ROCK HILL, S.C. — UVA Wise men's basketball sophomore Joe'l Pettiford was named to the South Atlantic Conference Preseason Third-Team, the conference announced today. As a team, the Cavaliers were ranked twelfth going into the 2022-23 season.
Pettiford, a Greensboro N.C. native, enters his second season as a Cavalier coming off a successful freshman season. Pettiford was named to the SAC All-Freshman team at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season after averaging 11.1 points per game, snagging 6.1 rebounds per game and 4.3 defensive rebounds per game.
On January 5, 2022, the six-foot-seven forward found himself as the No. 1 freshman at the top of the nation's leaderboard in field goal percentage in all NCAA Divisions with 69.1-percent.
During the past season, Pettiford tabbed a career-high 23 points against Coker on December 4, 2021. He also added a career-high 13 rebounds on two occasions (at Catawba on Dec. 18, 2021 and at Lenoir-Rhyne on Jan. 12, 2022).
As a team, the Cavaliers are coming off a 4-24 season under Head Coach Blake Mellinger's wing. The Cavs went 3-21 in league play, with consecutive wins over Mars Hill, Anderson, and Coker in February of 2022. UVA Wise also took a win against the soon-to-be conference squad Emory & Henry in a 103-95 OT battle.
The Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters have been tabbed as the first spot in the league after a successful 26-5 2021-22 campaign. The Railsplitters were ranked twelfth in the NABC Poll.
UVA Wise men's basketball action begins on November 11 as the Cavs travel to King University in the 2022 Coastal Carolinas/South Atlantic Conference Challenge.
You can find the 2022-23 Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference and Team Polls below.
2022-23 SAC Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference
First Team
Jarren Cottingham, Wingate
Chase Rankin, Lincoln Memorial
Jordan Guest, Lincoln Memorial
Mekell Burries, Lincoln Memorial
Ben Gahlert, Limestone
TJ Nesmith, Lenoir-Rhyne
Second Team
TJ Brown, Newberry
Luke Brenegan, Carson-Newman
Kadyn Dawkins, Mars Hill
Donell Nixon II, Wingate
Quandaveon McCollum, Newberry
Bryant Thomas, Carson-Newman
Third Team
Sean Elmore, Wingate
Inady Legiste, Tusculum
Kris Robinson, Catawba
Andreas Wilson, Wingate
Gabe Brown, Emory & Henry
Joel Pettiford, UVA Wise
2022-23 SAC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
|
Rank
|
School (First Place Votes)
|
Score
|
|
1.
|
Lincoln Memorial (11)
|
143
|
|
2.
|
Wingate (1)
|
121
|
|
T-3.
|
Carson-Newman
|
116
|
|
T-3.
|
Tusculum
|
116
|
|
5.
|
Newberry
|
105
|
|
6.
|
Lenoir-Rhyne
|
84
|
|
7.
|
Catawba
|
82
|
|
T-8.
|
Anderson (1)
|
65
|
|
T-8.
|
Limestone
|
65
|
|
T-10.
|
Coker
|
35
|
|
T-10.
|
Mars Hill
|
35
|
|
12.
|
UVA Wise
|
24
|
|
13.
|
Emory & Henry
|
23
|
