Sun Belt Conference Preview

The following preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the most thorough preview available of the upcoming season, order the 2002-03 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518.   Blue Ribbon Forecast No. East Division Team  '01-02 Conf. Rec. (Overall) 1. Western Kentucky  13-1 (28-3)  2. Arkansas Little Rock  5-9 (15-16)  3. Florida International  4-10 (10-20)  4. Middle Tennessee State  6-8 (14-15)  5. Arkansas State  5-9 (15-16)  No. West Division Team  '01-02 Conf. Rec. (Overall) 1. New Mexico State  11-4 (20-11)  2. Louisiana-Lafayette  11-4 (20-10)  3. New Orleans  9-6 (15-14)  4. North Texas  8-7 (15-14)  5. South Alabama  2-13 (7-21)  6. Denver  3-12 (8-20)  All-Conference Team Did You Know? G: Chris Davis SR, North Texas G: Nick Zachery JR, Arkansas-Little Rock C: Chris Marcus SR, Western Kentucky F: Hector Romero SR, New Orleans F: Anthony Johnson SR, Louisiana-Lafayette Player of the Year Hector Romero SR, New Orleans Newcomer of the Year Malerick Bedden JR, South Alabama Top Backcourts 1. Western Kentucky 2. North Texas 3. New Mexico State Top Frontcourts 1. Western Kentucky 2. New Orleans 3. Louisiana-Lafayette 2002-03 Conference Tournament March 6-11, E.A. Diddle Arena, Bowling Green, KY 2001-02 Champions W. Kentucky (East) N. Mexico St., La.-Lafayette (West) W. Kentucky (Conf. tournament) No host team has won the Sun Belt Conference tournament since 1991, a streak that will be put to the test when preseason favorite Western Kentucky welcomes the field to Bowling Green this season. WKU has won the last two tournaments, and its 24 all-time tournament wins is tops in the conference, one ahead of South Alabama. Six of the 10 members of last season's all-conference team return--Louisiana-Lafayette's Anthony Johnson and Michael Southall, Western Kentucky's David Boyden, New Orleans' Hector Romero, Arkansas-Little Rock's Nick Zachery and North Texas' Chris Davis. Four of six players who made the Sun Belt All-tournament Team are back as well--Western Kentucky's Chris Marcus and Patrick Sparks, and Louisiana-Lafayette's Johnson and Southall. New Mexico State's Lou Henson and Louisiana-Lafayette's Jessie Evans are the current deans of the conference, beginning the sixth year of their respective tenures. With 742 career victories, Henson needs five wins to surpass Phog Allen for ninth on the all-time Division I list. The league welcomes two new coaches, South Alabama's John Pelphrey and Middle Tennessee State's Kermit Davis. Pelphrey spent nine years as an assistant at Oklahoma State, Marshall and Florida, while Davis has been a head coach at Idaho, Texas A&M and Southwest Mississippi Junior College.

 

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