2025-26 Projected Order of Finish:
NCAA Tournament Participant: Furman
NIT: Chattanooga and East Tennessee State
2025-26 SoCon Superlatives:
Player of the Year: G – Rickey Bradley Jr. (VMI)
Newcomer of the Year: G – Teddy Washington Jr. (Chattanooga)
Freshman of the Year: G – Alex Wilkins (Furman)
Defensive Player of the Year: Cooper Bowser (Furman)
Best Dunker: Brian Taylor II (East Tennessee State)
Best Pure Shooter: TJ Johnson (VMI)
Best Glue Guy: Ben Vander Wal (Furman)
Best On-ball defender: AJ Clark (VMI)
Best Passer: Tan Yildizoglu (VMI)
All-SoCon Team
G — Marcus Kell (Western Carolina)
G — Teddy Washington Jr. (Chattanooga)
G — Rickey Bradley Jr. (VMI)
F — Cooper Bowser (Furman)
F — TJ Johnson (VMI)
Ranking The Top 10 Portal Additions:
1. G — Teddy Washington Jr. (SEMO-to-Chattanooga)
2. F — Asa Thomas (Clemson-to-Furman)
3. G — Jaylen Smith (North Florida-to-East Tennessee State)
4. G-Milton Matthews II (FAMU-to-ETSU)
5. F/C Dylan Faulkner (Lipscomb-to-Samford)
6. G-Zaire Williams (Wagner-to-Mercer)
7. G-Donald Whitehead Jr. (California U PA-to-UNC Greensboro)
8. G-Jikari Johnson (Trevecca Nazarene-to-Chattanooga)
9. G–Logan Applegate (Drury-to-The Citadel)
10. G–Jadin Booth (Florida Southern-to-Samford)
Ranking The Top 5 Freshman Additions:
1. G-Alex Wilkins (Furman)
2. F-Brian Sumpter (Wofford)
3. G-Maddox Huff (ETSU)
4. G-Tahlan Pettway (Western Carolina)
5. G-Abijah Franklin (Furman)
Five Breakout Players To Watch:
1.G-Eddrin Bronson (Furman)
2. F-Brady Shoulders (Mercer)
3. G-CJ Hyland (Western Carolina)
4. G-Zion Wilburn (Samford)
5. G-Maki Johnson (ETSU)
Five Intriguing Non-Conference Games to Watch:
1. Nov. 3 Furman vs. High Point (Rock Hill Events Center/Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon)
2. Nov. 14 Furman at Northern Iowa,
3. Nov. 26 Mercer at Appalachian State
4. Dec. 2 ETSU at Dayton
5. Dec. 4 The Citadel at Davidson
Potential Power Conference Upset Opportunities:
Nov. 9 VMI at Missouri
Nov. 14 Samford at Arkansas, TBA
Dec. 11 Western Carolina at Virginia Tech
Dec. 13 Chattanooga vs. Auburn (Holiday Hoopsgiving/Atlanta, GA)
Dec. 18 Western Carolina at Georgia
Top Contenders
1. Furman (25-10, 11-7 SoCon in 2024-25)
Furman surprised most everyone to win 25 games last season, however, 12 of those wins came in the non-conference and two in the conference tournament, and when you factor that in, you find the Paladins struggled at points during SoCon play. The key for the Paladins will be figuring out the point guard spot and whether it will be Eddrin Bronson leading the way, or freshman phenom Alex Wilkins will be leading the way at the point for the Paladins. Whatever the case may be, the Paladins should again be solid in the backcourt, however, it likely won’t be as good a shooting team from the perimeter as the one that featured both PJ Smith Jr. and Nick Anderson last season, as the two combined to connect on 207 triples, which accounted for 54.5% of the team’s league-leading 380 three-pointers last season.
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Talented freshmen guards Abijah Franklin and Collin O’Neal are two more players that add to Furman’s talented crop of freshmen recruits. Franklin was the Mr. Basketball in the state of South Carolina, leading the state in scoring (31.5 PPG), while O’Neal is one of the most athletic players on the team with a game that will remind Paladin fans a lot of former standout Alex Hunter. While Anderson and Smith Jr. are lost to graduation in the backcourt, the Paladins will also have to find at least one replacement in the frontcourt with big man Garrett Hien, moving on. He was a 1,000-point scorer in his career for the Paladins and was one of the most important players in the history of Furman basketball for his two made free throws, steal and assist to JP Pegues in the final seconds in the 68-67 NCAA Tournament win over Virginia three years ago. The frontcourt should be a strength with Cooper Bowser, Charles Johnston and Ben Vander Wal returning to the fold. Bowser was one of two Paladins selected to the preseason all-conference team, with sharp-shooting Tom House.
House is a microwave perimeter shooter, meaning that if he gets hot, he can string together points in a hurry. He put up 21 points in Furman’s first tournament win over Samford and scored a season-high of 26 points in a mid-February win over Mercer. House’s 54 three-point field goals last season rank as the most returning three-pointers on the club, and he shot a blistering 40.6% (54-of-133) from long-range.
Interestingly, House shot 56% from three and averaged over 11 PPG in Furman’s final seven games of the season. Davis Molnar and three-star newcomer Owen Ritger, as well as Clemson transfer Asa Thomas are also slated to figure into the mix in the front court. Thomas is an interesting addition to the fold for Furman, as he is one of the top portal additions for any team in SoCon this season. Thomas is athletic and can shoot the three, and he will compliment Vander Wal’s skill set at the three position quite nicely. Mason Smith is a bit of an outlier, as he is also a wing forward with some length and athleticism, that like Thomas, can shoot. It will be interesting to see just how he fits in the mix with those two splitting the minutes equally at the forward spot. Smith was a three-star recruit, who originally flipped his commitment from Mercer to Furman last season after Mercer decided to not renew Greg Gary as its head coach. Vander Wal is the ultimate glue guy and is a player that has winning DNA, according to head coach ninth-year head coach Bob Richey.
The Bottom Line:
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Furman’s ability to bridge seven letterwinners and three freshmen that will play will be the primary keys to the overall success of this team, according to Richey. Furman will also be playing a pack line defense this season, which is something that has been installed by new assistant coach Joe Pierre III, who came in from Liberty during the offseason. With Furman being one of the biggest teams in SoCon in terms of length and height, the switch to the pack line makes a ton of sense.
2. Chattanooga (29-9, 15-3 SoCon/SoCon and NIT Champs in 2024-25)
Defending NIT champion Chattanooga appears to be back on stable ground under Dan Earl, as from 2015-20, despite winning a title in 2016, there was more internal turmoil, coaching changes, and a somewhat chaotic culture, which were not something closely associated to the Mocs’ basketball history that features such a rich history of winning. However, with UTC’s tournament championship win in 2022 in Lamont Paris’ final season as the head coach before moving on to South Carolina, the Mocs’ program is back to being its perennial title-contending self.
The Mocs made it back to title game in ’23, despite plenty of adversity with a hand injury to their best player, Jake Stephens, who was Chattanooga’s first huge portal get in this new NIL/transfer portal era we are in. In the past two seasons, the Mocs have won 20 or games in both, including winning a school-record 29 last season and doing something no current or former SoCon member has ever done, which is win an NCAA sanctioned tournament, claiming the NIT crown with a remarkable run that featured wins over Middle Tennessee State (W, 109-103/3OT), Dayton (W, 87-72), Bradley (W, 67-65), Loyola-Chicago (W, 80-73) and UC Irvine (W, 85-84 OT). To accomplish that feat, the Mocs had to become the first No. 1 seed to fail to win the SoCon Tournament since 2017, as Furman claimed an 80-77 win in the tournament semifinals to end the pre-tournament favorite’s run. The pain of that defeat against Furman and the joy of playing together meshed nicely in March and early April to help the Mocs achieve a goal that hadn’t set out to achieve when the season began. The challenge in 2025-26 season will be how they will replace the talent and leadership of the team the Mocs had a year ago. The Mocs notably also lost their two stars—Honor Huff and Trey Bonham–who captivated the nation with the Mocs’ run to glory in the NIT last season. While Bonham is out of eligibility, Huff has moved on to finish out his career with West Virginia.
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All told, the Mocs must replace 78.8% of their scoring (2,389 pts) while retaining only 21.2% (641 pts) from last season. The recruiting haul from both the portal and from high school were likely the most impressive for Earl and staff since taking over in the spring of 2022. The latest addition to making the transition from VMI to Chattanooga is guard Brennan Watkins (North Dakota State), who was one of the last players remaining that was recruited at VMI by Earl, and he spent a year at North Dakota State before opting to return to the SoCon to finish out his career playing for Earl at UTC.
Guards Jikari Johnson (Trevecca Nazarene), Billy Smith (Bellarmine), Jordan Frison (Pittsburg State) and Teddy Washington Jr. (SEMO) highlight maybe the strongest quartet of guards from the portal signed by any team in the league. Johnson, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard, has been successful at every level and he will look to close his career strong with Earl’s Mocs. He’s also the exact type of player that can excel within Earl’s system. Last season playing for head coach Kevin Carroll at Trevecca Nazarene at the Division-II level, Johnson finished the season averaging 20.9 PPG and 5.0 APG, while shooting 41% from 3-point range last season.
Carroll was a former assistant for Earl at VMI. Collin Mullholland is a player that really came into his own over the final eight games of the season when Frank Champion suffered a season and career-ending knee injury in a practice leading up to the SoCon Tournament. The 6-foot-9 red head showed his complete skill set from shooting and passing, as well as being able to offer a reliable scoring piece underneath the basket during UTC’s NIT run. If Champion’s injury costs the Mocs a shot at the Big Dance, then it was Mulholland’s strong play and maturity in March that allowed the Mocs to win the NIT. Without the big man making some big shots down the stretch in UTC’s win over UC Irvine or his 21 points and two go-ahead 3-pointers in the opening round in a triple-OT win at Middle Tennessee State, the Mocs wouldn’t have made history last March.
Latif Diouf, Makai Richards and Sean Cusano return in the frontcourt, and they are some nice pieces that will be around Mulholland, giving the Mocs one of the premier frontcourts in the SoCon and in mid-major hoops in 2025-26. Sebastian Hartmann (Eastern Washington) is a highly skilled and excellent shooter that could play a big role this season and could challenge for a starting spot at one of the wing guard spots. The 6-foot-6 junior guard comes to the Scenic City from Eastern Washington and is a member of the U-18 German National Team. He might the SoCon’s version of former Seattle Sonics star Detlef Schrempf to use a European comparison from the same country to represent a similar skill set. During Hartmann’s sophomore season with Eastern Washington, he averaged 9.3 PPG, 4.2 RPG and 1.6 APG, while also shooting a solid 35.8% from beyond the arc.
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The Bottom Line:
Chattanooga is a team with a lot of new parts but the same proven offensive system that works, and the key to the Mocs’ success will be how good they can be on the defensive end of the floor this season. Coach Earl feels like the addition of Teddy Washington Jr. makes the Mocs better defensively at guard than maybe even they were a year ago.
3. ETSU (19-13, 12-6 SoCon/third in SoCon in 2024-25)
Any SoCon top three without East Tennessee State being one of those teams just seems peculiar, but don’t fret, that won’t be the case this season, as the Bucs have added enough firepower to off-set losing even players as talented as 2024-25 SoCon Player of the Year Quimari Peterson as well as first-team all-league selection Jaden Seymour. Head coach Brooks Savage (38-29) had the top defensive team in the league last season and play on the defensive end of the floor for the fourth-year head coach are non-negotiables, which sometimes can make it hard to find guys from the portal that are 100% bought-in defenders. Not only will he have to replace Seymour and Peterson, but also the team’s top defender and glue guy, in Karon Boyd, who transferred to Wichita State. There isn’t much around when it comes to retention, as just three players return to the fold off that team that won 19 games last season.
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Guards Maki Johnson, Allen Strothers and Gabe Sisk return to the backcourt, and those three do form a nice nucleus. Johnson is the one player of that trio that could see his offensive numbers take a huge leap this season, primarily because of his outstanding ability as a shooter. Savage can’t help but smile when talking about the development of Johnson or how Strothers can affect the game and the team with his positive energy and quickness. The staff placed an emphasis on getting good perimeter shooters, with the additions Jaylen Smith (North Florida), Milton Matthews (Florida A&M) and Brian Taylor II (SIU-Edwardsville), as this trio will help supplement what Johnson already brings to the fold as a shooter. Smith might be the most talented basketball player brought in from the portal for the Bucs. Smith finished out his sophomore campaign leading the Atlantic Sun in both assists-per-game and total assists (181), while also ranking 29th and 31st, respectively, in both categories mentioned above. His 181 helpers this past season ranked as the sixth-most in a single-season in program history, while he totaled 259 total assists in just two seasons with the Ospreys.
During his final season with the Ospreys, Smith connected on 34.9% (62-of-179) from 3-point land. North Florida’s 409 made 3-point field goals this past season led the nation, which was just ahead of Cal Poly’s 403 made triples. Smith’s solid shooting touch from long-range will also be beneficial to the Bucs, who showed awesome improvement as a team from the perimeter last season, as opposed to Savage’s rookie season as head coach in the 2023-24 season. After being burned by missing on some of his bigger front court additions last season, Savage made some noise by going extremely big underneath with his portal gets last year, however, this year a different approach has been taken, as the third-year head coach decided it was time to shift away from players underneath that had remained in the developmental stages of their college basketball careers, shifting focus to smaller, more athletic and proven scorers that also possessed some skill as passers. One of those is UMass-Lowell transfer Cam Morris II, as he is the type of player that has the kind of work that can be a big benefit to the Bucs on both ends of the floor. At UMass-Lowell, Morris averaged 8.5 PPG and 4.7 RPG, shooting a solid 54.6% from the field. The highest profile transfer in the frontcourt coming to ETSU this season is Blake Barkley from Northwestern.
The 6-foot-7 sophomore has a huge upside and is a player that figures to play a major role for the Bucs this coming season. The final pieces added to the frontcourt are Brayden Crump (Elon), Jordan McCullum (Murray State) and Isaiah Sutherland (Pensacola State). Crump is a 6-foot-8, 220-pound redshirt sophomore that will be similar to Karon Boyd for this ETSU team, as he will be a do-everything type glue guy only a much better shooter than Boyd was. Savage had the chance to see Crump live and up close last season, as the Phoenix played at ETSU. Crump averaged 4.4 PPG and 3.1 RPG last season for the Phoenix.
The Bottom Line:
Will the defensive focus match what it was last season for the Bucs and can the perimeter shooting continue to improve from a team that made tremendous strides in that area a year ago. If that can happen, expect this ETSU team to perhaps be Savage’s most talented team overall, despite having any player as talented as either Seymour or Peterson were last season. With that said, I expect the Bucs to be a contender for both the regular-season and tournament titles this season.
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The Middle Tier (Darkhorse Title Contenders)
4. VMI (15-19, 7-11, seventh in SoCon in 2024-25)
According to the coaches, VMI has the top player in the league, in Rickey Bradley Jr., who was voted SoCon Preseason Player of the Year and is the lone player of the top 20 scorers returning in the league for the 2025-26 season. Bradley averaged 16.3 PPG and was a complete player for VMI, getting it done on both ends of the floor. Bradley was a big reason that the Keydets found themselves in the SoCon semifinals last March, and his 4.8 RPG is a stat that sees him as also being one of the best rebounding guards in the league. Bradley was also a 37.2% (54-of-145) shooter from 3-point range last season.
Another reason to believe in fourth-year head coach Andrew Wilson’s (26-72 in 3 yrs at VMI) team is because they return nine of the their top 10 scorers from a year ago, including one of the league’s top point guards, in Tan Yildizoglu, who finished second in the SoCon in assists (123 assists), is back to run the VMI offense, which he did with some good efficiency last season, although the Keydets will need to limit the turnovers this season, as the Keydets ranked eighth in the SoCon in assist/turnover ratio last season (1.04).
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The x-factor for this team could be TJ Johnson, who is a forward that is versatile and is one of the league’s top shooters, having finished the 2024-25 season by finishing fifth overall in 3-pointers made (93 triples/2.85 PG), shooting a solid 36.5% from long-range last season. Johnson will be joined by returning veterans AJ Clark and Kaden Stuckey as starters who helped fuel the Keydets’ turnaround a year ago. Clark is easily the best on-ball defender in the SoCon, while his quick leaping ability makes him an outstanding shot-blocker. Stuckey is a player that Wilson told me at media day is one to watch when it comes to a player that could be ready for a breakout season for the Keydets.
The Bottom Line:
VMI is a team that plays a unique matchup zone and that fueled VMI on the defensive end of the floor during its slow start to the season offensively. Wilson hopes his unique defensive scheme helps compensate for a lack of size and maximizes what the Keydets are good at, which is getting into passing lanes and causing chaos (269 steals/fourth in SoCon). A big emphasis for Wilson during the off-season is getting the turnovers down this season, which was the one stat that glaringly stood out in some of the Keydets’ close league losses last season.
5. Samford (22-11, 12-6, fourth in SoCon in 2024-25/NIT)
Lennie Acuff (711-428/36th season as a head coach) is one of two new head coaches in the league. He was quickly hired last April after Bucky McMillan took his ‘ball’ to College Station to become the new head coach at Texas A&M in early April, and an era of basketball, which featured 99 wins, an NCAA Tournament appearance and an NIT appearance over the course of five seasons, came to an abrupt and unexpected end. McMillan’s departure was almost as unexpected and sudden as his success came from the high school ranks, which was a stroke of brilliance from Director of Athletics Martin Newton. Newton, who is the chair of the NCAA Selection Committee for March Madness, will now hope his magic in hiring Acuff will be just as impactful and genius as his hiring of McMillan was. The interesting thing is, there couldn’t be more of a contrast between his previous hire and most recent one. McMillan was a relative unknown with no college experience that had an idea and brand that followed him, while Acuff is a proven winner in the twilight of his coaching career that doesn’t have any “secrets” or brand to his methods of coaching winning basketball.
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Acuff led Lipscomb to an NCAA Tournament run last season, as he finished off six seasons as the head coach of the Bisons by finishing by winning 130 games in six seasons at the helm of the Baptist-affiliated school in the Music City, and that included winning 85 games over his final three seasons at the head coach. As far as his coaching style is concerned, he likes a tempo-based Princeton offense that doesn’t live in the same neighborhood as most of us associate with that offense, which is one that is slow and influences the tempo into a halfcourt type game. It’s completely opposite with Acuff, although keeping with the same principles that define a Princeton style but just done at a much quicker tempo.
A haul of 12 newcomers was brought in by Acuff and his new staff, with a couple of players that stand out and figure to have an immediate impact in the conference in 2025-26. Of Acuff’s incoming talents this season, several have a chance to make a huge impact, with one of those being a former player of his, in big man Dylan Faulkner. Faulkner was having an all-league type season a year ago until an injury brought a premature end to his season.
His the five-tool big man that can score it at all three levels, along with having enough athleticism to be a headache in the paint. But it’s obvious that his shooting ability from the perimeter are what makes him likely most appealing as a part of Acuff’s Princeton-on-steroids offense, which basically means it moves and keeps moving and is designed to be fast to keep defenses off-balance. Prior to his injury, the 6-foot-9 junior forward ended up averaging 10.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and shot a blistering 60.8% from the field.
If Faulkner isn’t enough to move the needle for you, perhaps that can be done by Jadin Booth, who is the latest great player to enter the program from the great state of Florida, joining others in recent years like Ques Glover and AJ Staton-McCray. Booth was an absolute star during his time playing for the Florida Southern Mocs, as he would end up garnering Division-II All-America accolades.
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During his time for Florida Southern, Booth was a prolific scorer and ended the 2024-25 season averaging 21.5 PPG, 5.3 APG and 4.7 RPG. He was a highly sought after point guard from the transfer portal, with teams like Minnesota, Creighton, Ole Miss, USF and conference rival Mercer all seeking the services of Booth.
He will be an immediate impact player for Samford and is one of the top incoming players from the transfer portal from the Southern Conference. As a junior in 2022-23, Booth put up similar numbers, as he garnered some Division II All-America honors after averaging 22 PPG, 4.1 APG and 4.4 RPG. He will be in line to replace Rylan Jones, who was outstanding leading the Bulldogs at the point guard each of the past two seasons. Booth started his career at Omaha in 2020-21 and then transferred to Division-II Florida Southern, where he has played the past four seasons.
One player that is an underrated “get” from the portal is forward Jaxson Pollard (Queens). Pollard logged action in 31 games for Queens last season, averaging 8.0 PPG, 4.9 RPG and 1.3 APG off the bench for the Royals. Acuff got an up-close personal perspective of Pollard’s game just last season, as Pollard scored a career-high 17 points against Lipscomb in the in Atlantic Sun semifinals last March. Unfortunately, we won’t get to see the type of impact that Bowling Green transfer Daijion Humphrey would have made, as he went down with a season-ending Achilles Tendon injury in Samford’s exhibition against Alabama A&M.
The Bottom Line:
Samford’s got a drastic new image, but the goal hasn’t changed and that is of course winning a Southern Conference title. As good as a coach as Acuff is, the fact is that no matter how much talent he acquired from the transfer portal, it’s going to take this team some time to gel. Samford will be one of the better teams in the league when it comes to the offensive end of the floor, and the question is how good they can be as a defensive team, as well as whether Faulkner can stay healthy. If he can, Acuff could be in the mix to win another conference title in a different league.
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6. Western Carolina (8-22, 4-14, ninth in SoCon in 2024-25)
The team that should enjoy the title of being the “most-improved” this season in the league should be Western Carolina. The Catamounts started to see a breakthrough late last March under Tim Craft in his first season as the head coach in Cullowhee.
The main part of the project for the Catamounts during the 2024-25 season was developing the mix of players he had in the program and then trying to scramble to put together a roster after Justin Gray’s departure. In that way, the 2025-26 season almost feels more like the first season than the second one with Craft in charge, and that’s primarily because everything is more settled and finally Craft and the Catamounts have gotten through year one. It was a tough adjustment for the players that ended up sticking it out and returning to the program for another season. That’s because there was so much turnover. It was tough enough for guys like wing forwards like Marcus Kell and Bernard Pelote to adjust to a new close alone, much less having to get used to playing with an entire new roster of players.
The Catamounts entered the 2024-25 campaign ranking No. 352 out 366 teams in Division-I basketball in overall combined experience entering the season, boasting a combined average of 0.56 years of college playing experience. And outside of that in overall experience, the Catamounts also ranked towards the bottom the lower third of Division I, ranking 320 in overall continuity, bringing back only one key contributor from that 23-win team of a year earlier, in Pelote. Kell finished the season averaging 11.7 PPG and 5.5 RPG, while connecting on a solid 38.0% (44-of-116) from three-point, which would ultimately make Kell one of the most versatile big men in the SoCon by the end of the season, and one that has many prognosticating big things for him moving forward this season.
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Kell’s 352 points scored during the 2024-25 campaign ranked second to only Pelote, who finished out his final season in the Purple and Gold, who scored a total of 426 points. His 44 triples also ranked him fourth on the team in that category, while his 38% efficiency clip from long-range led the team. Unfortunately, he won’t have his scoring partner Pelote back, as he is out of eligibility, but what Kell will have is an improved mix of young players that have developed and become even better players over the off-season like redshirt junior guard Cord Stansberry and big men like Vernon Collins and Chase McKey.
The good news is that the Catamounts return the quarterback of the whole thing, and that’s point guard C.J. Hyland, who Craft thinks gives Western one of the more tenacious perimeter defenders in the league.
As far as the newcomers to keep an eye on, it has to start with Julian Soumaoro (East Carolina and Gardner-Webb), who already has a prior history with coach Craft, having played for him at Gardner-Webb. Soumaoro was also a solid threat from the perimeter in his time with the Bulldogs, as he finished out his final campaign with the Runnin’ Bulldogs having connected on a 3-pointer in a total of 24 of 30 games in the 2023-24 season, while also averaging 12.7 PPG, which also included 21 double-figure scoring performances in his final season in the program.
Of those 21 games in double figures, none were better than his performance against Big Sky member Weber State, as he posted a career-high 27 points, which included a 10-of-13 effort from the field and a 5-for-7 mark from 3-point land in the Gardner-Webb win. In the 2022-23 season at Gardner-Webb, Soumaoro’s 55 triples ended up leading the team. Soumaoro has one season of eligibility remaining.
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The Bottom Line:
The formula is simple for Craft’s team entering the 2025-26 season, and that is they must shoot the ball better, especially from the perimeter, and minimize the turnovers. There is a lot to like about this team, and it’s one that by the time March arrives, might be one you want to avoid playing if possible, in Asheville.
Battling for a Bye
7. UNC Greensboro (20-12, 13-5 SoCon, second in 2024-25)
Mike Jones (78-50 at UNCG/fifth year) might have his toughest assignment entering a season since his days as the head coach at Radford, as the Spartans have joined most of the rest of the league in having to overturn an entire roster of players. For coaches like ETSU’s Brooks Savage and UNCG’s Jones, it’s easier to gauge how that will go on the offensive end rather than the defensive end, and for those two coaches in particular, their whole philosophies revolve around how their respective teams play on that end of the floor.
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Jones has often been outspoken about his dislike for the current state of college basketball when it comes to the transfer portal and that was the case at SoCon media day. For UNCG, it’s now becoming old hat because of the consistent losses Jones, and his staff seemingly have had to deal with the past couple of seasons.
UNCG must replace its top 10 scorers from a year ago, with forward Domas Kauzonas returning as the leading offensive threat after averaging just 1.8 PPG and 2.3 RPG last year. According to Jones, Kauzonas will be a key piece in the front court for the Spartans in 2025-26. The newcomers to keep an eye on and two that should make an immediate impact this season will be a pair of 6-foot-6 versatile wings, in Justin Neely (Albany) and Antwann Jones (UCF).
During his final season with the Great Danes, Neely logged action in 30 games, including having 10 starts and easily turned in his best season to-date, as he averaged 11.5 PPG, 7.1 RPG and 1.5 APG, averaging 25.6 MPG in 2024-25, helping the Great Danes to a 17-16 overall record, which included a fourth-place finish in the nine-team America East standings. Jones, who is not related to the head coach that he shares the same surname with, has spent time at Memphis (2018-19), Creighton (2019-21), Louisiana (2021-22) and UCF (2023-25).
The Orlando native has battled multiple injuries throughout his career but should add depth to the mix for the Spartans this season. He will add maturity and athletic presence on the perimeter, as well as being an excellent defensive presence.
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The Bottom Line:
UNCG’s staple since the days of Wes Miller have been on the defensive end of the floor, but this year offers more unknowns in terms of how the Spartans will be on that end of the floor. The good news is the Spartans should be more front court loaded this season in terms of scoring, but scoring might be a little lean in the backcourt for the first time in a while. Expect the Spartans to be pretty good offensively but struggle more than they have defensively in a few years.
8. Mercer (15-19, 8-10 SoCon, eighth in 2024-25)
Head coach Ryan Ridder (205-139/12th season as a head coach) has a staff that are heavy lifters. The running joke at media day was that the entire staff were part of the 1.6% of the population that can bench press 225 pounds at least one time, and that is a physical attribute of a staff that had to do a lot of heavy lifting in the portal and during the season to help keep the Bears’ heads above the proverbial water in league play. Mercer had its moments, however, especially early on in league play, as the Bears would upset Chattanooga (W, 99-94 OT) early on in league play last season and then blew a lead late at home in a game against Samford before dropping a heartbreaking, 75-74, contest to the defending champions.
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Unfortunately for Ridder and Co., the staff was once again asked to do a lot of heavy lifting during the offseason in terms of recruiting, as the Bears must replace four of five starters, which included two of the league’s top scoring guards, in Ahmad Robinson and Tyler “Chip” Johnson, with Robinson having moved on to the transfer portal and UAB, while Johnson exercised all of his eligibility. Top big man Alex Holt, who was a great asset for the Bears over the past three seasons after transferring in from High Point, has also moved on. Despite all that was lost, Ridder is optimistic about the 2025-26 season and the team he has waiting in the wings.
As good as Robinson was as a scorer and as quick as he was, he didn’t always make the best decisions with the basketball, forfeiting away some of those crucial possessions that the Bears had generated by influencing the pace of play.
His 131 turnovers last season were more than any player ranked in the top 350 in college basketball in assist/turnover ratio, with the next closest in terms of total turnovers being Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis, who finished the season with 123 miscues. Another issue is that at times, the offense seemed to stagnate around the diminutive guard, waiting for him to create something off the dribble.
Expect redshirt sophomore Brady Shoulders to be one of the most improved players in the SoCon this season, and much of the reason that Ridder is so excited about his haul from the transfer portal this season is the fact that they it is a more well-rounded and versatile collection of talent than which he had last season. One thing that he made known at media day with the Field of 68 is that this team features a different type of toughness, and it’s both evident in a guy like Shoulders, as well as a guy like well-seasoned guard Zaire Williams, who will add an all-conference caliber player in the backcourt, and a player that sees as being a force on both ends and has a personality that encapsulates that of the entire team, which is one of toughness and that has an edge.
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The 6-foot-4, 200-pound native of Brooklyn, N.Y., saw action in 26 games in the 2024-25 season for the Seahawks, which included making 24 starts. He finished the season averaging a solid 12.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG and 1.9 APG in helping the Seahawks to a 14-16 record and a 6-10 finish in the NEC last season, averaging 30.7 minutes-per-game, which ranked 10th in the league.
In his final season with the Seahawks, Williams would shoot 38.8% (108-of-278) from the floor and 34.2% (51-of-149) from beyond the 3-point line. His 12.1 PPG scoring average was good enough to rank 14th overall in NEC in scoring, while his 1.8 steals-per-game ranked him second in the league. He was a Third-Team All-NEC selection in his final campaign at Wagner.
Other talents like Quinton Perkins II (Indian Hills CC), Kyle Cuffe Jr. (Syracuse), Baraka Okojie (Memphis) and Tristan Gross (Stetson) will make for a much deeper and more versatile backcourt. Okojie was an Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team selection two years ago at George Mason before transferring into Memphis where he struggled to find his rhythm. Cuffe Jr.has spent time at big time programs Kansas and Syracuse before making his way to Macon, where he hopes to finish his career out in strong fashion. In the 2024-25 season at Syracuse, Cuffe Jr logged action in 30 games for the averaging 12.4 MPG. He finished his final season with the Orange averaging 5.1 PPG and 1.1 RPG, while posting 16 assists and turning it over 25 times. He also contributed 13 steals on the defensive end of the floor.
One of the more notable additions to the front court by a team in the SoCon this season is 6-foot-10, 240-pound Boston College transfer center Armani Mighty (Boston College), who will give the Bears a true rim protector underneath.
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The Bottom Line:
The biggest question surrounding Ridder’s Bears heading into the 2025-26 season is can they improve defensively, and can they influence the pace of the game without committing so many careless turnovers. Mercer must also figure out a way to shoot the ball better from the free throw line. Mercer ranked 273 out of 354 nationally in scoring defense (75.3 PPG) and struggled defending the 3-point line, ranking 236th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage defense (34.7%). However, both defensive stats paled in comparison to Mercer’s struggles from the charity stripe last season, as the Bears finished ranking 348 of 355 nationally in free throw shooting (65.3%).
9. Wofford (19-16, 10-8 SoCon, sixth in 2024-25)
For the past 15 years, Wofford’s basketball program is one that has been as good as any in mid-major basketball, and the Terriers have six SoCon titles to make such a claim, but since the COVID-19 pandemic or aka since Mike Young left to become the new head coach at Virginia Tech, the program has undergone some internal turmoil unlike any it has seen prior since joining Division I in 1996-97.
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If you are unaware, the school parted ways with Dwight Perry after he led the Terriers to their sixth Southern Conference title since 2010 last March, with a 92-85 win over Furman in the championship game, as the Terriers became the first No. 6 seed in SoCon history to claim the title. That championship win would see the Terriers back in the Big Dance again for the first time since 2019, and like that Round of 32 loss during that particular season, it would be an SEC team that would end up knocking the Terriers out of the Big Dance, as Wofford, which garnered the No. 15 seed, would take on No. 2 Tennessee, as the Terriers would end up falling by 15, 77-62, in the opening round to the Volunteers.
Buoyed by that overall positive momentum, Perry and staff were able to secure a talented and highly ranked recruiting class entering the season and then seemingly the bottom fell out if it all after Perry and top assistant Tysor Anderson were suspended in late August for the Terrier brass to investigate a potential grade three NCAA violation, which involved potential or alleged impermissible benefits as a result of six players and an off-campus living situation.
The six players had agreed to live off campus and pay their own rent, however, Anderson informed the players that, five days after the start of classes for the new school, they had to break their lease agreement with the apartment, which Anderson paid for as the six transfer players waited for their NIL checks to come through.
Though Wofford self-reported the violations, the NCAA never took action by suspending the players or by penalizing Wofford. The governing body of Division-I athletics did, however, charge the school with minor violations that took place under Perry’s predecessor, Jay McAuley, which involved exceeding the practice which is allowed by the NCAA.
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After a two-week leave of absence, both Perry and Anderson were let go, and the six players suspended threatened to all enter the transfer portal if Perry and Anderson were not reinstated to their positions as the head and top assistant coaches. However, tensions would eventually cool down and though Perry and Anderson weren’t re-instated to the coaching staff, a hire would eventually be made a little over a week later, as Terrier alum and Virginia Tech assistant Kevin Giltner was hired to try and salvage the season.
At one time during the whole process, there was a real concern that Wofford might have to forfeit the entire season at one point. Giltner had only been with the team just a few practice days before SoCon media day at the Mariott got underway. Giltner then made an important hire, bringing former head Campbell coach Kevin McGeehan to staff.
So, what can we expect from Wofford in 2025-26? It’s hard to know, but we can expect a fair share of growing pains. While Giltner knows the Wofford way, he will have to move quickly to replace virtually all the scoring production from a team that went 19-16 last season, as all five starters have departed a year ago. Jackson Sivills, Corey Tripp, Kyler Filewich, Anthony Arrington Jr., Dillion Bailey, Justin Bailey and Jeremy Lorenz added the kind of experience and talent that would ultimately allow the Terriers to have the type of success in the championship game and especially down the stretch in that win. It was the ultimate collection of winning talent, which helped Wofford finish the season at its desired destination.
Both Jeremy Lorenz and Justin Bailey moved on after the season, as did forward Belal El-Shakery, who spent most of the season injured and opted to transfer out at season’s end, even after the Terriers were able to achieve the goal of winning the tournament title. Anthony Arrington Jr, Chase Cormier and Don Douglass were three others that decided to enter the portal.
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Lorenz, a 6-foot-9 forward, ended up transferring out to join DePaul for the 2025-26 season, while Justin Bailey will be suiting up for the Georgia Bulldogs next season. All told, Wofford will need to replace its six top scorers from last season’s championship run. While Lorenz’s transfer raises more than a few eyebrows, the same can be said of the transfer of Justin Bailey, who transferred just after the season to join the Georgia basketball program after spending just one season with the Terriers. He would be instrumental for what Wofford did defensively at the guard spot, as well as adding to the team as a perimeter threat.
Wofford does have three holdovers from last year’s team, with guards Kamahre Holmes and Luke Flynn returning to the fold, as well as forward Cannon Richards who saw very little floor time in his first season with the program. Holmes and Flynn are excellent pieces for Giltner to build around.
Central Michigan transfer Cayden Vasko (Central Michigan/Lowell, Ind.) figures to add even more depth to the shooting guard spot where he was solid during his sophomore season for the Chippewas. The 6-foot-6 shooting guard saw action in all 31 games for the Chippewas, averaging 7.4 PPG and 5.0 RPG last season for the Chips. Vasko is a similar player to Jackson Sivills and could end up playing a similar type of role during the upcoming season.
With the circumstances being what they are, Vasko will be a player that will be asked to come in and produce immediately and could end up being an instant impact player, and he will give the Terriers a true inside-outside threat next season and he finished the 2024-25 season by connecting on 46 three-point field goals, shooting a team-best 39.0% (46-for-118) from downtown during the 2024-25 season with the Chippewas. In two seasons at Central Michigan, Vasko ended up averaging 5.7 PPG and 4.0 RPG, while also contributing a total of 64 3-point field goals in two seasons, as well as being a solid free throw shooter, connecting on 71.7% (33-of-46) in his two seasons in Mt. Pleasant.
With schools like Chattanooga and Furman getting big contributions from Division-II players this past season, and with the Terriers already having had a good experience with a guy like Dillon Bailey, the Terriers ended up getting a commitment from another player that has the potential to become a star in the SoCon in the upcoming season, with the addition of 6-foot-3 guard Brendan Rigsbee (Georgia College and State University), who comes to Wofford after having spent two seasons at University of Alabama-Huntsville.
Rigsbee, who is a native of Suwanee, Ga., will give the Terriers an instant impact player and scoring threat. He will have two years of eligibility remaining and averaged in double figures in both of his seasons with UAH and then transferred to Georgia College and State University, where he missed the entire season with an injury before opting to transfer. The 6-foot-3 guard averaged 16.8 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 2.6 APG in his most recent season on the hardwood back during the 2023-24 season.
One of the signees from the portal that could end up being an instant impact player for Wofford this coming season is 6-foot-3 guard Nils Machowski (UCF/Berlin, Germany), who comes to Wofford from the Orlando and the University of Central Florida. Machowski will play shooting guard and is coming off a sophomore season with the Golden Knights, which saw him average 3.7 PPG and 2.2 RPG in 31 games for UCF.
He finished his second season with the Golden Knights connected on 43.5% (37-of-85) from the field and shot a solid 36.7% (18-of-49) from 3-point range last season. He posted four double-digit scoring games during the 2024-25 season. Machowski posted a career-high 15 points in the College Basketball Crown Tournament opener against Oregon State.
He played an important role in helping the Golden Knights reach the championship game against Nebraska, as he finished the tournament averaging 9.8 PPG and 3.8 RPG, while shooting 46.7% (14-of-30) from the floor and 50% (9-of-18) from 3-point range. Machowski originally hails from Germany and will give the Terriers a highly skilled shooter from Europe.
The Terriers have a trio of interesting front court acquired through the transfer portal, in 6-foot-8 forward Rex Stirling (Williston State/Melbourne, Australia), and a pair of 6-foot-10 additions, in Callum Richard (East Carolina) and Alessandro Perotti (Bosso Monti Torino/Cuesta College/Turin, Italy). Perotti might be the most interesting of those additions and a player that has a chance to make a significant impact early on. The 6-foot-10, 245-pound forward will add skill and size, as he comes to Wofford from Cuesta College in California, where he played his sophomore season in 2024-25. He would end up averaging 17.5 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 3.1 APG and 2.3 BPG in his one season with the Cougars.
Add to that the fact that the Terriers had a talented crop of four freshman commitments that kept their commitments, in 6-2 guard Chace Watley, 5-10point guard Jaden Tyler point guard Maximo Ortega and 6-8 forward Brian Sumpter, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Terriers finish much higher than ninth, however, with such a quick turnaround and with so much involved, it’s likely going to turn the ship completely in year one, and I expect there to be more adverse moments than joyful ones.
The Bottom Line:
Wofford’s bottom line in 2025-26 and what will determine whether or not this team can get out of the bottom third of the league will be if it can shoot the ball well, and how many of the freshmen newcomers can provide meaningful minutes and adjust quickly enough to the college game to be ready for the always grueling SoCon slate.
10. The Citadel (5-25, 0-18 SoCon, 10th in 2024-25)
The Citadel was a team that ended the 2024-25 season in desperate need of a win, finishing out the campaign on a school-record 22-game losing streak. There were two extremes of Bulldogs hoops during conference play last season, which was either a close loss or blowout loss.
Of its 18 losses in league play a year ago, 12 of them came by double digits, while the other six came by single digits, with exactly half of those losses coming in overtime, and one of the other single-digit losses coming by a single point against the eventual regular-season champs and best team in the league last season—Chattanooga—with a chance to win that game at the buzzer. The biggest reasons for the struggles, however, were shooting at all points of the floor. The Bulldogs finished out the 2024-25 season ranking 332 in scoring offense (66.6 PPG), 317th in field goal percentage (41.9%), 345th in 3-point field goal percentage (29.5%) and 354th out of 355 teams ranked in the country in free throw shooting (61.7%). It well spells out that the Bulldogs weren’t a very good shooting team last season.
So how can the Bulldogs improve upon the disaster that was the 2024-25 season? Well, it starts with evaluating both the roster returning and the one that has decided to move on.
As far as those that have exited Charleston and the Bulldogs’ program, the most notable of those is Brody Fox, who was a dynamic scorer from the Division-III level, and he came in and gave the Bulldogs one season–his final season of eligibility–and he would end up finishing out his college career averaging 16.7 PPG, which led the team, while his 5.1 rebounds-per-game ranked second on the team. He is out of eligibility, and was The Citadel’s first, and at times, only scoring option last season.
Also having moved on are Colby McCalister (transferred to West Florida), as well as others like Cam Glover (out of eligibility), forward Dominic Commisso (transferred to St. Leo), center Graham Eikenberry (transferred to Western Oregon) and guard Paxton Davidson (transferred to Pace) to name a few.
The core of the team will be formed around what returns, and the most productive of those returnees for the 2025-26 season are guys like forwards Sola Adebisi, Kenyan Davis and Christian Moore, who originally entered the transfer portal, but opted to return to the Bulldogs’ program after initially weighing his options in the portal. It will give Conroy a nucleus of players that he retained to both develop and form a leadership council around moving forward into the off-season, as we inch closer to the 2025-26 campaign.
Moore is coming off a season in which he looks like he might be ready to take that next step and become a reliable scoring option for the Bulldogs in the coming season. The 6-foot-6, 225-pound small forward saw action in all 30 games for The Citadel last season, logging 11 starts. He finished the season averaging 8.7 PPG, however, in Southern Conference games, he posted a scoring average of 12.1 PPG.
On a team that didn’t shoot the ball well last season, the same couldn’t be said for Moore, who posted a solid 36% shooting clip from 3-point land in league games last season. He didn’t shoot it as well in non-conference play from long-range, as he connected on just 33.3% (48-of-144) for the totality of the season.
The athletic wing from Los Angeles, ended up finishing the season posting a career-high 20 points in a loss at Western Carolina, while also sporting a seven-game streak of scoring 13 or more points in league games last season and finished scoring in double figures in 11 of 18 SoCon games last season. Moore will be a player that Conroy will look to be one of his offensive leaders in the upcoming campaign.
In a season where it was hard to find a lot of positives, one of the few and distinguishable was the play of 6-7 wing forward Sola Adebisi, who was in his first season at The Citadel as a graduate transfer from Florida State. Adebisi finished out the season as the Bulldogs’ second-leading scorer and will be the leading returning scorer this season, as he averaged 8.2 PPG and 5.7 RPG last season.
Like Moore, Adebisi is a good athlete and performs exceptionally well on the offensive glass. Forty-seven of his 95 total rebounds last season were on the offensive end of the floor. Adebisi started all 25 games he played last season, and the former Florida State Seminole has one season of eligibility remaining. He enjoyed his best performance of the season in a home loss to Wofford, as he posted a career-high 19 points against the Terriers. Adebisi had another solid performance in a home loss to Samford, as he just missed a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds.
Rounding out the veteran returnees is Kenyan Davis, who has battled injuries and other off-court issues throughout his career in Charleston, however, the 2025-26 season might be the first in which he is locked in and ready to go. The 6-foot-5 guard/forward has big-time potential and was playing a key role before being suspended for the spring semester. He started 12 of the first 13 games in non-conference play, averaging 9.2 PPG and 3.2 RPG prior to being suspended.
The Chicago product is a cerebral, athletic guard that enjoyed his best game in a Bulldogs uniform against Stetson in what was one of the Bulldogs’ five wins last season, as he netted a career-best 18 points in that particular contest. Davis also turned in a solid performance in The Citadel’s season-opening loss at Boston College, as he was one of three Bulldogs in double figures in the loss, finishing with 10.
Others returning to the fold that were a part of last season’s roster for the Bulldogs include 6-foot-4 forward Dante Kearse, 6-foot-1 guard Eze Wale, as well as 6-foot-2 guard Jack Walter and 6-foot-4 forward Aidan Alexander, who both redshirted the 2024-25 season.
Wale, a 6-foot-1 sophomore guard from Providence, saw action in 26 of 30 games for The Citadel last season and started the final 10 games of the 2024-25 season for the Bulldogs. In Wale, the Bulldogs might have found some consistency and some reliability at the point guard spot, which is a problem that Conroy and staff spent a majority of the season trying to figure out.
The jet-quick guard enjoyed his best performance of his true freshman season in what would turn out to be the final game of the season in the conference tournament loss against VMI, netting a season and career-high 12 points against the Keydets in a 73-62 loss at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center in the play-in round of the tournament. He had two five-assists games last season, recording those in the conference tournament loss to VMI, as well as a mid-February home loss to Wofford.
Kearse, a 6-foot-4 rising sophomore forward, logged action in 22 games for The Citadel last season, posting a season-high nine points in a 94-57 early December win over Toccoa Falls, while seeing a season-high 21 minutes in a 67-63 home overtime loss to Furman in early January.
Conroy and staff have so far assembled incoming talent from both the portal, as well as the high school ranks to round out the roster heading into 2025-26. Three additions from the transfer portal and two from the high school ranks highlight what the Bulldogs have brought in for the 2025-26 season.
The first commitment for the Bulldogs from the portal was made by 5–foot-11-point guard Gabe Hernandez, who comes to the Bulldogs from Barry University, which is the same program that produced Furman shooting guard Nick Anderson last season.
Hernandez will have a chance to come in right away and be the starter at the point for the Bulldogs this season, and much like Fox was last season athletically for The Citadel, his athleticism will be a delight to local fans who come out to watch The Citadel play this fall and winter. Hernandez averaged 14.8 PPG, 4 RPG and 3.2 APG in his final season with the Bucs.
The second addition from the transfer portal came just a few days later, as Valdosta State wing Braxton Williams announced his commitment to the Bulldogs to play for Ed Conroy next season. With Adebisi, Moore and Davis also back, Williams will the Bulldogs yet another athletic, bouncy wing that the staff can rotate in the lineup.
Williams spent the past two seasons playing for the Blazers in the Gulf South Conference, where he was productive, averaging in double figures in each of those campaigns. Prior to finding his way to the Division-II ranks, Williams spent his time plying his trade and developing his overall game in three seasons at Coastal Alabama South of the JUCO ranks.
After averaging 19.9 PPG and 5.0 RPG in his final season there, his game has translated into being a double figure scorer at every level, including last season with the Blazers, as he posted 14.2 PPG and 4.1 RPG, starting 31 out of 32 games.
Williams finished the 2024-25 season connecting on 34% (64-of-188) from 3-point range and finished the season with 22 double-figure scoring performances, which included six games with 20 or more points. He turned his top game of the season against Mississippi College in a 22-point, 96-74, win, as he posted 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field, which included a 6-for-7 shooting effort from three-point range.
Look for Williams to be a starter for the Bulldogs this coming season, and the combination him with either Adebisi or Davis in the lineup will immediately give the Bulldogs more athleticism.
Rounding out the portal additions made by Conroy and staff during the spring is 6-foot-4 shooting guard Carter Kingsbury, who comes to The Citadel from Iowa where he was a walk-on. Kingsbury has taken much the same route to The Citadel as former Bulldogs guard Austin Ash, who came to The Citadel from the University of Iowa two years ago, where he was a walk-on. Ash ended, up paying off in a big way for Conroy and the Bulldogs, as he finished out his only season averaging 15.2 PPG to lead the Bulldogs.
Like Ash, Kingsbury was a preferred walk-on playing for Fran McCaffery at Iowa, and the 6-foot-4 shooting guard is a solid perimeter threat even though he didn’t see all that much time during his four years with the Hawkeyes.
The one other addition to the fold has a European background, in 6-foot-7 junior forward Cassius Bonjasky, who is already enrolled at The Citadel as of this past January. The junior native of Almere, Netherlands, comes on board from New Mexico Military Institute (JUCO) where he saw action in 28 games, with 16 starts, averaging 6.4 PPG and 3.4 RPG in the 2023-24 season.
Logan Applegate joins the program from Drury University, which is the same place that produced Furman’s dynamic shooter Conley Garrison back in 2021-22, so it’s a good program to find undiscovered talent that could equate in a good mid-major league like the SoCon. Applegate is one of those same players cut from the same fabric as the former Furman guard, which is an excellent perimeter shooter with a quick release, He has connected on 201 3-pointers in each of his final three seasons at Drury, with a weird penchant for ending up with exactly 67 made triples in each of those campaigns. His most efficient season as a perimeter threat came during the 2022-23 season, as he connected on 39% (67-of-172) of his long-range efforts.
The Bottom Line:
The Citadel will be improved, but as far as how much might be hard to tell, but one thing that is notable is that head coach Ed Conroy attacked the portal and addressed shooting to make sure his program didn’t experience the same type hardships it did a year ago. The Bulldogs are a much better shooting team on paper, and that should lead to a better record at season’s end, but it is once again hard for me to see the Bulldogs escaping the bottom tier of the SoCon.
