From Jeff Elliott, Jacksonville Times-Union
The media is convinced, but the league coaches are split on whether Jacksonville University's men's basketball team will be the best in the Atlantic Sun Conference this season.
That was the result of the preseason poll announced Wednesday by the A-Sun office.
JU was an overwhelming choice to finish first in voting by the media, capturing 24 of 31 first-place votes and beating Lipscomb by 41 points.
Read his full article hereFrom Mike Lough, Macon Telegraph
The A-Sun basketball tournaments are four months off and practice doesn’t start for a week, but the host men’s team already has some momentum.
Mercer is the consensus pick to finish third in the A-Sun’s regular-season race, behind Jacksonville and Lipscomb.
Those two teams were picked by the media (Jacksonville) and coaches (Lipscomb) to win the A-Sun tournament, to be played in March on the University Center floor at Mercer in conjunction with the women’s conference tournament.
“With the senior team that we have and the guys and what they were able to accomplish — we had some good wins and some bad losses last year — the guys have worked hard,” Mercer head coach Bob Hoffman said. “It’s nice to be appreciated for what those players have accomplished.”
Read his full article hereFrom Kelly Hodge, Johnson City Press
The balance of basketball power has shifted in the Atlantic Sun Conference. At least, that’s what the men’s preseason polls say.
Belmont and East Tennessee State, which have combined to win the last four championships, were more toward the middle of the pack in balloting by the league’s coaches and media released Wednesday. Defending champion ETSU was fourth and feeling a bit underestimated, while the Bruins were fifth.
“Certainly as a team we don’t think that’s where we’ll finish,” said coach Murry Bartow. “I can see why they’d pick us there, when we lose Greg (Hamlin), we lose Courtney (Pigram) and lose Kevin (Tiggs). But we’ll see.”
Jacksonville is the popular pick to win the title, followed by Lipscomb and Mercer.
“Those are logical picks,” said Bartow. “These polls are almost always based on who has a lot of guys back.”
Read the full article here
From the Naples News, articles on FGCU's men and women
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