The 2024 Hercules Tires Big South tournament will tip-off Wednesday night at 8pm at the Nido and Mariana Qubein Center in High Point, NC when eight-seeded USC Upstate takes on nine-seeded Radford. Of course, the team that wins the tournament will punch their ticket to hearing their name called on selection Sunday before participating in the big dance. Here’s what you can expect out of this tournament:
The Favorite: The one-seeded High Point Panthers will enter the tournament with their first one seed since the 2015-16 campaign. The Panthers won the Big South regular season with a 13-3 record in conference play and as a result, Head Coach Alan Huss won Big South coach of the year in just his first year as the school’s head coach. Their most impressive win of the season came on a home victory by a score of 97-71 vs Western Carolina. They are led by Troy transfer, junior guard Duke Miles. In his first year for the Panthers he led them in scoring, averaging 17.8 ppg on 53.9% shooting while adding 2.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists. He also averages 1.2 steals per game. Sophomore Forward Kamani Hamilton would be the team’s Most Improved Player. Posting a slashline of 2.6/1/0.6 in 12 games in 2022-23 on Mississippi State, those numbers have skyrocketed in 2023-24 to 15.5/7.3/2.3 for Hamilton. Other players that average double digit scoring are UTEP transfer junior guard Kezza Giffa (15.6) and sophomore guard Abdoulaye Thiam (12.9). Their first contest will come on Friday and they will play the winner of eight-seeded USC Upstate and nine-seeded Radford.
The Challenger: The defending Big South champions, UNC-Asheville, enter this year’s tournament one spot lower in the seeding than a year ago as the two seed. While High Point is the favorite, UNC-Asheville split the season series with the Panthers so they have what it takes to take them down to try and punch back to back tickets to selection sunday. Their most impressive win came on the road on December 21 as they knocked off Sun Belt contender Appalachian State, 76-63. The UNC-Asheville Bulldogs are led by senior forward Drew Pember who averages 20.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and almost two (1.9) blocks per game. Pember transferred from Tennessee following the 2020-21 season. The Bulldogs have multiple threats that can hammer home the three ball. Senior guard and incoming VCU transfer, Josh Banks, made himself at home for the Bulldogs this year contributing 13 ppg on 39.7% shooting from beyond the arc. Senior guard Fletcher Abee has his best three-point percentage of his college career at 42.4%, contributing 11 ppg. UNC-Asheville’s quest to become back to back Big South champions begins Friday at 6 p.m. against Charleston Southern.
Darkhorse: If there’s one team to stop either of the teams previously mentioned from marching into the tournament, the Eagles of Winthrop have what it takes. The Eagles enter the 2024 Tournament as the four seed to face fifth-seeded Longwood in the second round on at 2 p.m. They have played South Carolina (lost 72-62) and Florida State (lost 67-61) relatively close in road settings. While they went 0-4 vs UNC-Asheville and High Point in conference play, they were in each game. They lost both games to the Bulldogs by a total of nine points and against the Panthers that total was six. Key player for Winthrop is senior forward Kelton Talford who averages 14.3 points on an efficient 62.3 field-goal percentage, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game.
My Pick: The High Point Panthers