Senior guard Djibril Diallo selected preseason first-team All-SAC
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HobbsDailyReport.com
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Head men’s basketball coaches in the South Atlantic Conference have picked Lenoir-Rhyne University to finish fifth among 11 teams this season.
SAC officials released preseason information on Wednesday, with Lincoln Memorial gaining seven first-place votes and selected as the conference favorite. Queen was picked second and received four first-place votes.
DIALLO
Carson-Newman and Wingate were picked to finish third and fourth, respectively.
LRU has two preseason All-SAC players, Djibril Diallo, a 6-foot-2 senior guard from Conarky, Giuinea, on the first team and Cory Thomas, a 6-1 senior guard from Louisville, Ky., on the second team.
The Bears return their top four scorers, led by Diallo’s 15.1 points per game (he also averaged 4.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists). He played 31.7 minutes per game a year ago.
Thomas averaged 14.3 points per game last season, playing in all 27 games and shooting 48.7 percent from the field. He averaged 3.3 rebounds per game, scored at least 20 points seven times and had 40 steals.
LRU finished fifth in the SAC last season and fell to Queens in the conference tournament quarterfinals.
The Bears start their 2018-19 season with an exhibition game at Tennessee on Tuesday night, and the regular season opener against Young Harris is Nov. 9 in Hickory.
SAC MEN’S BASKETBALL PRESEASON POLL
1. Lincoln Memorial, 107 points (7 first-place votes)
2. Queens 104 (4 first-place votes)
3. Carson-Newman 84
4. Wingate 76
5. LENOIR-RHYNE 75
6. Catawba 70
7. Newberry, S.C. 58
8. Anderson, S.C. 44
9. Coker 39
10. Tusculum 34
11. Mars Hill 22
PRESEASON-ALL-CONFERENCE
First team
Cornelius Taylor, Lincoln Memorial
Djibril Diallo, Lenoir-Rhyne
Marco Haskins, Wingate
Gage Ellis, Anderson
Malik Abraham, Carson-Newman
Marshall Lange, Newberry
Second team
Jeremy Bouton, Anderson
Khalil Halls, Coker
Shaun Willett, Queens
Cory Thomas, Lenoir-Rhyne
Daniel Carr, Queens
Austin Gilyard, Mars Hill