STATESBORO – Athlon Sports Magazine put Georgia Southern guards Tookie Brown and Ike Smith on the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team in its college basketball preview issue.

The publication picks the Eagles to finish fourth in the league behind UTA, Louisiana and Georgia State. 

Smith ranked first in the Sun Belt in scoring (19.6 ppg) and field goals made (230), second in free throws made (127) and fifth in field goal percentage (.498) last season. He led the Eagles in scoring in 17 games and scored over 20 points 19 times. He finished the campaign just two points shy of reaching the 1,000-point milestone for his career.

Brown tied for second in the Sun Belt in scoring (17.1 ppg) and ranked first in free throws made (148), sixth in steals (1.4/gm) and fourth in assists (4.0/gm). He scored 20-plus points in six straight games from Dec. 15-Jan. 9 and scored 20-plus points 14 times this season and 30-plus twice. Brown led the Eagles in scoring 12 times and became the first sophomore in school history to go over 1,000 points for his career.

The Eagles have been one of the youngest teams in the country the last two years, and for the second year in a row, Georgia Southern returns 94 percent of its scoring and all five starters. A number of college basketball publications are predicting Georgia Southern to be one of the top teams in the conference. 

Mark your calendars for The Hoops Tip-Off Breakfast, which has become an annual tradition. It will be Oct. 25, in Hanner with doors opening at 7:30 a.m. Contact Dan Adams in the marketing department for more information (dadams@georgiasouthern.edu). 

The Eagles open the campaign with an exhibition game against Georgia College Nov. 1, in Hanner Fieldhouse, and tipoff is at 7 p.m.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides current information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, which is fully responsive across all mobile devices. Information on Eagle athletics can also be found through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics and Instagram.com/GSAthletics. To purchase tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.

In order to expedite entry and provide a safe environment for all patrons and participants, Georgia Southern Athletics has implemented a Clear Bag Policy for all ticketed sporting events, effective Aug. 1, 2017. Fans can find the complete policy as well as an FAQ section at GSEagles.com/ClearBag.