Men's Basketball | 10/21/2015 11:27:00 AM

NEW ORLEANS – The Georgia Southern men's basketball team has been picked 10th in the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, released today.

UL Lafayette was picked to win the league and garnered nine first-place votes, and Georgia State was picked second with the other two first-place votes. Ragin' Cajun senior forward Shawn Long was named the Preseason Student-Athlete of the Year.

The Eagles were picked ninth in the Preseason Coaches Poll a season ago, finished second in the regular-season standings and advanced to the Sun Belt Championship title game where they fell by two points to Georgia State.

Georgia Southern returns two starters and four lettermen to the 2015-16 squad. With 11-of-12 scholarship players who are either freshmen, redshirt freshmen or sophomores, Georgia Southern is one of the youngest teams in the country.

"You can't rush experience, and you can't rush maturity," said Georgia Southern coach Mark Byington. "Those are things in life that require time, and this is going to be a team that gets better and better throughout the year. There is going to be some adversity and rough times just like every team faces, and sometimes even more challenging for a young team, and I think you are going to see the progression of an upward climb that we're going to get to by March."

Season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at GSEagles.com/tickets. Season ticket options are available for both general admission and reserved seating. Fans can enjoy chair-back seats in the reserved sections for $90 a season ticket for either men's or women's basketball. Alternatively, general admission season tickets are $65 and are located behind the baskets on bleachers. A combo package is also available for $120 and includes both men's and women's basketball contests. 

 Preseason Coaches' Poll
(First place votes in parenthesis)
1. UL Lafayette-119 (9)
2. Georgia State-108 (2)
3. UL Monroe-97
4. Arkansas State-71
5. Little Rock-68
6. Appalachian State-64
7. South Alabama-56
8. UT Arlington-48
Texas State-48
10. Georgia Southern-28
11. Troy-19

Preseason First Team All-Conference
Anthony Livingston (Arkansas State, Jr., F, Interdisciplinary Studies)
Shawn Long (UL Lafayette, Sr., F/C, General Studies)
Ken Williams (South Alabama, Jr., Guard, Interdisciplinary studies)
Emani Gant (Texas State, Sr., Forward)
Wesley Person (Troy, So., Guard, Global Business)

Preseason Second Team All-Conference
Frank Eaves (Appalachian State, Sr., Guard, Management) 
Markus Crider (Georgia State, Sr., Forward, Speech)
Kevin Ware (Georgia State, Sr., Guard, Religious Studies)
Josh Hagins (Little Rock, Sr., Guard, Health Science)
Majok Deng (UL Monroe, Sr., Forward, General Studies)

Preseason Third Team All-Conference
Jeremy Hollowell (Georgia State, RS-Jr., Forward, Interdisciplinary Studies)
Roger Woods (Little Rock, Sr., Forward, Criminal Justice)
Devonta Walker (UL Lafayette, Sr., F, General Studies)
Jay Wright (UL Lafayette, Jr., G, General Studies)
Nick Coppola (UL Monroe, Jr., Guard, Risk Management and Insurance)

Preseason Student-Athlete of the Year
Shawn Long (UL Lafayette, Sr., F/C, General Studies)
 
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. For tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.