Big South Conference Tournament
James Blackburn was able to attend the Big South Mens Conference Tournament held at Coastal Carolina this year. Coming into the tournament, it was hard to predict who would come away with the championship and the chance to represent the Big South at the Big Dance. There were a number of upsets in the first few rounds as top seeds Charleston Southern, Radford, and High Point all lost before the semi-finals. Coastal Carolina rode the momentum of the home crowd to the championship game where they defeated Winthrop 81-70 behind 22 pts from Senior Guard Warren Gillis.
This conference was deep and talented this year. Below I have made up my own Big South All-Tournament team and also an Honorable Mention Team. This was based on their play throughout the tournament and nothing else. Regular season accomplishments, awards, and play before the tournament was not weighed, only tournament play was evaluated.
Basketball Elite Big South All-Tournament Team
G- Keon Moore, 6’5″, SR (Winthrop)
G- Andrew Rowsey, 5’10”, SO (UNC Asheville)
G-Elijah Wilson, 6’4″, SO (Coastal Carolina)
F- Jerome Hill, 6’5″, JR (Gardner-Webb)
F- Shaquille Johnson, 6’5″, JR (Longwood)
Reports
Keon Moore (Winthrop)
Moore was one of the best shooters at the tournament and helped lead his team to the
Championship game. He rebounds the ball well and has great size for position.
Andrew Rowsey (UNC Asheville)
Rowsey is a tough nosed guard who can create his own shot and score with the best of them. He helped lead Asheville to an upset win in the first round
Elijah Wilson (Coastal Carolina)
Strong and physical SG who can score in a variety of ways. Terrific outside shooter who was very efficient all tournament.
Jerome Hill (Gardner-Webb)
Plays just like Zach Randolph of the Memphis Grizzlies. He has excellent “feetwork” as Shaq would say. A load inside that no one throughout the tournament could seem to handle.
Shaquille Johnson (Longwood)
The former top 100 HS prospect and Auburn transfer was easily the most athletic player here at the beach. Terrific rebounder and underrated passer, Johnson was everywhere on both ends and was the reason that Longwood made it all the way to the semi-finals as a low seed.
Honorable Mention Team
G- Warren Gillis, 6’3″, SR (Coastal Carolina) *Poised guard who can score
G- Quincy Taylor, 6’0″, SR (Longwood) *PG who runs the offense and scores when needed
G- Keon Johnson, 5’7″, SO (Winthrop) *Lighting quick guard who can hit the 3
F- Will Saunders, 6’7″, SR (Charleston Southern) *Terrific 3 pt shooter w/ good size
F- Badou Diagne, 6’7″, JR (Coastal Carolina)- *Athletic shot blocker who rebounds