Liberty has been picked to repeat as ASUN champions in both the preseason ASUN coaches’ poll and media poll, as released by the conference Thursday. Scottie James and Caleb Homesley have been named to the preseason all-conference team.
The Flames are coming off the best season in school history, winning a program record 29 games, winning the first NCAA Tournament game in school history, and winning the regular season and tournament championship in the team’s first year in the ASUN.
North Florida was picked to finish 2nd, followed by North Florida, Florida Gulf Coast, NJIT, Lipscomb, North Alabama, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, and Stetson.
Liberty’s Caleb Homesley was voted the ASUN Preseason Player of the Year while North Florida’s Wajid Aminu was tabbed the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. In addition to Homesley, Aminu, and James, the rest of the preseason all-conference team included NJIT’s Zach Cooks, UNF’s Ivan Gandia-Rosa and Garrett Sams, KSU’s Tyler Hooker, Lipscomb’s Ahsan Asadullah and Michael Buckland, and UNA’s Jamari Blackmon.
James, one of four starters that return, led the team in both scoring and rebounding last season as he was named first-team all-ASUN. Caleb Homesley also finished on the postseason first-team. Other returning starters include Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz and Elijah Cuffee.
Liberty opens the regular season with a three game home-stand beginning on November 8th against Radford. The Flames will also play host to Maryland Eastern Shore on November 10th and South Carolina State on November 12th to open the final season Liberty will play in the Vines Center.
The Flames open conference play and defense of their ASUN title at Florida Gulf Coast on January 2nd. The first ASUN home game is on January 9th against North Alabama.
