HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team was picked third in the 2021-22 Southland Conference Preseason Poll, the league office announced Tuesday afternoon.
The Lions, under third-year head coach
David Kiefer, have reason for the respect and optimism handed out by the league Tuesday.
SLU boasts a first team preseason All-Southland selection in guard
Keon Clergeot who led the Lions in scoring last season (15.9 ppg).
The Lions also possess second team selection, forward
Gus Okafor. The Baltimore, Maryland native provides the Lions with toughness and leadership. The junior led Southeastern in rebounding with 162 (6.5 rpg) and steals (31) during the 2020-21 season.
Sophomore
Nick Caldwell also had a breakout year last season and could be a dark horse for All-Southland. The Geismar, Louisiana native led the team in blocked shots last year and was second behind Okafor in rebounding with 140 (5.4 rpg).
Kiefer's newcomers also help boost the optimism surrounding the Lions. SLU inked five transfers highlighted by Kansas State transfer
Antonio Gordon (F, 6-9). Gordon is long and athletic which gives Southeastern a finisher at the rim.
Sharp-shooting newcomer
Ryan Burkhardt could also be a valuable piece of the Lions' resurgence. The graduate transfer from North Florida University shot 40 percent from the three-point line during his NFU career (132-for-329).
The Lions also have a couple of blue chip newcomers in
Roscoe Eastmond (Denver University Transfer, Guard, 5-9),
Jalyn Hinton (Florida Southern Transfer, Forward, 6-6) and
Roger McFarlane (Dodge City JUCO Transfer, 6-5, Guard).
Nicholls (18-7, 14-2 Southland in 2020-21) is picked to win the league with eight first place votes while UNO (10-15, 8-7 Southland in 2020-21 is right behind the Colonels with seven top votes.
2021-22 Southland Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
|
School (First-place votes) |
Total |
| 1. |
Nicholls (8) |
91 |
| 2. |
New Orleans (7) |
90 |
| 3. |
Southeastern (1) |
69 |
| 4. |
Northwestern State |
58 |
| 5. |
McNeese |
49 |
| 6. |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
37 |
| 7. |
UIW |
32 |
| 8. |
HBU |
22 |
HARDWOOD CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the basketball program are encouraged to join the Hardwood Club. Lion alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letterwinners. All membership fees and donations to Hardwood Club are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern basketball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at
laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting
www.LionUp.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Basketball, follow @LionUpMBB and @DavidKieferSLU on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit
www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern is implementing mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets for the 2020-21 season. All tickets will be available via e-mail in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
