2018–19 Big South Conference men's basketball season

The 2018–19 Big South Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2018, followed by the start of the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began in January 2019 and concluded in February 2019. The season marked the 35th season of Big South Conference basketball.

2018–19 Big South Conference men's basketball season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Basketball
Duration	November 2018 through March 2019
Number of teams	11
Regular Season
Champion	Campbell & Radford
Season MVP	Chris Clemons, Campbell
Tournament
Champions	Gardner-Webb
Runners-up	Radford
Finals MVP	D.J. Laster - Gardner-Webb
Big South Conference men's basketball seasons
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

2018–19 Big South men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Campbell	12	–	4		.750			20	–	13		.606
Radford	12	–	4		.750			22	–	11		.667
Winthrop	10	–	6		.625			18	–	12		.600
Gardner–Webb †	10	–	6		.625			23	–	12		.657
High Point	9	–	7		.563			16	–	15		.516
Charleston Southern	9	–	7		.563			18	–	16		.529
Presbyterian	9	–	7		.563			20	–	16		.556
Hampton	9	–	7		.563			18	–	17		.514
Longwood	5	–	11		.313			16	–	18		.471
UNC Asheville	2	–	14		.125			4	–	27		.129
USC Upstate	1	–	15		.063			6	–	26		.188
† 2019 Big South tournament winner

On December 21, 2018, Campbell's Chris Clemons became the all-time leading scorer in Big South history. He passed VMI guard Reggie Williams' 2,556 career point total in a game against Austin Peay.^[1]

Preseason

Conference realignment

During the 2018 offseason, one school left the Big South and two joined.

On successive days in November 2017, two schools were unveiled as incoming members—former ASUN Conference member USC Upstate on the 15th,^[2] followed by former MEAC member Hampton.^[3]

Liberty, which had started a transition to FBS football in the 2017 season, had initially reached an agreement with the Big South that it would continue to house all of its other sports (except for field hockey and women's swimming, neither of which is sponsored by the Big South) in that conference after becoming classified as an FBS independent from the 2018 season forward.^[4] However, in May 2018, Liberty changed course, announcing that all of its other Big South sports would instead move to the ASUN.^[5]

Coaching changes

• On March 2, 2018, Longwood head coach Jayson Gee was fired.^[6] He finished at Longwood with a five-year record of 42–120. On March 22, the school hired UMBC assistant Griff Aldrich as head coach.^[7]
• On March 7, 2018, High Point head coach Scott Cherry and the school mutually agreed to part ways after 9 seasons.^[8] On March 26, the school hired High Point alumnus Tubby Smith as head coach.^[9]
• On March 24, 2018, UNC Asheville coach Nick McDevitt accepted the head coaching job at Middle Tennessee.^[10] He finished at UNC Asheville with a five-year record of 98–65. On April 11, the school hired Texas assistant Mike Morrell.^[11]

Preseason poll

Source^[12]

Rank	Team
1	Radford (28)
2	Winthrop (2)
3	Hampton (2)
4	Campbell
5	Charleston Southern
6	Gardner–Webb (1)
7	High Point
8	UNC Asheville
9	Presbyterian
10	Longwood
11	USC Upstate

() first place votes

Preseason All-Conference Teams

Source^[13]

Award	Recipients
First Team	Chris Clemons (Campbell) Ed Polite (Radford) Christian Keeling (Charleston Southern) David Efianayi (Gardner-Webb) Jermaine Marrow (Hampton)
Second Team	Carlik Jones (Radford) Jahaad Proctor (High Point) Josh Ferguson (Winthrop) Isaiah Walton (Longwood) Deion Holmes (USC Upstate)

Big South Preseason Player of the Year: Chris Clemons (Campbell)

Regular season

Conference matrix

Season summary & highlights

Conference regular season

Midseason watchlists

Postseason

Big South tournament

Main article: 2019 Big South Conference men's basketball tournament

Highlights

NCAA Tournament

Main article: 2019 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

National Invitation Tournament

Main article: 2019 National Invitation Tournament

Awards and honors

Notes and references

1. Allen, Jim (December 22, 2018). "Chris Clemons Becomes Big South's All-Time Scorer". Big South Conference. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
2. "Big South to add USC Upstate as Full Member" (Press release). Big South Conference. November 15, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
3. "Big South Adds Hampton University as Full Member" (Press release). Big South Conference. November 16, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
4. "Big South Conference Announces Decision on Liberty's Membership Status" (Press release). Liberty University Athletics. September 22, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
5. "ASUN Conference Announces Liberty University as League Member for 2018-19" (Press release). ASUN Conference. May 17, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
6. Jones, Torrance (March 2, 2018). "Report: Jayson Gee relieved of duties at Longwood". midmajormadness.com. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
7. "Longwood Names UMBC's Griff Aldrich Head Men's Basketball Coach" (Press release). Longwood Athletics. March 22, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
8. Srakokic, Keith (March 7, 2018). "Scott Cherry out as High Point University head coach". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
9. "Tubby Smith agrees to coach alma mater High Point". USA TODAY. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
10. Goodman, Jeff (March 24, 2018). "Nick McDevitt joins Middle Tennessee St. after lengthy run at UNC Asheville". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
11. "Morrell Named Head Coach of UNC Asheville Men's Basketball Program - UNC Asheville". UNC Asheville.
12. Shelton, David (October 23, 2018). "Charleston Southern picked fifth in Big South basketball preseason poll". The Post and Courier. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
13. "Big South Announces 2018-19 Men's Basketball Preseason Awards". Big South Conference. October 20, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2018.