WISE – UVA Wise enters the 2023-24 season after being selected 11th in this year's SAC men's basketball preseason poll. The selection comes after the Cavs finished 19-12 (9-9 SAC) last season and made an improbable run to the SAC Tournament Championship game before falling to Catawba. The Cavs have lost two All-Conference selections from last year in forward Luke Lawson and guard Bradley Dean. Lawson was named to the All-SAC Second Team after averaging 15.2 PPG and 6.3 RPG while shooting 43.1% from deep. Dean, who led the league in scoring at 21.4 PPG and nailed threes at an impressive 42.6% clip, was named the 2022-23 SAC Player of the Year. However, UVA Wise returns 56.6% of its minutes from a season ago. That number also does not take into account the boost the Cavs are expecting from redshirt sophomore forward Joe'l Pettiford who missed much of last season with injury. Last year, Pettiford played in just four contests scoring 38 points on 69.6% shooting from the floor. Head coach Blake Mellinger has a flurry of intriguing returners to join Pettiford. Sophomore guard Patrick Shelley comes back as arguably the best defender on the roster after leading the Cavs with 45 steals (1.5 per game) last year. Shelley will likely see a jump in offensive production as well. He averaged 4.4 PPG a season ago. In UVA Wise's lone exhibition game this season against ETSU, Shelley led the Cavs with 16 points. Senior forward Rron Ukaj is back after averaging 7.8 PPG and 5.6 RPG last year as one of the main bigs for the Cavs. Mellinger also brought in some newcomers that are likely to contribute to the Cavs' success this season. Junior forward and Serbia native Lav Cvetkovic' joins the Cavs after spending the last two seasons at Collin College in Texas. Cvetkovic' averaged 8.8 PPG and 4.7 RPG for the Cougars, shooting 42.9% from the floor and averaging 1.1 3FGM per game. In the exhibition against ETSU, the 6-foot 7-inch tall Cvetkovic' tied Pettiford with a team-high seven rebounds. Junior guard and Richmond, Va. native Zy'Ever Wingfield will suit up in the red and black this year after starting his college career in upstate New York with Le Moyne College. There Wingfield made major improvements between his freshman and sophomore seasons. In his first year, he averaged 3.2 PPG and 2.7 RPG in just 17 games for the Dolphins. As a sophomore, Wingfield elevated those numbers to 7.6 PPG and 3.5 RPG while also shooting an impressive 52.4% FG. He's also a quality defender, totaling 20 steals and 12 blocks in 30 games last season. Beyond the transfers, there's a number of exciting freshmen ready to get their shot this season. 6-foot 10-inch forward Jake Hatch already understands a winning tradition, winning the Class 7A State Championship with Hoover High School (Ala.) last year. Guard Carmelo Pacheco is a freshman this year after suiting up for Fork Union Military Academy last year. Pacheco, a native of Harrisonburg, Va. who attended Spotswood High School, and was a standout there. He was a VHSL Class 3 All-State First Team selection after putting 24.3 PPG, 7.2 RPG and 3.2 APG for the Trailblazers. Freshman guard Dante Worley was a 1,000-point scorer at Virginia High School, 6-foot 4-inch guard Filip Brkic' is a Croatian native who played on the U15 Croatian National Team and Evan Ramsey stands at 7-feet tall having scored 1,000-p
The Breakdown on King
King comes into its season opening contest after a 7-22 (6-14 Conference Carolinas) record last year. This season, the Tornado were picked 10th in the Conference Carolinas Preseason Coaches' Poll. King will miss the presence of senior guard Michael Mays who was voted to the All-CC Second Team last year after leading the team and finishing second in the league in scoring with 24.0 PPG. King will instead look to lean on its lead returning scorer in junior forward Kenny Turner who averaged 10.4 PPG on 50% FG and led the team in rebounding at 7.5 boards per contest a year ago. Turner is the only returning member of King's top five scorers from last season. In fact, King has an almost entirely new roster this year, bringing back just five players from a year ago totaling 27.9% of the team's points last season. The Tornado do have a Division I transfer in junior guard Cam George who came from East Tennessee State University last year. George saw action in 7 games this year, totaling 9 minutes played and scoring 3 total points.
The Breakdown on Lees-McRae
Lees-McRae enters this season picked 9th in the Conference Carolinas Preseason Poll after finishing last year 13-16 overall and 9-11 in the Conference Carolinas. Key returners this year for the Bobcats include junior forward Nico Ashley who set a program record for blocks in a season (55) and blocks per game (1.9) last year. Senior guard Timon Jones is back in the green and gold after averaging 10.9 PPG and 2.5 APG last year. Jones ranks 8th all-time in LMC history with 160 career 3FGM. Junior guard Jaylin Stewart is head coach Steve Hardin's lead returning scoring this year as he averaged 11.5 PPG on 57.4% FG. The Bobcats scored 85 points in a 103-85 exhibition loss against Marshall this season.
