SFA Tabbed Favorite in SLC Preseason Polls
10/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
FRISCO, Texas – The two-time defending Southland Conference regular-season and reigning tournament champion Stephen F. Austin men’s basketball team was named the preseason favorite to repeat in a vote by the league’s coaches and sports information directors, the conference office announced Wednesday.
“I think anytime your coaches and peers think highly of you and vote you as a preseason favorite that it is a good sign,” head coach Brad Underwood said. “We are excited and looking forward to the challenge this season will bring. It has been a while since the preseason favorite has won the league, and that shows the great strength in this conference. The league returns a lot of key players on the opposing teams and we look forward to the upcoming conference race.
“Last season’s team accomplished so much and had a great amount of success and because of that, we know that we are going to have a bullseye on our backs. This team has a tough schedule ahead of them, but they are working hard every day to prepare for it. This team is not last season’s team, but their own, and they will find their own identity in this program as we go forward in what should be an exciting season.”
SFA received 11 first-place votes from the coaches for 143 total points while picking up 10 first-place nods from the SIDs and 144 total points.
The preseason pick comes one day after the league’s announcement of the preseason All-SLC teams entering the 2014-15 season. Senior Jacob Parker, a Lou Henson All-American and the league’s reigning conference player of the year, led the way on the first team, with junior Thomas Walkup, the SLC Tournament MVP, being tabbed to the second team.
Coach Underwood has the Lumberjacks coming off a program-best 32-3 season, including a perfect 18-0 record in conference play and berth in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. After clinching both SLC regular season and tournament titles to make the program’s second-ever appearance in the big dance, Underwood put SFA on the national map, upsetting fifth-seeded VCU in the second round on a four-point play to send the game into overtime where the ‘Jacks prevailed 77-75. With the win over Shaka Smart’s havoc-run VCU squad, Underwood picked up the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win and set a new school record for most wins in a single season at 32.
With 32 wins, Underwood finished the season ranked third all-time in the NCAA’s top 10 best career starts at the Division I level. Underwood passed Steve Prohm (Murray State – 31-12, 2012) and Jamie Dixon (Pittsburgh – 31-5, 2004) with the NCAA Tournament win. At the conclusion of the season, Underwood was named the 2014 Joe B. Hall Award recipient, given annually to the nation's top first-year coach. He was also the 2013-14 SLC Coach of the Year, NABC UPS Division I District 23 Coach of the Year and the 2014 Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC) Coach of the Year, in addition to being a finalist for the 2014 Jim Phelan (top Division I coach) and Hugh Durham (top mid-major coach) awards.
SFA, which had its nation-leading 29-game overall win streak ended by fourth-seeded UCLA in the third round of the NCAA Tournament, carries both its home and road winning streaks over into next season. The ‘Jacks will enter 2014-15 tied with Duke for the longest active home winning streak at 33 straight and tied with Wichita State for the longest active road win streak at 12 games. SFA also lead the nation with 14 road wins in the 2013-14 season, closing out its conference road schedule at 9-0 in Week 17, the first time the ‘Jacks have gone undefeated on the road since making the transition to Division I.
SFA returns three starters from last season in Parker, Walkup and junior Trey Pinkney. The trio started every game for the ‘Jacks last season. Parker has started every game each of the past two seasons.
Parker averaged 14. 2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, recording 10 double-doubles as a junior in 2013-14. The native of Bixby, Okla., ended the season ranked among the conference leaders in several statistical categories, including fifth in offensive rebounds (2.5), seventh in rebounding (7.1) and free throw percentage (.799), eighth in field goal percentage (.538), 11th in defensive rebounds (4.6), 12th in scoring (14.2) and 14th in steals (1.4). Parker scored in double figures in all but six of the team's 35 games and scored 20 points or more six times.
Walkup led the team and ranked fifth in the conference in field goal percentage (.568), ranking third in the league in conference-only games (.629). The native of Pasadena, Texas, also led the team and ranked 11th the league in average offensive rebounds (2.3) and conference-only scoring average (14.7), finishing third on the team and 18th in the SLC in scoring (460). Walkup recorded four double-doubles, with two coming in the second and third round of the NCAA Tournament.
Pinkney averaged 3.5 assists, 3.0 points and 1.9 rebounds per game at point guard as a sophomore. The native of Katy, Texas, led the team and finished fifth in the SLC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.0) and 10th in assists (121). Pinkney recorded four assists or more in 12 games, including a career-high nine, which he set against Incarnate Word (2/1) and later tied against Northwestern State (3/14) in the SLC Tournament.
In addition to returning starters Parker (Sr., F), Walkup (Jr., G/F) and Pinkney (Jr., G), the `Jacks return eight letterwinners from last season in all with Connor Brooks (Sr., G/F), Tanner Clayton (Sr., F), Dallas Cameron (So., G), Justin Dotson (So., SG) and Jason Martin (So., G). Underwood also welcomes six newcomers to the fold for 2014-15 in Ty Charles (Fr., G), Demetrious Floyd (Jr., G), Clide Geffrard (Jr., F), Jared Johnson (Jr., G), Jaxon Holden (Fr., G) and Caleb Johnston (Fr., G/F), along with Bobby King (Sr./F), a transfer from Florida A&M.
SFA opens its season on Friday, Nov. 14, against Mississippi College, before taking part in ESPN's 24-hour College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon on Tuesday, Nov. 18, hosting Northern Iowa in an 8 a.m. tip on ESPN2.
The 2015 Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament will be held March 11-14, at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas, and will feature an eight-team single-elimination format.
2014-15 Men’s Basketball Preseason Polls
Coaches’ Poll
Place Team (first place votes), Total
1. Stephen F. Austin (11), 143
2. Northwestern State (1), 129
3. Sam Houston State,118
4. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (1), 115
5. McNeese State, 96
6. UIW, 76
7. Southeastern Louisiana, 71
8. Nicholls, 68
9. New Orleans, 61
10. Lamar, 50
11. Abilene Christian, 31
12. Central Arkansas, 29
13. Houston Baptist, 27
SID Poll
Place Team (first place votes), Total
1. Stephen F. Austin (10), 144
2. Northwestern State (3), 129
T3. Sam Houston State, 114
T3. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 114
5. McNeese State, 98
6. UIW, 78
7. Southeastern Louisiana, 75
8. Nicholls, 64
9. New Orleans, 60
10. Lamar, 47
11. Central Arkansas, 41
T12. Abilene Christian, 26
T12. Houston Baptist, 26
(Abilene Christian and UIW are in their second year of transition into Division I, they will not be eligible for postseason play until 2017-18)
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