Men's Basketball | November 02, 2023
AUGUSTA, Ga. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team has been selected second in the 2023-24 PBC Preseason Poll, which was released Thursday.
Head coach
Mark Vanderslice's team tallied four first-place votes and totaled 74 points. North Georgia had five first-place nods and was picked to win the league with 76 points. Augusta (66 points) was third and had the other first-place tally.
Lander (57 points), Flagler (46 points), Columbus State (43 points), Georgia Southwestern (30 points), Georgia College & State (24 points), Clayton State (24 points) and USC Beaufort (9 points) rounded out the poll.
A season ago, the Pacers finished 24-9 on the year and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 after picking up tournament wins over No. 5 Catawba and NCAA Southeast Region top seed Augusta.
The reigning PBC regular-season champions return first-team all-conference standout
Tehree Horn, who averaged 15.9 points and 6.3 rebounds a game. He canned 43.9 percent of his shots from the floor and 85.1 percent from the charity stripe. The coaches voted Horn to the preseason all-conference team.
The squad also returns second-team all-PBC standout
Jalen McCoy, who tallied 13.4 points and 4.4 rebounds a game. He connected on 55.4 percent of his shots from the floor, including 43.5 percent from distance, to go along with 84.1 percent from the free throw line.
Third-team all-league standout
Tyler Johnson posted 13.5 points and 5.2 boards a night. He drained 46.6 percent from the field and led the team with 63 steals.
The Pacers open the season Friday, Nov. 10 at Erskine before hosting No. 8 UNC Pembroke on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 2:30 p.m.
| Rank |
Team |
Points |
| 1. |
North Georgia (5) |
76 |
| 2. |
USC Aiken (4) |
74 |
| 3. |
Augusta (1) |
66 |
| 4. |
Lander |
57 |
| 5. |
Flagler |
46 |
| 6. |
Columbus State |
43 |
| 7. |
Georgia Southwestern |
30 |
| 8. |
Georgia College & State University |
24 |
| 9. |
Clayton State |
24 |
| 10. |
USC Beaufort |
9 |
Preseason All-PBC Team:
Malik Bryant, Flagler
Frank Champion, North Georgia
Jacob Cooper, Lander
Tehree Horn, USC Aiken
Ja'Queze Kirby, Augusta
