By Marty Gordon
The Big South Conference held its annual basketball preseason media day virtually last week and released its preseason poll, which saw the Radford University men picked to finish sixth and the RU women picked to finish second in 2020-21.
Winthrop University was chosen as the favorite to win the men’s championship. The defending Big South champion Eagles are the preseason favorite for the first time since 2016-17 and the eighth time overall. Winthrop returns three starters and 11 letter winners from the 2019-20 squad that went 24-10 and was the Big South co-regular-season champion with a 15-3 record. The Eagles beat nationally ranked Saint Mary’s on the road during the regular-season.
Winthrop collected 21 of the 24 votes and rolled up 261 points.
With two first-place votes, UNC Asheville finished second in the voting with 214 points, its highest ranking in the Big South preseason poll since being selected the favorite in 2017-18. Charleston Southern claimed third with 192 points while Gardner-Webb was fourth with 188 points and the remaining first-place vote.
USC Upstate finished in fifth in the poll with 149 points, the Spartans’ top preseason billing since joining the Big South in 2018-19 while the Highlanders tallied 127 points to project as the sixth-place finisher in the season.
High Point followed in seventh (117 points), Longwood was eighth (111) and last year’s Tournament Runner-Up Hampton claimed ninth (92). Campbell totaled 78 points for 10th and Presbyterian College finished 11th (55 points).
Radford Coach Mike Jones doesn’t pay much attention to preseason polls and points to the fact this year’s team is completely new. “We don’t really know what we really have as of yet,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
Big South men’s basketball 2020-21 preseason predictions:
- Winthrop
- UNC Asheville
- Charleston Southern
- Gardner-Webb
- USC Upstate
- 6 Radford
- High Point
- Longwood
- Hampton
- Campbell
- Presbyterian
On the women’s side, for the first time in the history of its Big South affiliation (1986-94, 2011-present), Campbell University was chosen as the conference favorites.
Last year’s regular-season champion with a 16-4 mark, the Camels received six of the 11 first-place votes and 112 total points. Campbell returns three starters and 11 letter winners from last year’s squad that won a league-best 21 overall games.
Radford was voted second in the women’s poll with 107 points and two first-place votes. Receiving the three remaining first-place votes, High Point was third in the preseason poll with 104 points.
Hampton finished with 86 points for the fourth spot. Gardner-Webb was fifth with 70 points, followed by Longwood in sixth with 66 points, which matched the Lancers’ top preseason billing as Big South members. UNC Asheville landed in the seventh spot (56 points), ahead of Presbyterian College (eighth, 48 points) and USC Upstate (ninth, 30 points). Charleston Southern claimed the 10th position (24 points) and Winthrop brought up the rear with 23 points.
Radford University Coach Mike McGuire lost three starters and two of his top scorers from last year’s team but has 10 returners. During a ZOOM press conference on Tuesday, McGuire said his team is learning how to play together.
This year’s schedule includes road contests at North Carolina, N.C. State and Georgia.
“I am curious to see how we compete against ACC schools early on,” McGuire said.
Big South women’s basketball 2020-21 preseason predictions:
- Campbell
- Radford
- High Point
- Hampton
- Gardner-Webb
- Longwood
- UNC Asheville
- Presbyterian
- USC Upstate
- Charleston Southern
- Winthrop
Charleston Southern senior guard/forward Phlandrous Fleming Jr. (Athens, Ga.) was voted the men’s basketball Preseason Player of the Year by the league’s head coaches and media panel. Fleming is the first Charleston Southern student-athlete voted Preseason Player of the Year. He was the 2019-20 Big South Defensive Player of the Year and a First-Team All-Big South selection and NABC District 3 honoree after averaging 17.7 points and a league-high 8.7 rebounds.
High Point junior guard Skyler Curran (Clemmons, N.C.) was voted the women’s basketball
Preseason Player of the Year. Curran was a First-Team All-Big South selection in 2019-20 after scoring 16.9 points per game with 6.5 rebounds per game and 50 assists and 25 steals for the Panthers. She ranked third in the Big South in scoring and was tenth in rebounding, one of just two players to rank in the Top 10 in both categories.
