ROCK HILL, S.C. —The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) announced its annual Preseason Coaches' Poll along with its Preseason All-SAC Teams Monday. UVA Wise was picked seventh in the Preseason Coaches' Poll while six Cavaliers earned Preseason All-SAC recognition.
Senior defensive lineman Joel Burgess and redshirt sophomore defensive back Markel Dailey earned Preseason First-Team All-SAC with quarterback Lendon Redwine, running back Jaevon Gillespie, offensive lineman Daric Cotman and defensive back Robert Carter being named Preseason Second-Team All-SAC in a vote conducted by the league's athletic media relation directors.
A 6-foot-1, 285-pounder from Roanoke, Va., Burgess is coming off his best collegiate season in 2021. The defensive lineman led the team with 62 tackles, including 11.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. Burgess added a forced fumble and a fumble to his stat ledger in a season where he amassed a career-high 10 solo tackles in a win over nationally ranked Lenoir-Rhyne.
Dailey put together a pair of multi-interception games in his first season at UVA Wise. The 6-foot, 163-pounder from Birmingham, Ala. picked off a pair of passes in a win over Carson-Newman before duplicating the accomplishment a week later in a win over Lenoir-Rhyne.
A First-Team All-SAC selection at the conclusion of last season, Dailey finished the year second in the conference and 15th in NCAA Division II with five interceptions while adding 50 tackles and a trio of pass breakups in 2021.
Redwine entered the UVA Wise record book last fall as his 246 pass completions were the most in any single season in program history. The former Dobyns-Bennett Indian finished the year with 2,819 passing yards the most by any Cavalier quarterback since the school joined NCAA Division II.
The 6-foot-4, 221-pound signal caller tossed at least two touchdown passes in eight games last fall, including a career-high six in a season-opening victory over Virginia-Lynchburg. Redwine finished the year as the SAC leader in pass completions per game (22.36), touchdowns (24) and passing yards.
Gillespie experienced a breakout season a year ago as the 5-foot-9, 190-pound back from Greeneville, Tenn. averaged five yards a carry across 114 attempts. The back posted a pair of 100-yard games, including a career-best 166-yard, four-touchdown performance against Carson-Newman. A Second-Team All-SAC selection at the end of last season, Gillespie's nine rushing touchdowns were the third most in the league.
Cotman was rated as UVA Wise's top offensive lineman, grading out at 90.4 percent prior to a season-ending injury at Mars Hill. The 6-foot-2, 290-pound senior from Richmond, Va. has been a starter for the Cavaliers in each of the last three seasons.
Carter tallied 35 tackles and a trio of interceptions last season. The 5-foot-10, 170-pounder added a team-high seven pass breakups to lead the team with 10 passes defended. The Ringold, Va. native picked off two passes a Tusculum while adding three pass breakups against Wingate. His 0.3 interceptions per game ranked fifth in the SAC.
Overall, Head Coach Dane Damron's Cavaliers return 45 letter winners from last season, including 15 starters. Damron is in his seventh season with the program and has been at the helm of some of the biggest wins in school history. Last season, UVA Wise defeated then No. 16 Lenoir-Rhyne before later establishing single-game program records in a 30-7 win at Catawba that saw Damron's crew limit the Indians to just 40 yards of total offense and four first downs.
UVA Wise begins the season on Sept. 1 at home against non-conference opponent Ferrum in what will be the first meeting between the two programs since 1997. The Preseason SAC Coaches' Poll may be found below:
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2022 SAC Football Preseason Poll
Rank School (First Place Votes) Score
1. Newberry (8) 118
2. Lenoir-Rhyne (4) 112
3. Wingate 99
4. Mars Hill 94
5. Tusculum 76
6. Barton 68
7. UVA Wise 60
8. Catawba 53
9. Carson-Newman 42
10. Limestone 32
11. Emory & Henry 20
12. Erskine 18
A complete list of this year's Preseason All-SAC honorees may be found below:
2022 PRESEASON All-SAC Football
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
QB – Dre Harris, Newberry
RB – Dwayne McGee, Lenoir-Rhyne
RB – Mario Anderson, Newberry
RB – Jordan Terrell, Barton
WR – Deondre Lester, Lenoir-Rhyne
WR – Bryson Woodruff, Newberry
WR – Justice Parham, Tusculum
OL – Blake Jefferson, Lenoir-Rhyne
OL – Cameron Thomason, Limestone
OL – Thomas Mahoney, Tusculum
OL – Leondre Andreas, Mars Hill
OL – Bryce Heidinger, Lenoir-Rhyne
TE – Ty Snelson, Mars Hill
PK – Jackson Brooks, Barton
LS – Blake Arnoult, Newberry
RS – Ryan Carter, Lenoir-Rhyne
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
DL – Andre Jefferson, Lenoir-Rhyne
DL – Joel Burgess, UVA Wise
DL – Sirod Cook, Wingate
DL – Jay Swegheimer, Emory & Henry
LB – Dexter Fitzpatrick, Mars Hill
LB – Landon Honeycutt, Mars Hill
LB – Jon Ross Maye, Lenoir-Rhyne
LB – Jaquan Edwards, Wingate
DB – Jordan Taylor, Tusculum
DB – Tristan Rankin, Mars Hill
DB – Marcus Morgan, Newberry
DB – Markel Dailey, UVA Wise
P – Ethan Evans, Wingate
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
QB – Lendon Redwine, UVA Wise
QB – Jimmy Urzua, Mars Hill
RB – Courtney Jackson, Tusculum
RB – Kalen Clark, Wingate
RB – Jaevon Gillespie, UVA Wise
WR – Kameron Johnson, Barton
WR – Kamal Desor, Wingate
WR – Kelin Parsons, Lenoir-Rhyne
OL – Justin Bullock, Mars Hill
OL – Hunter Jolly, Wingate
OL – Ben Shellenback, Tusculum
OL – Daric Cotman, UVA Wise
OL – Alex Buschow, Barton
TE – Ryder Martin, Wingate
LS – Andrew Bradshaw, Carson-Newman
RS – Kyron Thomas, Wingate
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL – Dajavon White, Tusculum
DL – Donovan Pinnix, Emory & Henry
DL – J.I. Ledbetter, Barton
DL – DJ Horne, Wingate
LB – Alonzo Houston, Carson-Newman
LB – Shane Perry, Barton
LB – AJ Valentine, Newberry
LB – Caleb Goins, Carson-Newman
DB – Izaiah Taylor, Catawba
DB – Nick Jackson, Mars Hill
DB – Robert Carter, UVA Wise
DB – Daquan Mosley, Wingate
P - Clayton Crile, Catawba
