ROCK HILL, S.C. --- The Tusculum University men's basketball team is picked to finish sixth in the South Atlantic Conference with the announcement of the 2019-2020 SAC Coaches' Poll.  TU sophomore guard Trenton Gibson was also named to the Preseason All-SAC second team which was released on Wednesday.

The Pioneers, who posted a 16-13 overall record including 12-8 in league play to finish tied for fourth in the final SAC standings.  TU received 73 total points in a vote of the conference's 12 head coaches.

Gibson, 6-4, 200-pound native of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is coming off a solid rookie campaign where he led TU in assists and was second in scoring while being named the SAC Freshman of the Year.  The Blackman High School product posted 13.1 points per contest (19^th in SAC) and dished out 3.6 assists per game (6^th in SAC). 

Gibson also hauled in 5.6 rebounds per game (18^th in SAC) and shot a team-leading 76.1 percent at the free throw line. He scored 20 or more points in four games including a season-best 22 markers in the SAC Quarterfinal match-up with Lenoir-Rhyne.

The Preseason All-SAC teams are selected by a vote of the conference's media relations directors.

Queens University of Charlotte is the favorite to repeat as the Royals garnered 117 points including eight first place votes.  Lincoln Memorial is second with 109 points and three first place nods. Catawba is third with 97 points, Wingate is fourth with 80 points and Carson-Newman is fifth with 75 points. 

Tusculum and Lenoir-Rhyne are tied for sixth with 73 points as the Bears garnered one first place vote.  Anderson was third with 48 points followed by Newberry (44), Mars Hill (34), UVa-Wise (22) and Coker (20).  UVa-Wise will be competing in their SAC inaugural season this year.

TU head coach J.T. Burton, who is entering his second season with the Pioneers, returned seven lettermen and four starters from last year's club that posted a winning campaign for the first time in nine seasons.  Tusculum also posted a 10-win improvement from the previous season.

The Pioneers will open the season on Nov. 8-9 as they travel to Harrogate for the South Atlantic Conference/Peach Belt Challenge.  TU will open against USC Aiken on Nov. 8 at 5:30 p.m. at Tex Turner Arena on the campus of Lincoln Memorial University. The Pioneers will play Clayton State on Nov. 9 at LMU beginning at 2 p.m.

2019-20 SAC Men's Basketball Coaches Poll

2019-20 SAC Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
First Team
Ja'Shawn Brooks, Mars Hill
Marcell Haskett, Catawba
Anthony Brown, Lincoln Memorial
Kamaran Calhoun, Lincoln Memorial
Daniel Carr, Queens
Frankie Johnson, Wingate

Second Team
Angelo Sales Jr., Newberry
Trenton Gibson, Tusculum
Devin Cooper, Catawba
Shawn Benard, Anderson
Van Turner Jr., Queens
Briggs Parris, UVa-Wise