GSC Announces Men's Basketball Pre-Season Poll and Team
Complete Release (PDF)
Birmingham, AL—For the third consecutive year,
Alabama-Huntsville was selected as a GSC Men’s Basketball Pre-Season Coaches’ Poll Favorite.
UAH was also a unanimous selection by the league’s head coaches for the second year in a row, securing seven first-place votes en route to 49 points. The Chargers proved the prognosticators correct a year ago, capturing their first-ever GSC Tournament Title and also claiming their second straight NCAA South Regional Championship.
Christian Brothers came in second (36) after posting runner-up efforts in last year’s GSC and Regional Finals. Third-place
West Georgia (30) was the only other team to hit the 30-point total, while fourth-place
West Alabama earned the lone remaining first-place vote to rack up 29 points.
North Alabama (26) finished in the No. 5 spot, while
Delta State and
Valdosta State finished in a tie for sixth-place (20).
West Florida rounded out the Pre-Season list by garnering 14 points.
|
SCHOOL |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
5th |
6th |
7th |
Total |
|
Alabama-Huntsville |
7 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
49 |
|
Christian Brothers |
— |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
— |
— |
36 |
|
West Georgia |
— |
2 |
2 |
— |
2 |
1 |
— |
30 |
|
West Alabama |
1 |
1 |
2 |
— |
— |
3 |
— |
29 |
|
North Alabama |
— |
1 |
— |
3 |
2 |
1 |
— |
26 |
|
Delta State |
— |
— |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
20 |
|
Valdosta State |
— |
— |
2 |
— |
2 |
1 |
2 |
20 |
|
West Florida |
— |
— |
— |
2 |
— |
1 |
4 |
14 |
NOTE: The Head Coaches voted on this poll. Teams received 7 points for a first place vote, 6 for a second place vote, 5 for third, etc. The Head Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own squads.
WELCOME TO THE GSC
The Gulf South Conference welcomes two new competing institutions and one new head coach to its ranks in 2012-13.
Future GSC members
Shorter University (GA) and
Union University (TN) take the next step to becoming full members in 2014-15, as they play complete league schedules starting in 2012-13. SU and UU will not be eligible for the GSC or NCAA Tournaments until the 2014-15 season.
Delta State introduced
Jim Boone as its new head men’s basketball coach on April 12, 2012. Boone has extensive experience at the NCAA Division II level, holding a 338-166 mark as a DII head coach. The Winfield, WV native comes to Cleveland from West Virginia Wesleyan College where he led the Bobcats to a school-record 22 victories and first-ever Regional Title Game.
2012 GSC PRE-SEASON TEAM
The 2012 GSC Pre-Season Men’s Basketball Team is made up of two three-time returning members and three first timers.
Alabama-Huntsville was the lone school to place multiple players by posting at least two members for the third year in a row.
Senior guard Jaime Smith and
senior forward Zane Campbell return to the Pre-Season squad for the third consecutive season. Smith collected All-GSC First Team laurels a year ago, while Campbell is a 2011 First Team winner. Both players helped lead the Chargers to their first-ever GSC Title and second straight NCAA Regional Crown. Smith led the GSC a year ago in three-point field goal percentage (.486—107-220) and was second in free throw percentage (.849—146-172) and third in scoring (18.0). Campbell, a former GSC Player of the Year in 2010-11, placed third in field goal percentage (.607—193-318) and blocked shots (1.3) and ninth in scoring (14.7).
Delta State senior forward Terry Leake,
West Alabama senior guard Steven Samuels and
Christian Brothers junior guard Harry Green round out the GSC Pre-Season Team. Leake finished ninth in the Conference in steals a year ago (0.7) and 10
th in scoring (14.0). Samuels is UWA’s first Pre-Season player since 2010 after he led the Tigers in scoring (14.1) and rebounding (6.4) in just 17 games. Green started in all but one of CBU’s 32 contests a year ago, placing eighth in the GSC in assists (3.3) and ninth in assists/turnover ratio (1.4).
|
POS |
NAME |
SCHOOL |
HT |
WT |
YEAR |
HOMETOWN |
|
F |
#$^Zane Campbell |
UAH |
6-8 |
245 |
SR |
West Limestone, AL |
|
G |
!%Jaime Smith |
UAH |
6-3 |
185 |
SR |
Birmingham, AL |
|
G |
Harry Green |
CBU |
6-1 |
175 |
JR |
Memphis, TN |
|
F |
Terry Leake |
DSU |
6-5 |
220 |
SR |
Memphis, TN |
|
G |
Steven Samuels |
UWA |
6-5 |
180 |
SR |
Hartford, CT |
!—2011-12 First Team All-GSC; #—2011-12 Second Team All-GSC; $—2010-11 First Team All-GSC; %—2010-11 Second Team All-GSC; ^—2009-10 Second Team All-GSC
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