NEW ORLEANS – With the start of the Georgia Southern men's basketball season just 20 days away, head coach Brian Burg and fifth-year senior Jalen Finch represented the Eagles at Sun Belt Media Day in the Superdome Wednesday.

Burg and Finch took the main stage for an in-person and zoom media session at 9:25 a.m. ET. Burg mentioned the Eagles return nine letterwinners who have a lot of college basketball experience and a lot of familiarity playing together.

"We have a lot of continuity and a lot of experience in regards to our returning class, and we also have a  great recruiting class – four guys who are winners and who will make an immediate impact in our program," Burg said. "We have nine returners, and we have three guys in Kaden Archie, Kamari Brown and Jalen Finch, who are going into their fifth year of college basketball. Seeing it over the summer, they are stepping up their leadership. I'm extremely excited for those three guys. They know it's their last year, and they have one common goal and that's to win."

Georgia Southern was picked 11th in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches Poll that was released Monday with no representatives on the three preseason all-conference teams. Burg indicated the Eagles' focus is on competing for titles rather than preseason honors.

"We're going to walk into nine Sun Belt arenas this season, and there will be no preseason banners hanging from the walls," said Burg. "Myself, our staff, our program – we're focused on postseason accolades, having the ability to compete for championships. I think preseason accolades are great, especially for the guys who have been honored, but we have one common goal, and that's to win at the highest level and then all those accolades will take care of themselves."

The Eagles open the season at San Jose State Nov. 8, in a 10 p.m. ET tipoff. Georgia Southern will host 16 contests in Hanner Fieldhouse, the most since the 1991-92 season. The home slate includes a run of six consecutive home games beginning Nov. 26 against Oglethorpe, and includes contests against FGCU (Nov. 30), Piedmont (Dec. 7), Wofford (Dec. 10), Morehead State (Dec. 14) and Campbell (Dec. 17). 

That stretch of home consecutive home games is also the most for the Eagles since 1991-92, when GS capped the season with three straight home contests before hosting and winning the TAAC Tournament in Hanner to earn the Eagles' last NCAA Tournament bid. 

The season will culminate with the 2023 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Championship at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Florida, from Tuesday, February 28 to Monday, March 6. All games will air on ESPN+ with the title tilt broadcast nationally on ESPN2.

Fans can renew their Georgia Southern basketball season tickets by visiting GSEagles.com/renewals before Oct. 21. Fans interested in purchasing season tickets, which start as low as $100, can call 1-800-GSU-WINS.