BOSTON – Georgia Southern guard Ike Smith has been named to the 2017-18 Lou Henson Award preseason Watch List, it was announced today. 

The award is presented annually to the nation's top Division I mid-major player and will be announced March 31, 2018, at the CollegeInsider.com Awards Event in San Antonio, site of the men's NCAA Basketball Championship.

A first-team preseason All-Sun Belt selection in a poll by the league's 12 head coaches, Smith earned first-team all-league accolades a season ago.

The junior 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. Smith 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.

Smith joins Kevin Hervey (UTA), Bryce Washington (Louisiana), D'Marcus Simmonds (Georgia State) and Jordon Varnado from the Sun Belt on the list.

Georgia Southern opens the regular season at Wake Forest Friday, Nov. 10, at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ACC Extra and can be seen at WatchESPN.com and on the Watch ESPN App. 

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.