2024 Preview
Superlatives:
Best Overall Team: High Point
Best Overall Player: Kamani Hamilton, HPU
Best Shooter: Fletcher Abee, UNC ASH
Best Defenseman: Justin Bodo Bodo, HPU
Sleeper Team (Conference): UNC ASH
Sleeper Team (March): HPU
High Point guard Abdoulaye Thiam; High Point Men's basketball/IG
1. High Point Panthers
2023 Record: 27-9
The Panthers return four starters to a team that won 27 games in 2023 and finished with the 36th ranked offense nationally under coach Alan Huss. The front court duo of Justin Bodo Bodo and the all-league Kimani Hamilton is among the league’s best, and with a bevy of backcourt transfers the Panthers have positioned themselves atop of the Big South after losing in last year’s semi-finals. The team’s lightning quick tempo guided the league’s top ranked offense in nearly every statistical category in 2023, but a lack of turnovers forced on the defensive end led to many opponents stringing games out and keeping the ball out of the hands of HPU’s playmakers.
2. Longwood Lancers*
2023 Record: 21-14
The addition of former four star recruit and Tennessee guard DJ Jefferson was the crown jewel of an eventful off season in Farmville. Coach Griff Aldrich reloaded last year’s NCAA Tournament team with multiple dynamic backcourt transfers to help shore up the team’s shooting struggles (47.6% from inside the arc), as the Lancers will have to evolve on the offensive end to contend with league behemoth High Point. The smoking gun to Longwood’s NCAA Tournament run was its marauding defense and knack for creating turnovers.
3. Charleston Southern Buccaneers
2023 Record: 10-20
The Buccaneers bolster one of the most experienced rosters in the Big South behind the return of four starters and thrilling guard RJ Johnson. Charleston Southern struggled on both ends of the floor last season but did well rebounding — signifying a shooting problem — and defending from behind the arc. The ingredients are there for coach Saah Nimley, he just needs to cook the meal. The frontcourt play will be a plus against almost any Big South team (not including High Point), and with a stable presence down low in Taje Kelly (7.6 rpg), the Buccaneers have positioned themselves to contend in the upper half of the league — something they haven’t done in half a decade.
4. UNC Asheville Bulldogs
2023 Record: 22-12
The Bulldogs fell one half short of repeating as Big South Champions and had to say goodbye to program great Drew Pember this off season. Still, Asheville returns three major contributors in guard Josh Banks, wing Fletcher Abee and forward Toyaz Solomon. Without its heartbeat, the Bulldogs will be in search of an offensive pulse early in the season — look for Banks to take a majority of the shots. UNC Asheville was extremely efficient shooting the basketball last year and will need that to continue in order to contend for a fourth straight season under coach Mike Morrell.
5. Winthrop Eagles
2023 Record: 17-15
The Eagles are the third of three teams to return four starters in the Big South (High Point, Charleston Southern), and will look toward veteran leader Kason Harrison to lead an offense that ranked first in two-point shooting percentage a year ago. There are a lot of rebounds per game returning in Rock Hill which will help the Eagles early as a slashing-focused backcourt will look to acclimate to the three ball (7th in the Big South in 2023). If Winthrop is able to create turnovers at the rate it did in 2023, a title push is not out of the cards.
6. Radford Highlanders
2023 Record: 19-14
The Highlanders were depleted of almost all of last season’s production as Radford returns zero starters ahead of Darris Nichols’ fourth year. The defense was not efficient at any level last season and struggled tremendously on the boards, leading to an overall defensive rating of 114.4. A plethora of transfers from smaller D-I schools will be looked to early to create, including former Stonehill guard Tony Felder.
7. Presbyterian Blue Hose
2023 Record: 14-19
One of the nation’s worst overall teams in 2022 was given a shot of life with a 14-win 2023 season and the conference’s 6th ranked offense. Still, the top two Blue Hose scorers are gone and the returning starters combined for just over 15 points per game. Kaleb Scott and Kobe Stewart will be tasked with rebranding the team’s rejuvenated offense in coach Quinton Ferrell’s sixth year at the helm.
8. Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs
2023 Record: 17-16
Consistency will be key for the Runnin’ Bulldogs in coach Jeremy Luther’s first season. Three starters depart and with them over 37 points per game, forming another hole Gardner-Webb will have to fix to find success in a top heavy Big South. Gardner-Webb was one of the top defensive teams in the conference last season but ranked at the bottom of three point defense and turnovers forced. The rise of key reserve players will be paramount for GW to compete against the tougher interior teams of the Big South.
9. South Carolina Upstate Spartans
2023 Record: 10-20
Upstate returns zero starters from a team that won just ten games in 2023. In fact, USC Upstate returns the least amount of production in the nation ahead of 2024; 0%. Every player that contributed left in the off season, leaving the Spartans with a blank canvas and a new regime. Growing pains will be inevitable under Marty Richter but West Virginia transfer Carmelo Adkins offers a strong presence in the backcourt for a Spartans team looking to rebrand itself after a rough 2023.