Montevallo was third in the voting with Lander and Columbus State tied for fourth, UNC Pembroke sixth and Clayton State seventh. Georgia College, Francis Marion, a tie between USC Aiken and North Georgia, Armstrong State, Georgia Southwestern and Flagler rounded out the voting.
Since the 2007-08 season, Augusta has been picked to finish in the top three every year since. This is the third since 2007 that the squad was picked to take the PBC title.
Augusta reached the championship game of the 2016 PBC Tournament and fell to Lander on a last-second shot. The Jaguars were 18-11 overall and 12-7 in league play and won six of their final seven games.
Entering his 13th year, head coach Dip Metress welcomes back two-time All-American Keshun Sherrill for his senior season; he was third in the league in scoring with 23.3 points per game last season and was named to the preseason All-Conference team on Wednesday. Also back is junior Tamyrik Fields who was second on the team in scoring with 11.8 per game.
Joining the other upperclassmen are returning sophomores Ja'Shawn Brooks, Aaron Byrd, Tyvez Monroe and Deane Williams, all of whom played significant minutes as freshmen last year. Metress also signed four new student-athletes in the offseason.
The Jaguars open play with an exhibition game at Wichita State on Saturday, Nov. 5. The season officially tips Nov. 11 against Mount Olive in Wilson, N.C. on the campus of Barton College. Augusta faces Barton on Nov. 12 before coming back home to host Claflin on Thursday, Nov. 12.
Buy season ticket passes and reserved seating for the 2016-17 season now by clicking here
The men's basketball preseason coaches poll is listed below. Teams were given 13 points for a first-place vote, 12 for a second and so on. Coaches were not permitted to rank their own teams.
Read the full PBC press release by clicking here
2016 PBC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
|
Rank |
Team |
Total |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
5th |
6th |
7th |
8th |
9th |
10th |
11th |
12th |
13th |
|
1. |
Augusta University |
163 |
9 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
2. |
Young Harris |
138 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
3. |
Montevallo |
137 |
0 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
t4. |
Lander |
123 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
t4. |
Columbus State |
123 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
6. |
UNC Pembroke |
117 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
7. |
Clayton State |
109 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
8. |
Georgia College |
68 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
9. |
Francis Marion |
64 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
|
10. |
USC Aiken |
60 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
|
11. |
North Georgia |
60 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
12. |
Armstrong State |
59 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
13. |
Georgia Southwestern |
27 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
|
14. |
Flagler |
26 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
5 |
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