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AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Augusta University men's basketball team was picked to finish runner-up in the Peach Belt Conference Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches and released by the league office Friday afternoon.
UNC Pembroke captured eight of a possible 11 first-place votes to finish with 117 total points in first place, seven ahead of second-place Augusta. Columbus State was third with 99 while USC Aiken was fourth. Clayton State finished fifth in the voting with North Georgia sixth, Georgia College seventh and Young Harris eighth. Flagler, a tie between Francis Marion and Lander, and Georgia Southwestern rounded out the voting.
The Dip Metress era of Augusta Jaguars Basketball begins year 14 in the 2017-18 season. Coach returns eight players and has eight newcomers, including two redshirt freshmen.
Augusta was the only PBC team to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season and finished with a 24-8 overall record. The Jaguars will have to fill the hole left by the PBC's all-time scoring leader Keshun Sherrill, but do return seniors Tamyrik Fields, Kyle Doyle and Vlad Cobzaru. Also back is junior Tyvez Monroe, who was second on the team in scoring with 10.7 ppg and junior Deane Williams who led the team in rebounding.
The 2017-18 season will undergo several revisions as conference membership has changed from last year. The divisional structure is gone and teams will compete in a true double round-robin this year. The top eight teams will advance to tournament play where, for the first time, the men's and women's final four will be split; each hosted by the highest remaining seed following quarterfinal play.
The 2017 men's coaches poll is below. Teams were given 11 points for a first-place vote, 10 for a second and so on. Coaches were not permitted to rank their own teams.
See PBC release here
2017-18 PBC Men's Basketball
Preseason Coaches Poll
|
Rank |
Team |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
5th |
6th |
7th |
8th |
9th |
10th |
11th |
Total |
|
1. |
UNC Pembroke |
8 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
117 |
|
2. |
Augusta |
4 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
110 |
|
3. |
Columbus State |
0 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
99 |
|
4. |
USC Aiken |
0 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
83 |
|
5. |
Clayton State |
0 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
80 |
|
6. |
North Georgia |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
61 |
|
7. |
Georgia College |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
58 |
|
8. |
Young Harris |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
55 |
|
9. |
Flagler |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
45 |
|
t10. |
Francis Marion |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
32 |
|
t10. |
Lander |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
32 |
|
12. |
Georgia Southwestern |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
20 |
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