2022–23 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball season
Sports season
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The 2022–23 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball season was the season for Sun Belt Conference men's basketball teams that began with practices in October 2022, followed by the start of the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November 2022. The regular season ended in March 2023.
| 2022–23 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball season | |
|---|---|
| |
| League | NCAA Division I |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Teams | 14 |
| TV partner | ESPN |
| 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season | |
| Regular season champions | Southern Miss |
| Runners-up | Louisiana Marshall |
| Season MVP | Taevion Kinsey |
| Tournament | |
| Champions | Louisiana |
| Runners-up | South Alabama |
| Finals MVP | Jordan Brown |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southern Miss | 14 | – | 4 | .778 | 25 | – | 8 | .758 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Louisiana † | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 26 | – | 8 | .765 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Marshall | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 24 | – | 8 | .750 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| James Madison | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 22 | – | 11 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Troy | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 20 | – | 13 | .606 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Old Dominion | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 19 | – | 12 | .613 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia Southern | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 17 | – | 16 | .515 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Alabama | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 19 | – | 16 | .543 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appalachian State | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 16 | – | 16 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Louisiana–Monroe | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 11 | – | 21 | .344 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas State | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 16 | – | 19 | .457 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coastal Carolina | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 11 | – | 20 | .355 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arkansas State | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 13 | – | 20 | .394 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia State | 3 | – | 15 | .167 | 10 | – | 21 | .323 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2023 Sun Belt Tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Conference realignment
The SBC lost two members and gained four in July 2022.
The conference's two non-football members, Little Rock and UT Arlington, left with Little Rock joining the Ohio Valley Conference and UT Arlington joining the Western Athletic Conference.[1][2] Three schools left Conference USA to join the SBC—Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss, with Old Dominion returning to the SBC after a 31-year absence.[3] James Madison joined from the Colonial Athletic Association.[4]
Head coaches
Coaching changes
Georgia State
Following an appearance in the 2022 NCAA Division I tournament, Georgia State head coach Rob Lanier left to coach the SMU Mustangs.[5] On April 6, 2022, Jonas Hayes was named as the new head coach starting the 2022 regular season.[6]
Coaches
| Team | Head coach | Previous job | Years at school | Overall record | Sun Belt record | Sun Belt titles | Sun Belt Tournament titles | NCAA Tournaments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appalachian State | Dustin Kerns | Presbyterian | 4 | 70–58 (.547) | 39–32 (.549) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Arkansas State | Mike Balado | Louisville (Asst.) | 5 | 67–78 (.462) | 36–50 (.419) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Coastal Carolina | Cliff Ellis | Auburn | 15 | 283–203 (.582) | 52–52 (.500) | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Georgia Southern | Brian Burg | Texas Tech (Asst.) | 2 | 25–28 (.472) | 12–20 (.375) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Georgia State | Jonas Hayes | Xavier (Assoc.) | 1 | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| James Madison | Mark Byington | Georgia Southern | 2 | 28–21 (.571) | 0–0 (–) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Louisiana | Bob Marlin | Sam Houston | 12 | 218–165 (.569) | 127–91 (.583) | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Louisiana–Monroe | Keith Richard | LSU (Asst.) | 12 | 141–230 (.380) | 78–142 (.355) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marshall | Dan D'Antoni | Los Angeles Lakers (Asst.) | 8 | 140–120 (.538) | 0–0 (–) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Old Dominion | Jeff Jones | American | 9 | 181–113 (.616) | 0–0 (–) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| South Alabama | Richie Riley | Nicholls | 4 | 75–50 (.600) | 40–31 (.563) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Southern Miss | Jay Ladner | Southeastern Louisiana | 2 | 24–65 (.270) | 0–0 (–) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Texas State | Terrence Johnson | Texas State (Asst.) | 2 | 39–15 (.722) | 24–6 (.800) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Troy | Scott Cross | TCU (Asst.) | 4 | 40–50 (.444) | 19–33 (.365) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Notes:
- All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
- Year at school includes 2022–23 season.
- Overall and Sun Belt records are from time at current school only and are through the beginning of the season.
Preseason
Preseason Coaches Poll
On October 17, 2022, the conference announced a preseason conference poll as voted on by the league's 14 head coaches.[7]
| Rank | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Louisiana (10) | |
| 2. | Texas State (1) | |
| 3. | South Alabama (1) | |
| 4. | James Madison (1) | |
| 5. | Georgia State (1) | |
| 6. | Marshall | |
| 7. | Appalachian State | |
| 8. | Coastal Carolina | |
| 9. | Old Dominion | |
| 10. | Troy | |
| 11. | Georgia Southern | |
| 12. | Arkansas State | |
| 13. | Southern Miss | |
| 14. | Louisiana–Monroe | |
| (first place votes) | ||
Preseason Awards
The conference also announced preseason All-SBC teams.[7]
| Honor | Recipient |
|---|---|
| Preseason Player of the Year | Jordan Brown, Louisiana |
| All-SBC First Team | Jordan Brown, Louisiana |
| Mason Harrell, Texas State | |
| Taevion Kinsey, Marshall | |
| Vado Morse, James Madison | |
| Kevin Samuel, South Alabama | |
| All-SBC Second Team | Donovan Gregory, Appalachian State |
| Felipe Haase, Southern Miss | |
| Kobe Julien, Louisiana | |
| Essam Mostafa, Coastal Carolina | |
| Greg Parham II, South Alabama | |
| All-SBC Third Team | Kamdyn Curfman, Marshall |
| Caleb Fields, Arkansas State | |
| Nika Metskhvarishvili, Louisiana–Monroe | |
| Andrew Taylor, Marshall | |
| Zay Williams, Troy |
Attendance
| Team | Arena | Capacity | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 | Game 8 | Game 9 | Game 10 | Total | Average | % of Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game 11 | Game 12 | Game 13 | Game 14 | Game 15 | Game 16 | Game 17 | Game 18 | Game 19 | Game 20 | ||||||
| Appalachian State | Holmes Center | 8,325 | 1,944 | 2,145 | 2,856 | 2,603 | 1,553 | 1,976 | 1,622 | 1,394 | 1,819 | 1,651 | 40,397 | 2,376 | 28.54% |
| 2,377 | 2,559 | 3,487 | 2,685 | 3,870† | 2,205 | 3,651 | |||||||||
| Arkansas State | First National Bank Arena | 10,038 | 3,092 | 1,387 | 3,686† | 2,495 | 2,380 | 2,274 | 1,541 | 2,072 | 1,378 | 2,347 | 32,271 | 1,793 | 17.86% |
| 1,257 | 1,024 | 1,132 | 1,084 | 1,341 | 1,402 | 1,026 | 1,353 | ||||||||
| Coastal Carolina | HTC Center | 3,370 | 1,223 | 1,127 | 1,003 | 1,509 | 1,327 | 1,934 | 1,372 | 1,201 | 2,143† | 1,459 | 23,841 | 1,490 | 44.22% |
| 1,321 | 1,656 | 1,923 | 1,578 | 1,655 | 1,410 | ||||||||||
| Georgia Southern | Hanner Fieldhouse | 4,325 | 1,328 | 512 | 1,423 | 724 | 545 | 501 | 573 | 957 | 1,009 | 1,412 | 20,527 | 1,283 | 29.66% |
| 1,553 | 2,672† | 1,863 | 1,727 | 1,283 | 2,445 | ||||||||||
| Georgia State | Georgia State Convocation Center | 7,500 | 2,089 | 4,083† | 1,607 | 1,259 | 1,198 | 1,331 | 1,416 | 1,385 | 1,440 | 1,176 | 33,997 | 1,789 | 23.86% |
| 1,878 | 1,306 | 1,673 | 1,479 | 3,309 | 2,024 | 1,581 | 1,913 | 1,850 | |||||||
| James Madison | Atlantic Union Bank Center | 8,500 | 3,148 | 3,768 | 4,303 | 3,642 | 2,785 | 3,068 | 3,540 | 3,787 | 5,609 | 6,429† | 60,283 | 4,306 | 50.66% |
| 4,829 | 5,668 | 4,688 | 5,019 | ||||||||||||
| Louisiana | Cajundome | 11,500 | 2,045 | 3,181 | 2,630 | 2,643 | 2,475 | 3,007 | 3,306 | 3,148 | 3,508 | 3,256 | 43,603 | 3,115 | 27.08% |
| 5,351† | 2,948 | 2,615 | 3,494 | ||||||||||||
| Louisiana-Monroe | Fant-Ewing Coliseum | 7,085 | 538 | 744 | 887 | 871 | 978 | 828 | 1,208 | 1,984 | 3,568 | 2,007 | 27,101 | 1,807 | 25.05% |
| 3,659† | 3,023 | 3,558 | 962 | 2,286 | |||||||||||
| Marshall | Cam Henderson Center | 9,048 | 4,240 | 3,625 | 3,573 | 4,315 | 4,012 | 5,180 | 4,065 | 4,035 | 4,816 | 4,508 | 79,145 | 4,656 | 51.45% |
| 4,672 | 4,321 | 5,719† | 4,931 | 5,711 | 5,711 | 5,711 | |||||||||
| Old Dominion | Chartway Arena | 8,472 | 4,798 | 5,085 | 4,898 | 7,966† | 4,579 | 4,741 | 4,297 | 4,464 | 5,094 | 6,021 | 89,903 | 5,619 | 66.23% |
| 5,433 | 5,954 | 7,691 | 7,029 | 5,428 | 6,425 | ||||||||||
| South Alabama | Mitchell Center | 10,041 | 2,019 | 7,673† | 1,667 | 1,455 | 1,451 | 1,812 | 1,725 | 2,246 | 1,894 | 2,779 | 32,180 | 2,299 | 22.89% |
| 1,955 | 1,404 | 2,398 | 1,702 | ||||||||||||
| Southern Miss | Reed Green Coliseum | 8,095 | 2,523 | 2,350 | 2,428 | 3,022 | 2,581 | 2,600 | 3,265 | 3,192 | 4,128 | 4,318 | 56,534 | 3,769 | 46.56% |
| 4,266 | 4,289 | 8,097† | 4,587 | 4,888 | |||||||||||
| Texas State | Strahan Arena | 10,000 | 1,131 | 1,282 | 1,189 | 1,329 | 877 | 1,052 | 941 | 3,183 | 3,397† | 2,331 | 26,261 | 1,876 | 18.76 |
| 2,638 | 2,518 | 1,776 | 2,617 | ||||||||||||
| Troy | Trojan Arena | 6,000 | 2,879 | 2,498 | 2,130 | 2,987 | 2,081 | 2,322 | 2,972 | 2,953 | 3,154 | 3,314 | 42,500 | 3,306 | 50.60% |
| 3,192 | 4,014 | 3,772 | 4,232† |
Bold – At or exceeded capacity
† – Season high
Honors and awards
Sun Belt Awards
| 2022-23 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Individual Awards | ||||||
| Award | Recipient(s) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player of the Year | Taevion Kinsey – Marshall | |||||
| Coach of the Year | Jay Ladner – Southern Miss | |||||
| Defensive Player of the Year | Kevin Samuel – South Alabama | |||||
| Newcomer of the Year | Austin Crowley – Southern Miss | |||||
| Freshman of the Year | Micah Handlogten – Marshall | |||||
| Sixth Man Award | Terrence Edwards Jr. – James Madison | |||||
| 2022-23 Sun Belt Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams | ||||||
| First Team | Second Team | Third Team | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Jordan Brown – Louisiana |
Andrei Savrasov – Georgia Southern |
Donovan Gregory – Appalachian State | ||||