By Asheebo Rojas
As the ACC takes most of the attention from North Carolina’s college basketball fans, the Big South and the Southern conferences have something to say in the 2024-25 season.
The state’s member schools in those respective conferences have tipped off their men’s basketball seasons and have started the journey towards conference titles and the NCAA Tournament.
Here’s a preview of each NC team from the two conferences:
UNC Asheville (Big South)
After coming up one game short of making the NCAA tournament in 2024, UNC Asheville has a good mix of old and new faces going into this season.
The Bulldogs lost Drew Pember, their leading scorer in 2024, due to his eligibility running out, and they also lost key contributors in Caleb Burgess (graduation) and Nick McMullen (transferred to Georgia State).
However, UNCA is returning six players from last year’s roster, including starters in fifth-year guards Josh Banks and Fletcher Abee. Banks and Abee were the Bulldogs’ second and third leading scorers last season, respectively. Last year, Abee shot 40.8% from three, which was the team’s best clip out of anyone who shot at least 10 threes.
Senior Toyaz Solomon, who averaged six points and three rebounds per game last season, will step into a larger role, and newcomers Jordan Marsh (transfer sophomore guard from App State), freshman Kameron Taylor and Aidan Rubion (transfer junior guard from Central Michigan) will provide depth.
Head coaches and media voted UNCA to finish fourth in the Big South conference, but with their depth and experience, the Bulldogs could once again compete for a conference title.
High Point (Big South)
Following a successful year in which it finished at the top of the Big South conference regular-season standings, High Point is expected to reach the top again.
For the first time since before the 2015-16 season, the Big South’s preseason poll predicted High Point to win the conference. The Panthers are returning four starters and senior guard Kezza Giffa, who was one of four players to average double-digit points last year (16.2).
High Point is already off to a good start with two big wins over Coppin State (93-51) and Jackson State (80-71) as of Sunday. Last year, the Panthers boasted the best offense in the league by averaging 83.9 points per game.
In addition to its productive starters returning to the offense, High Point added former Gardner-Webb and Texas Tech guard D’Maurian Williams and former Florida Gulf Coast guard Chase Johnston to the backcourt to help replace Duke Miles, who transferred to Oklahoma. Johnston is averaging 20 points per game and leads the team in scoring as of Sunday.
Gardner-Webb (Big South)
Gardner-Webb did really well in Big South play last season, going 11-5 against conference opponents. However, the Bulldogs weren’t very good outside of that.
The program named former associate coach Jeremy Luther as the head coach in March, and as the leadership changed, so did the roster.
The Bulldogs’ two leading scorers last season, Julien Soumaoro and Caleb Robinson, hit the transfer portal and found new homes (ECU and Nicholls State, respectively). They also graduated key contributors Lucas Stieber and Quest Aldridge.
Gardner Webb brought in 6-foot-6 guard Anthony Selden from Rice to play alongside sophomore guard Darryl Simmons II. In the Bulldogs’ first win of this season against NC Central Friday, that duo combined for 44 points on an efficient shooting clip.
But even if the Bulldogs found something that works on offense, they’ll still need to improve defensively as a team. Gardner-Webb gave up the third-most points per game in the conference last season (73.2) while only scoring 73.5 points per game. Robinson was also a huge defensive loss as the guard recorded a team-high 19 blocks and 29 steals, and Simmons is only 5-foot-11, which can create mismatches.
Gardner-Webb is predicted to finish sixth in the Big South conference this year after finishing third a season prior.
Western Carolina (Southern)
Western Carolina had four players average double-digits in the scoring column last season, but all of those players are now gone.
Veteran guards Russell Jones Jr., Vonterius Woolbright, Tre Jackson and DJ Campbell (now at Cal) all led the Catamounts to a 22-10 record in their 2023-24 campaign, and now, the program is in the hands of a much younger squad.
The only senior is forward Bernard Pelote who has started just four games in his career and averaged 6.7 points per outing last season. Even the 6-foot-10 transfer forward Chase McKey, who was brought in from Marshall, only started in one game during his college career. Although many of the transfers and young players on the roster have seen game action, they haven’t spent much time in a significant starting role.
That might make for some growing pains this season as the team will also have to get acclimated to new head coach Tim Craft, the former coach at Gardner-Webb.
As the Catamounts try to work through its inexperience and the transition to a new coach, the Southern Conference preseason coaches poll predicts them to finish eighth in the conference after finishing fourth last year.
UNC Greensboro (Southern)
UNC Greensboro won over 20 games and led the Southern Conference in three-point percentage last season, however, it wasn’t the most consistent team as it went 11-3 at home and 7-7 in away games.
The Spartans won’t get another chance to capitalize on that stellar three-point shooting again, too, as a few of the team’s three-point leaders, including Mikeal Brown Jones (transferred to Ole Miss) and Keyshaun and Kobe Langley (graduation) all departed in the offseason.
UNCG still has junior guard Donovan Atwell, who shot 42% from beyond the arc last year, though. The Spartans also added some veteran depth with guards Demetrius Davis (Chattanooga), Kenyon Giles (Radford) and Ronald Polite III (George Mason) transferring in.
As important as replacing the three-point shooting is for UNCG, replacing the Langley twins’ defensive impact will be just as crucial. The Langley twins combined for 121 steals last year, and the Spartans allowed the third-lowest opponent points per game.
The Southern Conference preseason coaches poll predicts UNCG to finish sixth in the standings, a long way from its second-place finish after last year’s regular season.
