NASHVILLE – The Trevecca Nazarene University men's basketball team was picked to finish tenth in the 2024-25 Gulf South Conference preseason coaches' poll, the league announced on Wednesday.
All 12 of the first-place votes were split between Alabama-Huntsville (6), Lee (4) and West Alabama (2), the only schools to receive over 100 points in the poll.
| SELECTION |
SCHOOL |
POINTS |
| 1 |
Alabama-Huntsville (6) |
115 |
| 2 |
Lee (4) |
113 |
| 3 |
West Alabama (2) |
102 |
| 4 |
Christian Brothers |
75 |
| t-5 |
Delta State |
72 |
| t-5 |
Valdosta State |
72 |
| 7 |
Mississippi College |
61 |
| 8 |
Union |
57 |
| 9 |
Montevallo |
39 |
| 10 |
Trevecca |
38 |
| 11 |
Auburn Montgomery |
24 |
| t-11 |
West Florida |
24 |
With last season's tournament champion no longer in the league, tournament runner-up Alabama Huntsville sits atop the preseason poll in 2024-25. Lee, who was toppled by UAH in the semifinals and finished second in the regular season last season, is picked third with four place votes. West Alabama, who lost to West Georgia in the semi-finals a season ago, is picked third with the remaining two first-place votes.
Christian Brothers, Delta State and Valdosta State help round out the top-5 while Mississippi College, Union and Montevallo sit ahead of Trevecca who was picked 10th with 38 points.
Full GSC Preseason Poll Release
GSC Men's Basketball – Preseason All-GSC Team
Luke Burnett – G | SR | UAH#
Tommy Murr – G | SR | UAH#
Keithean Brooks – Delta State#
Rashad Bolden – G | JR | Mississippi College*
Jalen Page – G | SR | Trevecca Nazarene
Players listed alphabetically by school
* 2023-24 First Team All-GSC
# 2023-24 Second Team All-GSC
GSC Newcomer Watchlist
Jikari Johnson – G | SR | 6-4 | Durham, N.C./Ferrum College
NaVuan Peterson – F | SR | 6-6 | Orlando, Fla./Kentucky Wesleyan
Brett Wright – F | FR | 6-7 | Chattanooga, Tenn./Silverdale Baptist HS
2024-2025 PREVIEW
Kevin Carroll is back for his second season as head coach of the Trojans and is looking to guide Trevecca to back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time since the 2016 Trojans made the Great Midwest Tournament finals and the 2017 Trojans made the Great Midwest quarterfinals.
Carroll's 16 wins in his first season are the second-most by a first-year head coach in program history. Only Trevecca Hall of Famer, Frank Wilson collected more wins by a first-year head coach with 17 victories in the 1979-1980 season.
Carroll's conference record for a first-year coach is the best in program history, two better than Wilson's mark in 1979-80.
ROSTER
The 19-man roster includes 10 returners joined by nine new faces who are a mixture of freshmen and transfers.
The six new Trojans are
Mason Brown,
Fred Bailey,
Brett Wright,
Jaden Clark,
Jax Abernathy, and
Jagger Francom.
There are three transfers in total, a sophomore from Longwood University in
Mateo Esmeraldo and a pair of seniors.
NaVuan Peterson comes to Nashville from former Great Midwest rival Kentucky Wesleyan while
Jikari Johnson is a product of both the University of Mount Olive and more recently Ferrum College.
The returning roster includes three sophomores,
Justin Bass,
Isaiah Divens, and
Spencer White. The four-man junior class are all returners as well with
Drew Blackston,
Gus Davenport,
Jake Mulder and
Aiden Williams.
Three-time Great Midwest Player of the Week and First Team selection,
Jalen Page is back for his second season in the Purple and White. After spending two seasons at crosstown Lipscomb,
Hank Hutcheson has also returned for his senior season On the Hill.
The lone graduate student on the team is
Caleb Terry, who is back for his fifth season in Trojan Fieldhouse. Terry is the current NCAA era leader in blocks for a season with 44 (1.6/gm) shots swatted last year.
SCHEDULE
The 2024-25 season kicks off with a pair of exhibitions, first the Trojans take on Division I Arkansas State University on October 26 before welcoming Covenant College inside Trojan Fieldhouse for their annual Homecoming game on November 2 at 6:30 p.m.
The six game non-conference schedule begins with a visit to West Palm Beach, Florida where Trevecca faces off against Palm Beach Atlantic on Friday, November 8 and then against Embry-Riddle University on Saturday, November 9 as part of the South Region Crossover.
The final four games in the non-conference will all be played in Trojan Fieldhouse and in a span of just 13 days.
First, Welch College comes to Nashville on November 11 at 7:00 p.m. before former GSC member Shorter University closes out the week on November 16 at 2:00 p.m.
It's Education Day on November 19 when Kentucky Christian visits and on November 23, Cumberland University brings a close to the non-conference slate.
Gulf South Conference competition starts when the University of Alabama-Huntsville comes to Trojan Fieldhouse on November 27 before Trevecca takes to the road for five of its next six games.
The first week of December the Trojans travel to Alabama to challenge both the University of Auburn Montgomery on Thursday, December 5 and the University of Montevallo on Saturday, December 7.
The Trojans get a whole week to tune up for the University of West Alabama's visit to Nashville on Saturday, December 14 before hitting the road once again. The week before Christmas sees the Trojans taking on Valdosta State on Thursday, December 19 and the University of West Florida on Saturday, December 21.
Lee University is the opponent to begin 2025 on Saturday, January 4 before Delta State (January 9) and Mississippi College (January 11) make their way to Nashville.
The Tennessee road trip follows the next week when Trevecca faces off against Christian Brothers on Thursday, January 16 in Memphis before making its way back on I-40 by taking on Union University in Jackson on Saturday, January 18.
January culminates with three games, return trips against Montevallo (January 23), Auburn Montgomery (January 25) and at the University of West Alabama on Thursday, January 30.
February begins with a visit to the University of Alabama-Huntsville on Saturday, February 1 before three straight home games strengthen the Trojans odds down the stretch. The University of West Florida takes on the Trojans on Thursday, February 6 and Valdosta State comes to town on Saturday, February 8. Alumni Day in Trojan Fieldhouse is a Saturday, February 15 meeting with Lee University.
After a Mississippi road trip sees the Trojans challenge Mississippi College on Thursday, February 20 and Delta State University on Saturday, February 22, potentially the most anticipated game of the season is set for Thursday, February 27.
The next to last game of the regular season is when former longtime NAIA rival Union University is the opponent on the 27th for "Fill the Fieldhouse" night.
The regular season closes with Christian Brothers visiting on March 1 for Senior Day.
The conference tournament begins with the Gulf South Conference quarterfinals at the home of the top four seeds on March 4, 2025. The GSC Semifinals and Finals are March 7-8 at the home of the regular season champion.
2023-24 SEASON REVIEW
Under first-year head coach
Kevin Carroll, the Trojans produced their first winning season in seven years, finishing the campaign with a trip to the conference tournament for the first time in three seasons.
Trevecca went 16-13 overall and held an 11-9 record in conference play with an impressive 11-3 mark inside Trojan Fieldhouse.
As the conference tournament's seventh seed, the Trojans fell to second seeded Walsh University after the Cavaliers hit a buzzer beater to advance.
