Pioneers picked 10th in SAC men's basketball poll

ROCK HILL, S.C. --- The Tusculum Pioneers have been picked 10^th in the South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Coaches' Poll announced league officials Wednesday.

Tusculum received 34 total points in a vote of the conference's 11 men's basketball coaches.

Defending SAC regular-season and tournament champion Lincoln Memorial is the favorite to repeat as the Railsplitters picked up 107 points including seven first place votes.  Queens University of Charlotte, last year's NCAA Southeast Region Champion, is second with 104 points and four first place nods.

Coming in third is Carson-Newman with 84 points, followed by Wingate (76), Lenoir-Rhyne (75), Catawba (70), Newberry (58), Anderson (44), Coker (39), Tusculum (34) and Mars Hill (22).

TU head coach J.T. Burton, who is entering his first season in Greeneville, returns five lettermen and two starters from last year's 6-21 squad that finished 10^th in the final league standings.  Headlining the returnees is senior guard Donovan Donaldson (Nashville, Tenn.), who averaged 14.1 points per game (17th in SAC) while dishing out a team-best 4.6 assists per contest (3rd in SAC).

Also back are returning lettermen Malik Tyree (G, Sr., Lynchburg, Va.), Jackie Davis (G, Sr., Long Beach, Calif.), Caleb Hodnett (F, Jr., Adolphus, Ky.) and Brandon Mitchell (F, So., Virginia Beach, Va.).

Tusculum continues its exhibition slate with Wednesday's road contest at sixth-ranked Tennessee followed by Thursday's road trip to Cincinnati, to battle the defending American Athletic Conference Champions.  The Pioneers played the Arkansas Razorbacks last Friday, dropping a 96-47 decision.

TU opens its regular season next weekend at the SAC/Peach Belt Challenge in Aiken, South Carolina as they face USC Aiken (Nov. 9) and Clayton State (Nov. 10).

2018-19 SAC Men's Basketball Coaches' Poll