The “Anything But Mid” Podcast turns its men’s basketball preview series to the Southern, Southland and Summit. SoCon John Hooper joins Ian Sacks and Frank DeBari to dive into this trio of conferences.
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SoCon
Furman won the tournament championship for the second time in the last four years and enters the new season as the favorite with 10 of the 11 first-place votes in the conference’s preseason poll. Bob Richey brought in several impressive players in the transfer portal,
including Marcus Kell (13.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg) from Western Carolina, Jaxson Bell (12.2 ppg, 5 rpg) from Army and Luka Toews (4.2 ppg, 1.8 rpg) from Boston College. They join returner Charles Johnston (9.8 ppg, 9 rpg, 1.7 rpg).
Tennessee Tech is new to the conference and will be led by first-year head coach Tobin Anderson, who was previously the head man at Fairleigh Dickinson and Iona. The Golden Eagles are headlined by Trent Mosquera (13.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg at Le Moyne last season) and Davante Hackett (13.6 ppg at Stonehill).
ETSU won the regular-season championship last season, but Brooks Savage lost his top four scorers from that group. Jordan McCollum (8.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg) is the top returning scorer. Brayden Crump (6.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and Maki Johnson (5.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg) are also back. Watch out for BJ Ward (10.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 3.7 apg), who comes to Johnson City from SEMO.
Southland
Stephen F. Austin and McNeese were the top two teams in the conference last season.
The Cowboys won their third straight championship and went dancing in year one of the Bill Armstrong era after going 19-3 in the conference. Larry Johnson (17.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg) was sensational last season. Jarrell Colbert (5.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg) is also back for McNeese. Corey Chest comes in from Ole Miss, and Elijah “Choppa” Moore joins the program from Utah.
SFA ran to a 20-2 record in the Southland but lost six of its top seven scorers. Narit Chotikavanic is the top returner (9.6 ppg on 40% from 3-point land). Gediminas Alisas (4.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg) is also back.
Summit League
North Dakota State swept the regular-season and tournament championships last year behind a balanced attack. The top returning scorer for David Richman’s squad is Andy Stefonowicz, who posted 9.3 points per game last season. The guard led the Summit League with 5.1 assists per game and also tallied 1.7 steals a night.
St. Thomas has finished second in the standings each of the last two seasons but lost in the title game in 2025 and fell by one in the semifinals last March. Johnny Tauer’s team is highlighted by returners Kendall Blue (12.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 42% from 3-point land) and Carter Bjerke (9.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 45% from deep).
South Dakota State has a loaded roster for year two of the Bryan Petersen era. Joe Sayler (14.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.4 apg, 41% from 3-point land) headlines the returners and was named preseason player of the year. Kalen Garry (10.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.2 apg) is also back in Brookings. Jesse Van Kalsbeek (27.8 ppg, 12.4 rpg at NAIA Northwestern) joined the program after being named the NAIA National Player of the Year.
