University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Men Hoops Picked Third; Vannatta and Thomas Make Second Team All Conference
10.26.2016 | Men's Basketball
CONCORD, N.C.—The UNC Asheville men's basketball team was voted to finish third in the 2016-2017 Big South Conference Preseason Poll, the league office announced at its annual media day Tuesday.
In the poll, conducted by the league's coaches and select media members, Asheville received 227 points to take the third place showing. Winthrop was picked to win the league with 300 points and all 30 first place votes. Liberty (236) was right ahead and Gardner-Webb (218) was voted one spot behind the Bulldogs.
In addition to the poll, the league also announced its preseason all-conference teams at the luncheon. The Bulldogs had two players honored with preseason recognitions. Both juniors, Kevin Vannatta and Ahmad Thomas were named Preseason Second Team All-Conference.
Vannatta led the squad in both assists and minutes played last year. Thomas was atop the team in field goals made and is also the team's leading returning rebounder.
Winthrop's Keon Johnson was named the Preseason Player of the Year. The Eagles' Xavier Cooks, Gardner-Webb's Tyrell Nelson, Campbell's Chris Clemons and Liberty's John Dawson joined him on the all-conference first team.
Asheville begins the season with some tough out of conference play to prepare them for the Big South. The Bulldogs will open the season with back to back road games at VCU and Georgia, with later road tests at Kansas and Ohio State as well. The Bulldogs' first of 18 Big South contests is scheduled for Dec. 29 at Radford.
The 2017 Big South Men's Basketball Championship returns to a home-site/earned seed format last used in 2012. The four lowest seeds will compete in the first round on Feb. 28, which will be hosted by the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played at the No. 1 seed on March 2-3, while the highest remaining seed will host the championship game on March 5 at 1 p.m. on ESPN -- the first Big South title game appearance on ESPN since 2007.
2016-17 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
Rk Team (first-place votes) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points
1. Winthrop (30) 30 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 300
2. Liberty -- 14 7 5 3 -- -- -- -- 1 236
3. UNC Asheville -- 10 6 9 2 2 1 -- -- -- 227
4. Gardner-Webb -- 5 7 12 4 1 1 -- -- -- 218
5. High Point -- 1 7 2 10 5 3 2 -- -- 182
6. Radford -- -- -- 2 3 7 9 7 2 -- 128
7. Charleston Southern -- -- 3 -- 4 4 9 1 5 4 121
8. Campbell -- -- -- -- 3 5 3 9 9 1 101
9. Longwood -- -- -- -- -- 4 3 9 9 5 82
10. Presbyterian College -- -- -- -- 1 2 1 2 5 19 55
Note: points are based on a weighted system. First-place votes received 10 points, followed by 9 points for second-place, and so on.
2016-17 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
First-Team School Cl. Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown
Keon Johnson Winthrop Sr. G 5-7 160 Mansfield, Ohio
Tyrell Nelson Gardner-Webb Sr. F 6-7 235 Charlotte, N.C.
Xavier Cooks Winthrop Jr. G/F 6-8 185 Wollongong, New South Wales
Chris Clemons Campbell Soph. G 5-9 165 Raleigh, N.C.
John Dawson Liberty R-Sr. G 6-2 205 Clovis, N.M.
Second Team School Cl. Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown
Ahmad Thomas UNC Asheville Jr. F 6-3 205 Danville, Va.
Armel Potter Charleston Southern Soph. G 6-1 180 Marietta, Ga.
Kevin Vannatta UNC Asheville Jr. G 6-3 180 Columbus, Ohio
Miles Bowman Jr. High Point R-Sr. F 6-6 225 Winston-Salem, N.C.
Ed Polite Jr. Radford Soph. F 6-5 200 Lanham, Md.
