Blue Ribbon Forecast No. Team  '01-02 Conf. Rec. (Overall) 1. Winthrop  10-4 (19-11)  2. UNC Asheville  10-4 (13-15)  3. Coastal Carolina  5-9 (8-20)   4. Elon  7-7 (13-16)  5. High Point  5-9 (11-19)  6. Charleston Southern  8-6 (12-17)  7. Radford  9-5 (15-16)  8. Liberty  2-12 (5-25)

All-Conference Team Did You Know? G: Andre Smith SR, UNC Asheville G: Pierre Wooten SR, Winthrop G: Joe Knight SO, High Point G: Raymond "Peanut" Arrington SR, Radford F: Torrey Butler SR, Coastal Carolina Player of the Year Andre Smith SR, UNC Asheville Newcomer of the Year Marcus Cooke JR, Winthrop Top Backcourts 1. UNC Asheville 2. Winthrop 3. Coastal Top Frontcourts 1. Elon 2. Winthrop 3. Birmingham-Southern 2002-03 Conference Tournament March 4, First round at home sites of top four seeds March 7-8, Semifinals and finals, Vines Center, Lynchburg, VA 2001-02 Champions UNC-Asheville, Winthrop (tied for regular-season champion) inthrop (tournament champion) 2001-02 NCAA Tournament Postseason Record 0-1 (.000) NCAA Winthrop Perennial league powers Winthrop and Radford were hard-hit by graduation, opening the door to the most wide-open race in years. …Winthrop's strong returning backcourt and an influx of transfer talent make the Eagles the favorite to capture a fifth consecutive conference crown. …Eagles coach Gregg Marshall is 9-0 in BSC Tournament play. …The league's top four finishers in the regular season will play host to first-round tournament games this year in a change of format. …The four first-round winners will advance to Lynchburg, Va., March 7-8, for the semifinals and final. …Previously, all league teams convened at one site for the entire tournament. The league is considering a completely home site format for the future to further reward the top teams in the regular season. 2000-01 BSC Player-of-the-Year Torrey Butler returns this season from a foot injury that shelved him all of last year. …With the return of Butler and some other injured players, Coastal can legitimately list eight returning starters. …The Big South features an abundance of quality point guards, including UNC Asheville's Andre Smith, Winthrop's Pierre Wooten, CSU's Ed O'Neil and Coastal's Alvin Green. HPU's Joe Knight, the league's Rookie of the Year last season, is moving from point guard to shooting guard this year, as is Elon's Ross Sims. …Another key move is Winthrop small forward Tyrone Walker moving into graduated 2001-02 Player of the Year Greg Lewis' power forward slot. New Liberty coach Randy Dunton returns to the Flames where he was interim head coach in 1997-98 and an assistant during the program's most successful Division I years in the mid-90s. …New Radford coach Byron Samuels is a UNC Asheville graduate. …Elon will move over to the Southern Conference next season while Virginia Military Institute leaves the Southern to join the Big South. Former Division II powerhouse Birmingham-Southern will play a full conference schedule this year but won't be eligible for the conference tournament until 2005-06. …The Big South is 0-10 all-time in NCAA Tournament play but no league team has ever been seeded higher than 14th. …The Big South is 1-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament play-in games. …The only collegiate basketball player to ever earn conference player of the year honors four times was Coastal's Tony Dunkin (1989-93).