Owls Given Lofty Rank in National Preseason Poll; Smith Named Preseason All-American

Posted: Sep 24, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 24, 2014

SOUTH EASTON, Mass. - The Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team has been selected No. 2 nationally in the preseason Division II poll released by the Sporting News in their most recent edition. In addition, senior guard Tylon Smith was tabbed as a First-Team preseason All-American by the publication.

Southern Connecticut finished last year with a record of 30-3 and reached the Elite Eight for the second time in school history, where it lost to the eventual national champion, Central Missouri. Along the way, the Owls also won their first-ever Northeast-10 Conference regular season and tournament titles. So. Connecticut also produced a school-record 19 game winning streak during the course of the year.

Smith had a decorated campaign both in the classroom and on the court last year. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of both the NCAA East Regional and the Northeast-10 Conference Tournaments.

Smith finished second on the team in scoring with 19.0 points per game and led the Owls in assists per game (5.0). He was also selected to the NABC All-District team and the Daktronics All-East Region team in addition to First-Team All-ECAC and All-Northeast-10 Conference laurels.

Academically, Smith earned Third-Team Academic All-America honors from Capital One and the College Sports Information Directors of America in addition to his First-Team Academic All-District selection. He was also named to the Northeast-10 Conference Men's Basketball All-Academic Team, as a Division II Athletic Directors Association Academic Achievement Award recipient and as a National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors' Court honoree.

The Owls open the 2014-15 season on Nov. 4 with an exhibition against the University of Connecticut, the reigning NCAA Division I National Champions.

The Northeast-10 Conference is an association of 15 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 6,000 student-athletes.

Each year, 4,000 of those student-athletes compete in Conference championships in 23 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sports sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.

Content for this release provided by Southern Connecticut State University

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