Coaches don’t seem to know what to make of a rebuilt Sun Belt Conference just yet.
Western Kentucky was picked as the favorite to win the Sun Belt men’s basketball title in a poll of conference coaches released Wednesday, with Arkansas State picked third and UALR sixth.
The Hilltoppers, who have won the past two Sun Belt tournaments, earned 91 points and five first-place votes. They were picked just ahead of South Alabama and Arkansas State in a league that lost four members from last year, is welcoming in three new teams and has scrapped a two-division format.
Western Kentucky was among four teams to earn first-place votes - South Alabama and newcomer Georgia State each earned two and Louisiana-Lafayette earned one - and the teams picked second through fifth were separated by five points.
ASU Coach John Brady said he picked Western Kentucky to win the league, and UALR Coach Steve Shields picked Louisiana-Lafayette.
“It’s really hard to gauge,” Brady said. “It sounds like, to the coaches, that it’s going to be a close, exciting year for basketball in the Sun Belt. I think there are a lot of really good teams.”
Western Kentucky has four returning starters from a team that went 20-16 and reached its second consecutive NCAA Tournament a year ago, while South Alabama boasts forward Augustine Rubit, who was picked as the preseason player of the year.
Most of the other teams in the conference are either replacing key pieces - ASU and UALR each lost three players with starting experience - or are new to the league, like Georgia State, Texas State and Texas-Arlington.
“There are some unknowns, but I think there are some really strong teams this year,” Shields said.
Neither ASU or UALR had a player on the preseason all-conference first team as selected by the coaches, but UALR senior forward Will Neighbour and ASU senior guard Brandon Reed were each selected to the second team. ASU senior Ed Townsel was selected to the third team.
Neighbour led UALR in scoring (10.7 points per game), rebounding (7.0 per game) and minutes played (28.8 per game) during last year’s 17-15 finish, and could become the first player in program history to earn all-conference honors in three seasons.
Neighbour was named second-team all-Sun Belt in 2012 and third-team last year.
“Numbers-wise, we need Will to have a good year,” Shields said.
Reed was one of two newcomers named to the second-team, along with Georgia State’s Ryan Harrow, who transferred from Kentucky. But Reed’s reputation - he was the league’s Freshman of the Year in 2010 before spending two seasons at Georgia Tech - means he’s not an unknown commodity.
“The coaches that were here in the league know the quality of player he is,” Brady said. “It’s not like he’s lost a lot. He’s played on the road in some tough places. They have a lot of respect for him.”
Sun Belt men
The Sun Belt Conference’s preseason men’s basketball poll (first-place votes in parenthesis) and preseason all-conference teams as selected by the coaches:
COACHES POLL
RK TEAM PTS
Western Kentucky (5) 91
South Alabama (2) 78
Arkansas State 74
Georgia State (2) 73 (tie) Louisiana-Lafayette (1) 73
UALR 48
Texas-Arlington 36
Texas State 34
Troy 26
Louisiana-Monroe 17
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
FIRST TEAM POS. PLAYER, SCHOOL CLASS
G R.J. Hunter, Georgia State So.
G Elfird Payton, La.-Lafayette Jr.
G T.J. Price, Western Kentucky Jr.
F Shawn Long, La.-Lafayette So.
F Augustine Rubit, South Ala. Sr.*
SECOND TEAM
G Brandon Reed, Arkansas St. Sr.
G Ryan Harrow, Georgia State Jr.
F Will Neighbour, UALR Sr.
F Joel Wright, Texas State Sr.
F George Fant, Western Ky. Jr.
THIRD TEAM
G Ed Townsel, Arkansas St. Sr.
G Hunter Williams, Troy Sr.
F Jayon James, La.-Monroe Sr.
F Mychal Ammons, South Ala. Jr.
F Brandon Edwards, UT-Arlington Sr.
*Preseason player of the year
Sports, Pages 19 on 10/31/2013