Southland names 2017-18 Men’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference Teams

Nine schools earn Preseason All-Conference selections; Abilene Christian claims two spots

FRISCO, Texas – Nine member institutions are represented on the Southland Men’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference Teams, the league announced Tuesday. The announcement comes six days ahead of the Southland’s season preview for all men’s and women’s programs on Basketball Social Media Day at the Toyota Center in Houston.

Abilene Christian is the lone school to score two selections between the two five-man teams. Central Arkansas, Lamar, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Stephen F. Austin, UIW, Houston Baptist, Southeastern Louisiana, Sam Houston State each earned one spot on the teams.

Senior guard Jordan Howard of Central Arkansas headlines the preseason selections. The 5-foot, 11-inch product from Chandler, Ariz., heads into his final campaign for the Bears as the program’s all-time leading three-point scorer with 273 to his name. The back-to-back All-Southland First Team honoree finished the 2016-17 season second in the league in overall and conference scoring with 19.5 points per game and 21.0 points per game, respectively. Howard was also the 2014-15 Freshman of the Year.

Lamar’s Colton Weisbrod, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Ehab Amin, Stephen F. Austin’s TJ Holyfield and UIW’s Jalin Hart join Howard on the first team.

In Southland play, Weisbrod ranked in the top six for scoring (16.7 points per game) and rebounding (7.7). The senior forward from Nederland, Texas, became the first LU player since 2012 to earn an All-Southland First Team selection.

Amin, a native of Alexandria, Egypt, looks to lead the Islander backcourt once again after a 2016-17 season that saw him lead the nation in steals (124). The guard also averaged 18.3 points per game in league action with 7.7 rebounds per game.

The Lumberjacks return their top scorer and rebounder in Holyfield. The junior forward out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, averaged 11.7 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game overall last season.

Hart, the 2016-17 Southland Newcomer of the Year, averaged 17.4 points in the conference season, leading the Cardinals in scoring after transferring from New Mexico Junior College.

The Wildcats’ pair of former Freshman of the Year award winners, Jalone Friday (2016-17) and Jaylen Franklin (2015-16), earned second team preseason distinctions. Friday, a 6-foot, 7-inch center from Oklahoma City, led the Wildcats in scoring (13.7 points per game) and blocks (34). Franklin is the only player voted onto the All-Conference teams. He was named to the team following a 2016-17 season that ranked him first in conference play for assists to turnover ratio (2.1), second in assists (5.1) and second in the league in minutes averaged (34.4).

Houston Baptist’s Josh Ibarra, Southeastern Louisiana’s Marlain Veal and Sam Houston State’s John Dewey III are automatic selections to the second team.

Ibarra, the 6-foot, 11-inch center from Angleton, Texas, enters the season with a chance to finish his career as the Huskies’ all-time leader in shooting percentage (currently at .614; the record is .616). In Southland play, Ibarra averaged 12.8 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game.

The Lions’ Veal led his team in scoring for conference games with 14.3 points per game. The guard from New Orleans also dished out 86 assists in league play.

Dewey finished last season second in the conference for assists in overall games with 4.9 per game. He enters his second season with the Bearkats after averaging 10.1 points per game in conference action.

The Southland Conference will host a Social Media Day in Houston at the Toyota Center on Monday, Oct. 16 to preview both the men’s and women’s basketball seasons from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. CT. All 26 head basketball coaches will be in attendance for Q&As with Southland broadcasters Tatum Everett and Lincoln Rose, interactive social media activities on the Southland’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts and unique one-on-one sessions with women’s basketball Hall-of-Famer Van Chancellor. The event is open to all media members.

The event will be produced for ESPN3 and available for viewing on watchespn.com and the ESPN app at 6 p.m. CT on Oct. 16.

2017-18 Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference Teams

* Automatic selection, 2016-17 All-Conference team member