Quan Jackson earns preseason first-team All-Sun Belt honors from Athlon Sports.
Photo by: AJ Henderson - Georgia Southern Athletics
Athlon Sports Picks Men's Basketball to Win Sun Belt
9/17/2019 10:59:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Quan Jackson and Ike Smith are on the publication's all-league team.
STATESBORO – Athlon Sports Preseason College Basketball issue has hit the news stands, and the publication is high on Georgia Southern men's basketball this season. The magazine picks the Eagles to win the Sun Belt Conference and names redshirt junior guard Quan Jackson and redshirt senior guard Ike Smith to its preseason first-team all-league team.
The Eagles return 68 percent of their scoring and 69 percent of their rebounding to the 2019-20 squad. Smith, who received a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA to compete this season, enters the year ranked 13th on the school's career Division I scoring list. He needs 21 points and eight rebounds to become the fifth Eagle with 1,500 career points and 500 boards. Jackson, a third-team All-Sun Belt selection a season ago, is back and enters his junior campaign 309 points shy of 1,000 after averaging 14.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and two steals a contest last year.
Georgia Southern reached 20 wins for the third time in five years in 2018-19, posting a 21-12 mark for the second consecutive season. It's the first time GS has won 20-plus games in back-to-back seasons in 30 years, and GS returns three starters and 10 lettermen for 2019-20.
The Eagles renewed a long-time series with local rival Mercer last season, and the Bears are set to visit Hanner Fieldhouse, along with Radford, which shared the Big South regular-season title. Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina will visit Statesboro for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign as part of home-and-home Sun Belt series as the conference schedule expands to 20 games for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign.
Season tickets for the 2019-20 season start at $100 for general admission seating and $140 for reserved seats. Tickets can be purchased at GSEagles.com/tickets.
The Eagles return 68 percent of their scoring and 69 percent of their rebounding to the 2019-20 squad. Smith, who received a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA to compete this season, enters the year ranked 13th on the school's career Division I scoring list. He needs 21 points and eight rebounds to become the fifth Eagle with 1,500 career points and 500 boards. Jackson, a third-team All-Sun Belt selection a season ago, is back and enters his junior campaign 309 points shy of 1,000 after averaging 14.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and two steals a contest last year.
Georgia Southern reached 20 wins for the third time in five years in 2018-19, posting a 21-12 mark for the second consecutive season. It's the first time GS has won 20-plus games in back-to-back seasons in 30 years, and GS returns three starters and 10 lettermen for 2019-20.
The Eagles renewed a long-time series with local rival Mercer last season, and the Bears are set to visit Hanner Fieldhouse, along with Radford, which shared the Big South regular-season title. Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina will visit Statesboro for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign as part of home-and-home Sun Belt series as the conference schedule expands to 20 games for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign.
Season tickets for the 2019-20 season start at $100 for general admission seating and $140 for reserved seats. Tickets can be purchased at GSEagles.com/tickets.
Players Mentioned
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