ROCK HILL, S.C. - The South Atlantic Conference has announce that the Queens Men's Basketball team have been picked to win the 2021-22 South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Championship as voted by the League's head coaches. The Royals picked up seven first-place votes and received 150 total points in the poll.
Queens finished the 2020-21 season with a 16-6 record, including earning its sixth consecutive NCAA Southeast Regional bid and finishing as the runner-up of the 2021 SAC Men's Basketball Tournament Championship. The Royals enter the 2021-22 season as the No. 16 team nationally according to the
National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). Guard
Kenny Dye is back to lead the way for the Royals and is a 2021 preseason first team all-conference selection after finishing last season on the All-SAC second team and the NABC All-District team for averaging 13.5 points and 5.8 assists.
Forward
Jamari Smith joins Dye as a first team preseason all-conference selection after battling back from injury in 2020-21 to lead the team in scoring with 16.9 points per game to go along with his 5.8 rebounds per game as well. Smith finished last season as an All-SAC and All-District second team selection after shooting 52 percent from the field.
The Royals had one more preseason all-conference nod as forward
Gavin Rains was voted onto the second team. Rains started all 22 games, averaging 28 minutes per contest and leading the team and conference in rebounding with 9.1 rebounds per game. Rains also finished the season as a second team All-SAC selection as he racked up 11.7 points per game and shot 58 percent from the field.
Queens will sound once again on the glass as they return their top five rebounders from last season who helped the Royals top the league in rebounding with 41.8 rebounds per game. Queens will return it's top six scorers from last season's squad that averaged 80.8 points per game, a top three mark in the league. The Royals were also top three in the conference in field goal percentage (47.7%), 3PT percentage (38.8%), assists per game (16.3), steals per game (7.1) and opponents points per game (69.7).
Here is a look at how the remaining teams in the SAC stack up:
2021-22 SAC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
| Rank |
School (First-Place votes) |
Points |
| 1 |
Queens (7) |
150 |
| 2 |
Carson-Newman (5) |
145 |
| 3 |
Tusculum |
131 |
| 4 |
Lincoln Memorial (1) |
128 |
| 5 |
Newberry |
108 |
| 6 |
Wingate |
93 |
| 7 |
Catawba |
88 |
| 8 |
Anderson |
85 |
| 9 |
Lenoir-Rhyne |
80 |
| 10 |
Coker |
50 |
| 11 |
Limestone |
43 |
| 12 |
Mars Hill |
42 |
| 13 |
UVA Wise |
27 |
Queens regular season tips-off on November 12th vs. Young Harris College as a part of the Southeast Regional Challenge to be hosted inside the Curry Arena.
For more details on the teams, Queens Athletics and how you can secure your basketball season tickets today, visit
www.queensathletics.com
