2018–19 Big South Conference men's basketball season
The 2018–19 Big South Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2018, followed by the start of the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began in January 2019 and concluded in February 2019. The season marked the 35th season of Big South Conference basketball.
| 2018–19 Big South Conference men's basketball season | |
|---|---|
| League | NCAA Division I |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration | November 2018 through March 2019 |
| Number of teams | 11 |
| Regular Season | |
| Champion | Campbell & Radford |
| Season MVP | Chris Clemons, Campbell |
| Tournament | |
| Champions | Gardner-Webb |
| Runners-up | Radford |
| Finals MVP | D.J. Laster - Gardner-Webb |
| 2018–19 Big South men's basketball standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Campbell | 12 | – | 4 | .750 | 20 | – | 13 | .606 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radford | 12 | – | 4 | .750 | 22 | – | 11 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winthrop | 10 | – | 6 | .625 | 18 | – | 12 | .600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gardner–Webb † | 10 | – | 6 | .625 | 23 | – | 12 | .657 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Point | 9 | – | 7 | .563 | 16 | – | 15 | .516 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Charleston Southern | 9 | – | 7 | .563 | 18 | – | 16 | .529 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Presbyterian | 9 | – | 7 | .563 | 20 | – | 16 | .556 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hampton | 9 | – | 7 | .563 | 18 | – | 17 | .514 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Longwood | 5 | – | 11 | .313 | 16 | – | 18 | .471 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UNC Asheville | 2 | – | 14 | .125 | 4 | – | 27 | .129 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USC Upstate | 1 | – | 15 | .063 | 6 | – | 26 | .188 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2019 Big South Tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On December 21, 2018, Campbell's Chris Clemons became the all-time leading scorer in Big South history. He passed VMI guard Reggie Williams' 2,556 career point total in a game against Austin Peay.[1]
Preseason
Conference realignment
During the 2018 offseason, one school left the Big South and two joined.
On successive days in November 2017, two schools were unveiled as incoming members—former ASUN Conference member USC Upstate on the 15th,[2] followed by former MEAC member Hampton.[3]
Liberty, which had started a transition to FBS football in the 2017 season, had initially reached an agreement with the Big South that it would continue to house all of its other sports (except for field hockey and women's swimming, neither of which is sponsored by the Big South) in that conference after becoming classified as an FBS independent from the 2018 season forward.[4] However, in May 2018, Liberty changed course, announcing that all of its other Big South sports would instead move to the ASUN.[5]
Coaching changes
- On March 2, 2018, Longwood head coach Jayson Gee was fired.[6] He finished at Longwood with a five-year record of 42–120. On March 22, the school hired UMBC assistant Griff Aldrich as head coach.[7]
- On March 7, 2018, High Point head coach Scott Cherry and the school mutually agreed to part ways after 9 seasons.[8] On March 26, the school hired High Point alumnus Tubby Smith as head coach.[9]
- On March 24, 2018, UNC Asheville coach Nick McDevitt accepted the head coaching job at Middle Tennessee.[10] He finished at UNC Asheville with a five-year record of 98–65. On April 11, the school hired Texas assistant Mike Morrell.[11]
Preseason poll
Source[12]
| Rank | Team |
|---|---|
| 1 | Radford (28) |
| 2 | Winthrop (2) |
| 3 | Hampton (2) |
| 4 | Campbell |
| 5 | Charleston Southern |
| 6 | Gardner–Webb (1) |
| 7 | High Point |
| 8 | UNC Asheville |
| 9 | Presbyterian |
| 10 | Longwood |
| 11 | USC Upstate |
() first place votes
Preseason All-Conference Teams
Source[13]
| Award | Recipients |
|---|---|
| First Team | Chris Clemons (Campbell) Ed Polite (Radford) Christian Keeling (Charleston Southern) David Efianayi (Gardner-Webb) Jermaine Marrow (Hampton) |
| Second Team | Carlik Jones (Radford) Jahaad Proctor (High Point) Josh Ferguson (Winthrop) Isaiah Walton (Longwood) Deion Holmes (USC Upstate) |
Big South Preseason Player of the Year: Chris Clemons (Campbell)
Regular season
Postseason
Big South Tournament
NCAA Tournament
National Invitation Tournament
Notes and references
- Allen, Jim (December 22, 2018). "Chris Clemons Becomes Big South's All-Time Scorer". Big South Conference. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- "Big South to add USC Upstate as Full Member" (Press release). Big South Conference. November 15, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
- "Big South Adds Hampton University as Full Member" (Press release). Big South Conference. November 16, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
- "Big South Conference Announces Decision on Liberty's Membership Status" (Press release). Liberty University Athletics. September 22, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
- "ASUN Conference Announces Liberty University as League Member for 2018-19" (Press release). ASUN Conference. May 17, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
- Jones, Torrance (March 2, 2018). "Report: Jayson Gee relieved of duties at Longwood". midmajormadness.com. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
- "Longwood Names UMBC's Griff Aldrich Head Men's Basketball Coach" (Press release). Longwood Athletics. March 22, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
- Srakokic, Keith (March 7, 2018). "Scott Cherry out as High Point University head coach". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
- "Tubby Smith agrees to coach alma mater High Point". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
- Goodman, Jeff (March 24, 2018). "Nick McDevitt joins Middle Tennessee St. after lengthy run at UNC Asheville". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
- "Morrell Named Head Coach of UNC Asheville Men's Basketball Program - UNC Asheville". UNC Asheville.
- Shelton, David (October 23, 2018). "Charleston Southern picked fifth in Big South basketball preseason poll". The Post and Courier. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
- "Big South Announces 2018-19 Men's Basketball Preseason Awards". Big South Conference. October 20, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2018.