2014-15 Samford Basketball Schedule

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The Southern Conference media has selected Wofford as the preseason favorite for the upcoming 2014-15 men's basketball season, it was officially announced Wednesday at the league's annual SoCon Tip-Off Summit and Media Day.
 
The Terriers, who were also picked first in the coaches poll, earned 23 of 26 first-place votes and finished with 252 points. The Chattanooga Mocs picked up two first-place votes and were tabbed second in preseason balloting.
 
ETSU was slotted in third place with 204 points. The Buccaneers return nine lettermen from a team that advanced to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament a season ago. Mercer (189) earned the final first-place vote and was tabbed fourth. Along with the Bucs, the Bears also join the SoCon from the Atlantic Sun. Mercer went 14-4 in league play a season ago and knocked off Duke in the second round of the NCAA tournament in March.
 
VMI (152) was picked fifth by the league's media. The Keydets returned to the SoCon this summer after spending 11 years in the Big South Conference.
 
Western Carolina (121) came in sixth after advancing to the SoCon Tournament title game a season ago. Head coach Larry Hunter enters his ninth season at the helm in Cullowhee, N.C., and his 21st year as a Division I head coach.
 
The UNCG Spartans (111) were picked seventh. Head coach Wes Miller returns eight letterwinners and three starters for 2014-15.
 
Furman (66) edged Samford (65) for the eighth spot. The Paladins are under second-year head coach Niko Medved, while NBA veteran Scott Padgett takes over for the Bulldogs. The Citadel (44) rounded out the poll.
 
The Padgett Era will officially begin this November as Samford's Padgett starts his opening season at the helm of the Bulldogs' basketball program. Padgett, the former collegiate standout at the University of Kentucky, NCAA national champion and first-round NBA draft pick, was officially named the 28th head basketball coach at Samford University on June 6, 2014.
 
Heading into the 2014-15 campaign, Padgett's Bulldogs boast three seniors (Michael Bradley, Brandon Hayman and Tyler Hood), as well as a trio of juniors, all of which transferred to Samford from a junior college in the summer (Marcus Johnson, Darius Jones-Gibson and Jamal Shabazz).
 
Hood and Bradley will enter the 2014-15 season as the team's top returning scorer and rebounder, respectively, while Hayman, Johnson, Jones-Gibson and Shabazz are expected to help take leadership roles as some of the most athletic players in recent school history.
 
Hood, the Bulldogs' senior forward from Lenoir City, Tenn., averaged 7.9 points and 3.1 rebounds in only 21.2 minutes of playing time last season, while Bradley pulled down 3.6 rebounds per contest in just 12 minutes of action in 2013-14.
 
Knowing that Samford had an abundance of new faces on its roster this season (four true freshmen in Christen Cunningham, Alex Peters, Gerald Smith and Evan Taylor), as well as needing to install new offensive and defensive schemes, Padgett accepted an offer for the Bulldogs to play in the prestigious 2014 Summer of Thunder competition in the Bahamas from Aug. 18-20 in Nassau.
 
Samford completed the event with a perfect 3-0 record as the Bulldogs averaged 97 points per game and won each game by an average margin of 29.
 
The SoCon coaches selected a 10-member preseason all-conference team Wednesday. Karl Cochran was joined on the team by teammates Spencer Collins and Lee Skinner.
 
The Citadel's Ashton Moore was named to the preseason all-conference team, along with ETSU's Rashawn Rembert.
 
Furman's Stephen Croone was named to the preseason team after earning all-conference honors last season. UNCG's Tevon Saddler was named the league's Freshman of the Year by the coaches in 2013-14 and was selected to this year's preseason team.
 
Chattanooga's Casey Jones, who earned all-conference honors a season ago, was selected to the preseason team, along with VMI sophomore QJ Peterson and Western Carolina senior James Sinclair.
 
The 2014-15 season begins Nov. 14, when all 10 SoCon teams take the floor. The 2015 SoCon Championship will be held March 6-9, at the U.S. Cellular Center in Asheville, N.C.
 
2014-15 Southern Conference Basketball
Predicted Order of Finish – Media Poll
 
Team (1st-Place Votes), Total
1. Wofford (23), 252
2. Chattanooga (2), 226
3. ETSU, 204
4. Mercer (1), 189
5. VMI, 152
6. Western Carolina, 121
7. UNCG, 111
8. Furman, 66
9. Samford, 65
10. The Citadel, 44
 
2014-15 Southern Conference Basketball
Predicted Order of Finish – Coaches Poll
 
Team (1st-Place Votes), Total
1. Wofford (8), 80
2. Chattanooga (2), 70
3. ETSU, 65
4. Mercer, 54
5. UNCG, 51
6. VMI, 39
7. Western Carolina, 38
8. Furman, 24
9. The Citadel, 16
10. Samford, 13
 
2014-15 Preseason All-SoCon Team
Ashton Moore, The Citadel
Rashawn Rembert, ETSU
Stephen Croone, Furman
Tevon Saddler, UNCG
Casey Jones, Chattanooga
QJ Peterson, VMI
James Sinclair, Western Carolina
Karl Cochran, Wofford
Spencer Collins, Wofford
Lee Skinner, Wofford
 
2014-15 Preseason Player of the Year
Karl Cochran, Wofford

2014-15 Samford Basketball Schedule