Wofford men picked 4th, Furman 5th in SoCon Coaches Poll

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Samford Bulldogs are the preseason favorites to win the 2024-25 men's basketball title in polling of the league's 10 head coaches, while Chattanooga senior guard Trey Bonham is the coaches' selection as the preseason player of the year. The coaches, who also picked a 10-member preseason all-conference team, were not allowed to vote for their own teams or student-athletes as part of the balloting. Six different programs were represented on the preseason All-SoCon squad, with ETSU, Samford, Chattanooga and Wofford all receiving two selections. Samford collected six first-place votes and 77 points in the preseason poll. Head coach Bucky McMillan, who is the reigning three-time Anton Foy Coach of the Year, led his team to a 29-6 last season en route to scoring the third-most points in a season in conference history, finishing with 3,012 as a team. After winning the regular season title with a 15-3 league mark, Samford went on to win the SoCon tournament, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000. The Bulldogs placed two players on the preseason All-SoCon team, with graduate student Rylan Jones making the squad alongside Tulane transfer Collin Holloway.

Chattanooga checked in second in the poll with 73 points and two first-place votes. The Mocs, led by head coach Dan Earl, went 21-12 overall and 12-6 in SoCon play during the 2023-24 season. The Chattanooga backcourt consists of Bonham and Honor Huff, both of whom are members of the preseason all-conference team. Bonham averaged 16.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game last season in 22 games played, leading to him being a first-team all-conference selection following the season.

ETSU is third in the preseason poll with 67 points and the final two first-place votes. The Bucs were 19-16 last season with an 8-10 conference mark, but finished strong down the stretch of the season, culminating in a SoCon Tournament championship game appearance. Guard Quimari Peterson and forward Jaden Seymour represent the squad on the preseason team.

Wofford came in fourth with 58 points. The Terriers finished the 2023-24 season with a 10-8 SoCon record and 17-15 overall ledger. Senior guard Corey Tripp and senior center Kyler Filewich made the preseason all-conference team for Wofford.

Furman checks in at No. 5 in the poll, earning 47 points. Senior guard PJay Smith Jr. is on the preseason all-conference team. UNCG finished in sixth place in the preseason poll with 41 points, with junior Donovan Atwell rounding out the preseason team.

Mercer (35), Western Carolina (25), The Citadel (17) and VMI (10) rounded out the poll. The Bears and the Catamounts are both under the direction of new head coaches. Ryann Ridder is the new head man at Mercer and Tim Craft is now the leader of Western Carolina's squad.

The 2024-25 season gets underway Monday, Nov. 4, with nine SoCon teams in action, while Mercer opens its season on Thursday, Nov. 7. The 2025 Ingles SoCon Men's Basketball Championship will be held March 7-10 at Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville in Asheville, North Carolina.

Trey Bonham, Sr., G, ChattanoogaQuimari Peterson, Sr., G, ETSU

Jaden Seymour, R-Sr., F, ETSU

Pjay Smith, Sr., G, Furman

Donovan Atwell, Jr., G/F, UNCG Collin Holloway, Sr., F, Samford

Rylan Jones, Gr., G, Samford Honor Huff, Jr., G, Chattanooga

Trey Bonham, Sr., G, Chattanooga

Kyler Filewich, Sr., C, Wofford

Corey Tripp, Sr., G, Wofford