Newberry picked ninth in preseason poll

ROCK HILL – The South Atlantic Conference has announced their preseason men’s basketball poll and the Newberry Wolves were picked ninth in the 12 team league as they received 44 points. The poll is voted on by the league’s coaches. Junior guard Angelo Sales, Jr. was named to the preseason all-conference second team.

Defending champion Queens was picked first with 117 points, followed by Lincoln Memorial (109) and Catawba (97), who tied for second in the conference standings last season. Catawba was also the SAC Tournament champion. Wingate and Carson-Newman followed in fourth and fifth with 80 and 75 points, respectively.

2019 postseason participant Lenoir-Rhyne and Tusculum were tied for sixth in the poll with 73 points. Anderson followed them in eighth with 44 points. Mars Hill (34), UVa-Wise (22), and Coker (20) rounded out the poll.

Sales, Jr. was named to the preseason all-conference second team after a 2018-19 campaign that saw him average a team-leading 16.1 points and 7.7 rebounds, including a 42 point effort against Coker in the next-to-last regular season contest.

Under new head coach Jason Taylor, the Wolves will look to improve on last season’s 10-18 (5-15 SAC) record. They will open up play at the SAC-Peach Belt Challenge in Florence on November 8th as they will take on Francis Marion.

2019-20 SAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll

2019-20 SAC Men’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference

First Team

Ja’Shawn Brooks, Mars Hill
Marcell Haskett, Catawba
Anthony Brown, Lincoln Memorial
Kamaran Calhoun, Lincoln Memorial
Daniel Carr, Queens
Frankie Johnson, Wingate

Second Team

Angelo Sales Jr., Newberry
Trenton Gibson, Tusculum
Devin Cooper, Catawba
Shawn Benard, Anderson
Van Turner Jr., Queens
Briggs Parris, UVa-Wise