Big South Conference Overview

Other established conferences in the same boat such as Southland and the Big Sky were also welcomed with arms wide open but that still left many independent schools looking to belong to a conference.  The big mic drop was when was the eastern schools formed two new conferences calling themselves the Atlantic 10 and the Big East. 

A huge amount of primarily basketball schools soon became national players and with the Big Dance expanding beyond one invite conferences, this was the future.   The Big East soon became a major player at the level of legendary leagues the ACC, Big 10, SEC and the PAC-10 and getting as many invites to the now 64 team Big Dance.  Now there was a way forward and many other leagues started forming. 

From a point where there were as many as 25% of the D-1 programs as Indies, most programs realized they would have to join or die.  Leagues formed quickly everywhere such as the Metro and MetroAtlantic plus the TransAmerican, Sun Belt, Mid-Continent, Horizon and the Colonial in all regions of the country.  The movement was nowhere near done but they were still not at a round number so the powers that be decided to scrape the bottom of the barrel and grabbed up their last 8 schools to get to a perfectly symmetrical 300.   Heck, some of these schools have been around for a about a week and the ones that have some history and never been anywhere above D-3 level. 

One of them, Liberty, recently won the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association title which might have been the impetus to them being included in this brand-new league.  Their first year in D-1 was a total disaster as they did not even get an invite to the Big Dance but even worse barely anyone even knows this league exists even in the basketball crazy Carolinas.  Well, they are back for another shot and even if the Big South is the 31st ranked of 31 teams, they are still playing basketball and with an automatic berth this year, the whole world will know in March that at least one of these programs exist.  

The Big South now lives in the dark shadows of not only the monster that is the ACC but also one of the best new mid-majors in the country in the Colonial conference.  These little sisters of the poor are so far down the totem pole that most people do not even know it exists let alone who Winthrop is from High Point!  This is the lowest rated conference in the country but they do get that automatic bid to the Big Dance and will be every bit as competitive as the Big Dogs up on Tobacco Road.  Just without the six ten guys who can jump to the moon.  To prognosticate on this league is difficult as many of these teams are newer especially to D-1 and do not have Blue Chip recruits coming in to impact their programs.  This is not high school ball but these teams do rely on different ways of building programs such as international players and junior college transfers. 

Continuity is still the best approach and with that there are three teams at the top with the most experienced who will most likely compete for the league championship.  Elon will be in the favorite for the title as the Phoenix have a slew of upperclassmen to rely upon.  Senior forward Jesse Branson is the best post player in the league even though he goes a svelte 190 at 6’8. Junior Tommy Cole is cat quick and almost assuredly the best point guard in the league.  Coach William ‘Almost Famous’ Miller has a solid of supporting players as well making them the team to beat in the Big South this year.  There is crazy depth up front for Miller as these ‘Fever Dogs’ come at you in bunches but like most of the returning big men in this league are a bit undersized. 

The second choice will be their Tar Heel neighbors, the UNC-Asheville Bulldogs.  The Bulldogs, under new Coach Eddie Biedenbach, have a veteran group led by senior stud Mickey Gibson who left Kentucky to bring his sweet shooting game to NC.   Biedenbach is a former NC State Wolfpack stud who is taking over for legendary coach Bob Hartman who does not like the cut throat recruiting that goes on at this level.  Gibson is not the only stud here as the Bulldogs have a trio of juniors who can flat play as well.  Guards Jim McIhaney and Bamford Jones are both combo guards (that seems to be all the rage nowadays) and post player Tony Bumphus gives the team toughness and consistent productivity down low. 

Just down the road in High Point (located right in between Winston-Salem and Greensboro) the Panthers are next in line as Coach Jerry Steele has a gifted guard in Senior Gene Littles and a big man in Junior Pete Collins to hold his team together.  The other five teams are in the same boat trying to build programs to compete but in a league like this one a team can move up quickly with good coaching and one strong recruiting class.  The Liberty Flames and Radford Highlanders have decided to go the foreign route to bring in some big men from overseas who could dominate in a league where most post players are nowhere near seven feet tall.  The Flames are going the Nigerian route and Radford has decided to step into the Russian world to bring in big men that hopefully will move these programs up quickly. 

Liberty is the program that recently won the National Christian tournament and this school has a huge amount of students enrolled even it is online.  The newest school to D-1, the Flames have some solid returnees including guards Karl Hess and Bailey Alston who from as dynamic of a back court as their in the league.  The front court is small but if these two Nigerian kids are anywhere near the real deal, Coach Jeff Meyer’s team could surprise.  The Highlanders have an impressive recruiting class behind Coach Ron Bradley.  He has a couple of near seven footers coming in as well but the only real stud he has coming back is junior guard Wallace Foster.  It can’t hurt upgrading your entire roster in this league but even here experience counts.  But nothing beats size and talent.  Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina and Winthrop, all three from South Carolina ironically, are at the bottom looking up but stranger things have happened and no one would be surprised if any of these 8 teams represent the Big South at the Big Dance!  The Chanticleers do have arguably the best guard in the league coming back in junior Howard White.  White can score and distribute but Coach Russ Bergman wants to find a true point guard to play next to him.  He is also recruiting athletic wings who can shoot the three as the Chants will be like many younger programs in the country relying on the long-range shot to compete.  Bergman does have a solid group of big men to build upon though none of these kids seem to go over 6’4.  Coach Gregg Marshall had a great recruiting class in his first year at Winthrop and will count on these kids again.  The Eagles needed it as this program is almost as new as Liberty and needed some bodies to compete which they had a hard time doing last year.  Sophomores Charles Brunson and Fred McKinnon form a solid group of forwards but Marshall will be looking to upgrade most everywhere else and has supposedly got almost as good of a class coming in as he did last year.  Coach Tommy Gaither has a bit more experience in Charleston but needs to get better on the perimeter.  Senior Jim Gardner and Junior Dan Franz form a fine combo on the post but the Buccaneers do not have much else.  But in reality like all of the other teams in this league this year will be decided by not so much who is coming back but who is coming in. 

If anybody tells you they know who is going to win this league in it’s inaugural foray into attempting to get a tournament bid, they would be lying.  Still, these teams will compete and I guarantee you there are some kids you have never heard of that are going to have terrific years for their programs in the Big South.  The key is who will get the most talent other program’s have missed and which coach can blend these young men into the most cohesive units.  But isn’t that the case for North Carolina and Clemson and yes, even George Mason and William & Mary too?