Radford Selected as 2019-20 Men’s Basketball Preseason Favorite

11 1 RU huddle

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Defending Big South regular-season co-champions Radford University has been chosen as the favorite in the Big South Conference’s annual men’s basketball preseason poll for the 2019-20 season.  The announcement was made today at the Renaissance Suites Hotel in Charlotte, N.C., as part of the league’s 2019-20 Basketball Media Day event.

The Highlanders are the preseason favorite for the second-straight year and seventh time overall.  Radford collected 13 of the 29 votes cast and finished with 299 points in the preseason ranking.  RU returns three starters and eight letterwinners from a squad that went 23-13 overall, tied for first in the Big South at 12-4, and won at Notre Dame and Texas during the regular-season.

Defending Champion Gardner-Webb (14 first-place votes) finished in second with 295 points — its highest ranking in the Big South preseason poll since joining the league in 2008-09.  Winthrop (two remaining first-place votes) claimed third with 253 points, while Hampton was fourth with 198 points.  Charleston Southern finished in fifth at 190, while Longwood landed in the sixth spot with 164 points — the Lancers’ top preseason billing as Big South members.  Campbell followed in seventh (141 points), High Point was eighth (132) and UNC Asheville claimed ninth (105).  Presbyterian College totaled 87 points for 10th and USC Upstate finished 11th (50 points).

Big South basketball tips off Tuesday, Nov. 5, and the first conference date is Thursday, Jan. 2.  The season culminates with the 2020 Big South Men’s Basketball Championship the week of March 3-8.

2019-20 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll

 Rk – Team (first-place votes)  Points
 1 – Radford (13)  299
 2 – Gardner-Webb (14)  295
 3 – Winthrop (2)  253
 4 – Hampton  198
 5 – Charleston Southern  190
 6 – Longwood  164
 7 – Campbell  141
 8 – High Point  132
 9 – UNC Asheville  105
 10 – Presbyterian College  87
 11 – USC Upstate  50

Note: points are based on a weighted system.  First-place votes received 11 points, followed by 10 points for second-place, and so on.