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The following conference preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the nation's most comprehensive look at all Division I teams, be sure to order the 2001-02 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518.
| Southern Conference |
|---|
| Projected order of finish |
|---|
| |
North |
|
South |
| 1 |
UNC Greensboro |
1 |
Georgia Southern |
| 2 |
Davidson |
2 |
Chattanooga |
| 3 |
East Tennessee State |
3 |
College of Charleston |
| 4 |
Appalachian State |
4 |
Furman |
5 |
Western Carolina |
5 |
The Citadel |
| 6 |
VMI |
6 |
Wofford |
| |
| All-Conference Team |
|---|
| Pos. |
Name |
Year |
School |
PPG |
|
G
|
Courtney Eldridge
|
SR
|
UNC Greensboro
|
14.6
|
|
G
|
Dimeco Childress
|
SR
|
East Tennessee State
|
13.2
|
|
G
|
Jeff Bolton
|
SR
|
College of Charleston
|
16.1
|
|
F
|
Karim Souchu
|
JR
|
Furman
|
18.9
|
|
C
|
Kashien Latham
|
SR
|
Georgia Southern
|
13.4
|
| |
| Player of the Year |
Courtney Eldridge, SR, UNC Greensboro
|
| Newcomer of the Year |
Graham Bunn, JR, Appalachian State
|
| Outlook |
|---|
|
Two teams that are flourishing under second-year coaches are favored to win their respective divisions in the Southern Conference. Georgia Southern is everybody's pick in the South Division, considering coach Jeff Price returns all five starters, including 6-9 senior Kashien Latham. In the North, UNC Greensboro, which defeated Chattanooga in the closing seconds of the league championship game last March and earned an NCAA tournament bid, returns four starters, including preseason SoCon player of the year Courtney Eldridge. David Schuck, who scored the basket that sent the Spartans to the Big Dance, is a good inside scoring threat, and 7-2 Nathan Popp gives the Spartans a commodity other league teams don't have. Competition for Georgia Southern should come from the College of Charleston, which won 22 games last year and ran away with the South Division title, only to be ousted from the SoCon Tournament. Only one starter is missing from that team, but he's a big one, center Jody Lumpkin. Chattanooga has restocked its roster with a host of junior college transfers, which coach Henry Dickerson hopes will help the Mocs return to their dominant ways of the '80s and '90s. Davidson returns all five starters from a team that was 15-17 a year ago, the Wildcats' first losing season since 1991-92. Davidson will be looking to atone for that misstep with an athletic lineup that plays good defense and seldom beats itself with turnovers.
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