On the heels of a 16-13 season, the Florida Tech men’s basketball program was selected as the preseason No. 7 team in the Sunshine State Conference Coaches’ Poll, announced Friday. (FIT Image)
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – On the heels of a 16-13 season, the Florida Tech men’s basketball program was selected as the preseason No. 7 team in the Sunshine State Conference Coaches’ Poll, announced Friday.
The Panthers garnered a total of 27 votes, positioned between Tampa and Saint Leo.
Barry earned the nod for the conference’s top spot, receiving six out of a possible nine first-place votes, while reigning national champion Florida Southern was picked third.
Head coach Billy Mims is back at the helm for his 11th season on the Panther bench. In his tenure, Mims has compiled 154 wins, including a .534 winning percentage.
Billy Mims
“The Sunshine State Conference is such a tough conference, the toughest from top to bottom in the nation,” says Mims.
“To be good in this conference you have to be able to win on the road and gut it out and find ways to win close games. In this conference, every win is a tough win.”
Entering his final season in Crimson and Gray, FIT returns two-time SSC Defensive Player of the Year and Sporting News Preseason All-American Corbin Jackson. Jackson is back after leading the league in double-doubles (15) with an average of 13.1 points and 10.1 rebounds per game a year ago.
Teaming up with Jackson, 2014-15 SSC Freshman of the Year Jordan Majors along with transfers Rafael Casanova and Jermohn Queen will help bolster a squad who looks to replace the losses of last year’s leading-scorer Chris Carter and perimeter threat Jermaine Jackson.
The regular season tips off Friday, Nov. 13 as FIT opens the NCAA South Regional Tip-Off Classic at the Clemente Center with a visit from Clark Atlanta.
