2018–19 Big South Conference men's basketball season
Sports season
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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 |
| 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 |
| 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)