiatus, Winthrop University’s men’s basketball team has been chosen first in the Big South Conference’s annual preseason poll, as voted by the League’s Head Coaches and media panel. The announcements were made today at the Embassy Suites hotel in Concord, N.C., as part of the 2008-09 Basketball Tip-Off Media Luncheon.

Winthrop, which won its fourth consecutive Big South championship last season, received nine first-place votes and 202 total points to finish first in the 10-team race in 2008-09. The Eagles have won 20 games in each of the last four seasons, and return six letterwinners and two starters from last year’s club. The men’s preseason balloting was highly contested, as seven squads received at least one first-place vote. Radford, which finished seventh in 2007-08, is predicted second this year after receiving seven first-place votes and 189 total points. It is the Highlanders’ highest placing in the preseason poll since being predicted second in 2001-02. New Big South member Gardner-Webb was third in the voting with 188 points (three first-place votes), ahead of No. 4 Liberty (two first-place votes and 148 points).

High Point received the fifth spot in the poll with 132 points and one first-place vote, while Charleston Southern was predicted sixth with 128 points (one first-place vote). VMI received the remaining first-place vote from the panel and finished seventh with 110 points, just ahead of No. 8 Coastal Carolina (107 points). UNC Asheville, which was the Big South’s co-regular-season champion in 2007-08, was predicted to finish ninth with 83 points. New member Presbyterian, which is eligible for the men’s basketball regular-season title, received the 10^th and final spot in the poll with 33 points.

2008-09 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll (combined points)

Rk Team (first-place votes) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points

1. Winthrop (9) 90 54 24 21 12 -- -- -- -- 1 202

2. Radford (7) 70 36 40 21 12 5 -- 3 2 -- 189

3. Gardner-Webb (3) 30 72 40 21 12 5 8 -- -- -- 188

4. Liberty (2) 20 18 32 21 18 15 16 6 2 -- 148

5. High Point (1) 10 9 16 35 6 35 8 12 -- 1 132

6. Charleston Southern (1) 10 -- 16 21 36 15 20 6 4 -- 128

7. VMI (1) 10 9 16 14 18 15 8 6 12 2 110

8. Coastal Carolina -- 9 8 7 24 25 16 9 8 1 107

9. UNC Asheville -- 9 -- 7 6 5 16 27 12 1 83

10. Presbyterian -- -- -- -- -- -- 4 3 8 18 33

Rise & Fall: Low-Major Conference Review

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:52:45 -0400

In recent weeks, the Rise & Fall series has chronicled the progress (or regress) of college basketball's major conference teams. But if I equated each team to a civilization, I was mistaken. It is really the NCAA conference that equates to a burgeoning civilization or nation, each with its sometimes stable and sometimes rotating member states. Like civilizations, the prestige and power of conferences wax and wane..

Today, I'll start with the status of the low-major conferences before moving up to the big boys.

LOW-MAJORS

AMERICA EAST - DECLINING (SLOWLY )

For whatever reason, the AE's RPI rating swings wildly compared to most leagues.. anywhere between 16th and 29th in the last seven years. When teams like Delaware, Drexel, and Hofstra bolted for the CAA after 2001, it seemed like an iminent disaster (and was for a moment in 2002 with that 29th RPI). But Tom Brennan's great Vermont teams really saved the league's prestige. However, now that Vermont is still trying to regain form under Mike Lonegran and Albany's Jamar Wilson era is over, the league is retreating back into the mid-twenties RPI range where I expect them to finish in 2009.

ATLANTIC SUN - DECLINING

While Belmont was solid last year, it was an abysmal year for the ASun. The league's decline has mainly been do the negative effects of a changing league membership. Central Florida, FAU, and Georgia State have all left in recent seasons for "bigger" leagues, replaced by D1 newcomers like Kennessaw State and North Florida. Last year, 6 teams in the league finished with an RPI below 290th. This led to an overall RPI of 29th, one of the worst seasons in the league's history, and a stark change from the usual range of 20th to 23rd that the ASun enjoyed just a handful of seasons ago.

BIG SOUTH - RISING (SLOWLY)

Basically, this is all about the emergence of Winthrop in recent years. In the last 90's and early 00's, the Big south was right there with the MEAC and SWAC as the last rung on college basketball's ladder. But Greg Marshall's amazing success at Winthrop has the been the main catalyst for the league's overall improvement. While its unclear whether Randy Peele can continue Marshall's success, and UNCA might slip after last year's solid run, those worries can't overturn the league's positive momentum.

BIG SKY - DECLINING (SLOWLY)

This is one of the few low-major leagues to have finished above 15th in overall RPI (ie, the top half) in the last two decades. The league isn't quite as strong as it was just a few years back though, as the subtle switch of losing Northridge to the Big West, in place of horrid Northern Colorado has hurt. For the first half of the decade, it seemed like one Big Sky team always was a serious mid-major contender, highlighted by Montana's 2006 Tournament win (and Weber's big upset back in 99). But such an upset seems highly unlikely right now.

IVY - DECLINING

The Ivy has had better success over the last decade than any low-major league, and its arguable that they should really count in the "mid-major" category. Regardless, the glory days of Penn/Princeton dominance has come to an end, and now the conference isn't really any better than geographical rivals like the Patriot or America East. Cornell is the league's main hope in the present (perhaps to be joined by Amaker's Harvard?) as Penn and Princeton try to resurrect past glory. A repeat of the Ivy's 2002 RPI finish of 13th won't come around for awhile.

MEAC - RISING (SLOWLY)

It wasn't always a given that the SWAC and the MEAC would finish dead last in the RPI. While never good, they were just one of a handful of low-level leagues like the Big South and Southland conferences. But over the last handful of years, its become a certainty that either the MEAC and SWAC will be the bottom of the barrel. Despite being 30th out of 31 conferences last year, it was actually the MEAC's most successful season of the century. Todd Bozeman has turned a dismal Morgan State program (4-26 in 2006) into a winner (over 20 wins last year) while Hampton knocked off legit programs like Tulsa and VCU. Due to these wins, the league's non-conference RPI of 28 tied their high-water mark of the last decade.

NORTHEAST - STATUS QUO

The league is slightly better than it was a handful of years back, but a repeat of last year's success is unlikely. With an RPI of 20th, it was one of the NEC's better performances due to quality seasons from Robert Morris and Wagner. But the win totals put up by those schools and others was really more due to smoke and mirrors, as the NEC's non-conference SOS was one of the worst in the nation. A usual finish around 26th in the RPI should be expected this time around.

OHIO VALLEY - DECLINING (SLOWLY)

Last year's RPI of 28th and .227 non-conference winning %, were some of the worst in league history. Though a small bounce back should be expected in 08-09, the OVC has been in a steady downwards trend. Not to long ago, it seemed like two teams in the league (usually Murray State or APSU) were legitimate Top 100-120 programs that could compete with the big boys. While APSU is still decent, Murray has lost the luster of a few seasons back due to coaching changes.

PATRIOT - RISING (SLOWLY)

The Patriot is coming off of two of their best seasons in recent history, with RPI finishes of 16th and 17th. The great non-conference winning % is a bit misleading though, because they played the worst schedule of anybody in the country (even the independents somehow managed to find better competition.) Thus while American's win over Maryland was cute, and Navy's continual improvement is nice to see, there's still serious room for (more legitimate) improvement.

SOUTHLAND - RISING

Last year was the SLC's best season in recent memory.. and two of its best RPI seasons in the last decade have come in the past three years. SFA knocked off Oklahoma and NCAA Tournament team San Diego. Sam Houston beat higher-level programs like Texas Tech, Saint Louis, and Fresno. And those teams didn't even win the conference, as Texas-Arlington took the honors. While an overall conference RPI of 19 might not seem amazing, it represents a major improvement for a league that has barely outperformed the independents in the past ten years.

SUMMIT - STATUS QUO

Despite the new name, the Summit is no better than it was as the Mid-Con. Never the worst conference out there, it also never seems to have a break out year and hasn't finished above 20th in the RPI in quite some time. Oral Roberts has obviously been the leader in recent years, while Oakland and IUPUI have shown some positive momentum. But there's too many duds in the league membership (Centenary, WIU, etc) to expect a serious break from form any time soon.

SWAC - STATUS QUO

The SWAC's .085 winning percentage against non-conference teams is the worst of any team in the twelve seasons that I have stats for. In fact, previous marks of futility set by the SWAC are the only near competitors (.096 in 2000 for example.) But futility is nothing new for the SWAC, which has been the lowest ranked conference the last four years (by a large margin).. thus it deserves the Status Quo.

- Note that league power isn't quite as fluid as team power, so seemingly small baby steps end up counting more..

- Up Next: Mid-Majors

BCS

ACC

Big 12

Big East

Big Ten

Pac-10

SEC

High-Major

Atlantic 10

Conference USA

MVC

MWC

WAC

Mid-Major

Big West

Colonial

Horizon

MAC

MAAC

Southern

Sun Belt

WCC

2008 CollegeHoops.net Mid-Major All-Americans

CHN — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:12:32 -0400

CollegeHoops.net Mid-Major Player of the Year: Stephen Curry (Davidson)

CollegeHoops.net First Team Mid-Major All-American
G: Stephen Curry (Davidson)
G: Mike Green (Butler)
G: Courtney Lee (WKU)
F AZ Reid (High Point)
F: Jason Thompson (Rider)

CollegeHoops.net Second Team Mid-Major All-American
G: Lester Hudson (UT- Martin)
G: Patty Mills (Saint Mary’s)
G: George Hill (IUPUI)
F: Reggie Williams (VMI)
F: Gyno Pomare (San Diego)

CollegeHoops.net Third Team Mid-Major All-American
G: Al Fisher (Kent State)
G: Bo McCalebb (New Orleans)
F: Charron Fisher (Niagara)
F: Kyle Hines (UNCG)
F: Ryan Wittman (Cornell)

CollegeHoops.net FourthTeam Mid-Major All-American
G: Alex Harris (UCSB)
G: AJ Graves (Butler)
G: Demetric Bennett (South Alabama)
F: Tim Pollitz (Miami)
F: Thomas Sanders (Gardner Webb)

Mid-Major Honorable Mention:
Josh Alexander (Stephen F Austin), Marqus Blakely (Vermont), John Bryant (Santa Clara), J’Nathan Bullock (Cleveland State), Scott Cutley (Fullerton), Jeremiah Dominguez (Portland State), Justin Hare (Belmont), Brandon Johnson (San Diego), Dior Lowhorn (San Francisco), Jason Richards (Davidson), Jonathan Rodriguez (Campbell), Greg Sprink (Navy)

The CollegeHoops.net All-American teams are voted on by staff writers. Up tomorrow are our All-Rookie teams.

CHN 2007-08 Postseason Awards

All-Americans, All-Rookie, Top Coaches & more!

Kenny Thomas is Big South Player of the Week

Press Release — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:26:32 -0500

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Radford junior guard Kenny Thomas (Richmond, Va.) and Charleston Southern forward Omar Carter (Charlotte, N.C.) have been selected as the Big South Conference Choice Hotels Men’s Basketball Player of the Week and New Balance Freshman of the Week, respectively, for games played from Dec. 3-9, it was announced today by the League office.

Thomas had the best week of his career last week as he averaged 23.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in leading the Highlanders to two wins. He took the reigns and led Radford to a double-overtime win at Gardner-Webb with a career-high 24 points, including 11 of the Highlanders’ 14 points in the second overtime period. He also had four assists and seven rebounds in the game, and was 12-of-15 ( =.800 percent) from the free throw line. In Saturday’s home win over Campbell, Thomas netted 23 points on 8-of-14 field goals, including 5-of-8 from three-point range (tying a career-high for three-pointers). He scored 11-straight points for the Highlanders to spur a 13-4 RU run that gave Radford the lead for good. For the week, Thomas was 13-of-26 from the field ( =.500), 7-of-14 from the arc ( =.500), 14-of-18 from the line ( =.778) and averaged 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals.

Carter registered the third double-double of his young CSU career last Monday against Mercer, posting 21 points and 10 rebounds in CSU’s one-point loss to the Bears. He scored 14 points in the second half while missing one field goal attempt, and hit two key three-pointers down the stretch to give CSU a late lead. Carter finished the night 8-of-14 from the floor ( =.571), 4-of-7 from long range ( =.571) and added two assists and two steals.

Other Player of the Week Nominees: Omar Carter (Charleston Southern), Arizona Reid (High Point), Alex McLean (Liberty), Reggie Williams (VMI) and Michael Jenkins (Winthrop).

Other Freshman of the Week Nominees: Earnest Bridges (High Point).

-BigSouthSports.com-

Daily Poll: Who Will Win the Big South?

Shawn Siegel — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 19:33:39 -0400

Big South Preseason All-Conference Team

Press Release — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:32:51 -0400

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – High Point University senior Arizona Reid (Gaffney, S.C.) has been voted the Big South Conference 2007-08 Preseason Men’s Basketball Player of the Year by the League’s Head Coaches, Sports Information Directors and media panel, it was announced today at the Conference’s annual Basketball Tip-Off Media Luncheon at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Concord, N.C. This year’s preseason All-Conference team features four players who were named to the League’s All-Freshman team in 2004-05.

Reid was the Conference’s Player of the Year in 2006-07, after leading the Big South in rebounding (9.5 per game) and finishing second in scoring (21.0) – the first player in League history to average 20 points and nine rebounds in one season. He was an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press last season and received All-District honors from the USBWA and the NABC. Reid also was fourth in the Big South in field goal percentage (.509), 10th in free throw percentage, tied for 13th in blocks per game, fourth in offensive rebounds and first in defensive rebounds. In League play last year, Reid increased his totals to 26.0 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. He also scored in double figures in 29 games, including 19 straight, surpassed the 20-point mark 19 times with five 30-point outings, and brought down a Big South single-game record 25 rebounds against VMI in late February. Reid received 21 first-place votes and finished with 134 points in the voting to earn a spot on the preseason All-Conference team.

2007-08 Big South Conference Men’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team

Arizona Reid, High Point, Sr., F
Reggie Williams, VMI, Sr., F
Michael Jenkins, Winthrop, Sr., G
Jack Leasure, Coastal Carolina, Sr., G
Chris Gaynor, Winthrop, Sr., G

Williams, who received six first-place votes and 106 total points, became the first player in Big South history to lead the nation in scoring last year with his League-record 28.1 points per game average. He was named NABC All-District 4 second-team, ranked in the top four in the Conference in points (1st), rebounding (4th), field goal percentage (3rd) and assists (3rd), and also ranked ninth in free throw percentage and 10th in steals. Williams set new Big South and VMI records for most points in a season (928), became the first player in Conference history to log three 40-point games in a career and topped 40+ points in four games last season. He had nine double-doubles, scored in double figures in 31 games last season and had 15 30-point games. Williams needs just 351 points to become the Big South’s all-time leading scorer.

Jenkins enjoyed a breakout season last year for the Eagles as he earned First-team All-Conference honors as well as All-Tournament team accolades in his first year as a starter. He developed into one of the team’s top scoring threats as well as being a defensive stopper on the perimeter. He led Winthrop in scoring with 14.8 points per game and surpassed every single season individual career best last year. Jenkins led the Big South in three-point shooting percentage (41.5 percent), scored in double figures 27 times and tied a school and Big South record for three-pointers in a game with 12 vs. North Greenville. He led the Eagles to a 77-66 win over Missouri State in the ESPNU BracketBusters with his 25-point performance and seven 3-pointers, and posted seven rebounds and 11 assists in Winthrop’s 74-64 NCAA Tournament win over Notre Dame.

Leasure has been a Conference honoree all three seasons at Coastal Carolina – All-Freshman in 2005, First-team All-Conference and Player of the Year in 2006 and Second-team All-Conference in 2007. He led CCU to its second .500-or-better season last year for the first time since 1993-94, and became just the 14th player in CCU history to reach 1,000 points in his career (currently at 1,424). Leasure enters his senior year third all-time in Big South history with 300 career three-pointers. In 2006-07, he led Coastal and ranked seventh in the League at 15.6 points per game. He also ranked in the top 10 in the Conference in three pointers (3.0 pg), three-point field goal percentage (.372), assists (3.6 pg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8). He scored in double-figures in 12-of-14 League games last year and 25-of-30 games overall.

Gaynor was named Collegeinsider.com’s National Mid-Major Most Valuable Player in 2006-07 after helping the Eagles to a 29-5 overall record, 14-0 Big South mark and NCAA Tournament first round win. He has started all 95 games of his career at Winthrop (out of 98) and has been the Eagles’ floor general since his freshman season. He ranked first in the Big South last year in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.16) and was fourth in assists (4.39), while adding eight points a game. Gaynor saw his career games started streak end due to an injury in early December, but he still led the squad with 46 steals and ranked among the Conference leaders in the steals category. He scored a career-high 19 points vs. Liberty on Feb. 6 to help fuel a 80-76 come-from-behind win. He enters his senior season in fourth-place on the Winthrop all-time assist list with 427.

Daily Dribble: 12/05

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 00:21:10 -0500

6-3 Winthrop gave it another good run against a ranked team.. falling in overtime to Wiscosnin. The Eagles pose an interesting problem for how we look at mid-major teams. For example, well-played, close losses at UNC, Maryland, and Wisconsin are impressive and have to count for something. But on the flip side, Winthrop's best win so far is at Mississippi State. We had Winthrop in our CHN Top 50 Ranking.. and I still believe they are a top 50 team.. but there gets to the point that they have to win a big game to warrant the ranking. If Purdue for example lost to those three teams and had only beaten Mississippi State and some nobodies, then it would seem perfectly normal not to put them in the Top 50. The difference though when comparing a Purdue and a Winthrop is that a Winthrop will never have the chance to play the likes of a UNC, Wisconsin, and Maryland on their home floor. Winthrop plays a 5th BCS team this year, Texas A&M, but also on the road. I'd say its an assumption that if a team goes on the road and takes a team to OT, that they would be the favored team at home. Unfortuntely, we may never know. Kansas struggled to put away USC, eventually winning 72-62 in Lawrence. USC is a solid team, about average for a BCS school.. though arguably with out its best player in Gabe Pruitt.. so why cant Kansas simply put a team like this away? I think its getting to the point though that we have to realize Kansas' supposed stockpile of talent is overrated. And here I'm particularly talking about Brandon Rush.. who is a player I have hyped since high school as being a potential NBA star. That Rush is still averaging 12 ppg at this point in his career simply shocks me. More important for Kansas, if he can't be their go to player.. then they simply will not have a go to player on offense. No doubt, the Jayhawks will score their share of points.. but without a go to player on offense and without a suffocating defense.. I guess you just have to get used to Kansas underachieving against such supreme expectations. You don't hear much about Charlotte these days. Coach Lutz almost always has his teams competing for a CUSA-now A10 title.. but the 49ers are just 3-4 after beating UNC Asheville. With a core of D'Angelo Alexander and Leemire Goldwire, this was supposed to a team capable of winning 15-20 games. The problem has been the lack of productivity from heralded newcomers. Transfer Carlos Williamson was supposed to be the answer at point, but he's averaging more turnovers (2.5) than assists per game (2.0). David Booker, a rare Top 150 recruit to go a non-BCS school, was supposed to make an impact as a freshman. The 6-7 forward though is averaging just 6 minutes per game so far this season. Its nice to see players improve and play a bigger role as their career's progress. Herbert Hill of 6-1 Providence is one of those player. The Friars starting center has substantially increased his output every season. Year one: 1 ppg, 1 rpg. Year two: 5 ppg, 3 rpg. Year three: 9 ppg, 5 rpg. So far in year four: 15 ppg and 7 rpg. Hill added another 18 points and 7 boards in their easy victory over Fairfield. You may remember Arizona AZ Reid from last year's All-Name team (the 06 version, by the way, will be out by the end of the month). Reid had 22 points and 9 boards to lead High Point over struggling Elon. High Point, like Winthrop above, is part of a Big South conference that was supposed to be one of the underrated mid-major leagues. But the conference is a disapppointing 13-27 overall against D1 teams. Granted, the league's teams, like Winthrop, have played tough schedules (9th best SOS so far) so the record is misleading. But greater things were expected out of teams like Coastal Carolina (just 1 D1 win so far.. and a bad loss to Campbell and a blow out against Xavier) and High Point (who lost to Tennessee Martin to start the season). - Show some love.. bookmark the Dribble -