FARMVILLE, Va. – The Big South preseason polls are in, and Longwood men's and women's basketball were both selected to finish in the top three of the conference standings.
 
The Lancer women were selected second while the men were picked third, the league office announced today. Single-game tickets go on sale later this afternoon for home games at the Joan Perry Brock Center.
 
In addition, both teams had a presence on the Preseason All-Big South teams. Elijah Tucker earned first team honors for the men, and Amor Harris, the top scorer for the women a season ago who helped lead the team to the Big South Championship game, garnered a spot on the first team for the women. Malea Brown picked up second team honors on the women's side as well.
 
Longwood's women picked up one first-place vote and 69 total points in the poll of league coaches, finishing eight points behind High Point—the preseason favorite and reigning champion.
 
The Lancer women advanced to the Big South Championship game last year behind a ferocious defense that was second in the nation in turnovers forced per game and third in steals per game. Brown, who returns for her final season, was 28^th in the nation in steals with 84 that tied for the seventh-most in a single season in team history.
 
The team went 22-12, surpassing the 20-win mark for the second time in the past two decades, and advanced to the WNIT following the conference championship.
 
Harris led the team at 11 points per game and earned All-Big South Second Team honors and a spot on the Big South All-Tournament Team. She scored in double figures 18 times. Brown was one of the top defenders in the Big South and also averaged 9.4 points per game while hounding opposing guards all over the floor.
 
The Lancer men, meanwhile, were selected third amid a tight grouping in the conference preseason poll. High Point and UNC Asheville were the top two selections before Longwood, Radford and Winthrop were separated by a total of two points. The Lancers had 53, while Radford finished with 52 and Winthrop 51 in a mix of coaches and select media members.
 
Longwood's men finished last season 18-14 despite battling injuries throughout the year, marking a fourth straight winning campaign with an 85-win tally that includes a pair of Big South Championships in 2022 and 2024.
 
In the offseason, the Lancers kept the thread of success tied to the program with the elevation of Ronnie Thomas into the top seat as the team's head coach after Griff Aldrich departed for Virginia. Thomas enters his sixth season on staff after serving for five years on Aldrich's staff during the team's rise up the Big South standings.
 
Tucker returns for his third season in Farmville, and he averaged 9.7 points and five rebounds per game. He ranked 16^th in the Big South in rebounding and scored in double figures 16 times while posting one double-double.
 
The two teams open their seasons in the first week of November. The Lancer men welcome Mary Baldwin to the Joan Perry Brock Center on Monday, November 3 at 7 p.m., and the Lancer women face off with Randolph at the JPB on Wednesday, November 5 at 7 p.m. Single game tickets go on sale later this afternoon.
 
Big South Women's Basketball Preseason Poll (First-Place Votes)
1. High Point (6): 77
2. Longwood (1): 69
3. Radford (1): 67
4. Winthrop: 48
5. Charleston Southern: 41
6. USC Upstate: 33
7. Gardner-Webb: 25
8. Presbyterian: 23
9. UNC Asheville (1): 22
Note: points are based on a weighted system.  First-place votes received 9 points, followed by 8 points for second-place, and so on.
 
2025-26 Big South Conference Women's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
 
First-Team
Nevaeh Zavala, High Point (Preseason Player of the Year)
Joi Williams, Radford
Amourie Porter, Winthrop
Amor Harris, Longwood
Cate Carlson, Radford
 
Second-Team
Aaliyah Collins, High Point
Anaya Harris, Gardner-Webb
Cassie Gallagher, USC Upstate
Malea Brown, Longwood
Tyonna Bailey, Charleston Southern
 
Big South Men's Basketball Preseason Poll (First-Place Votes)
1. High Point (8): 80
2. UNC Asheville (1): 68
3. Longwood: 53
4. Radford: 52
5. Winthrop: 51
6. Presbyterian: 37
7. Charleston Southern: 27
8. Gardner-Webb: 19
9. USC Upstate: 8
Note: points are based on a weighted system.  First-place votes received 9 points, followed by 8 points for second-place, and so on.
 
2025-26 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
 
First-Team
Toyaz Solomon, UNC Asheville (Preseason Player of the Year)
Rob Martin, High Point
Scotty Washington, High Point
Elijah Tucker, Longwood
Jaylon Johnson, Radford
 
Second-Team
Kameron Taylor, UNC Asheville
Jonah Pierce, Presbyterian College
Daylen Berry, Winthrop
A'lahn Sumler, Charleston Southern
Karmani Gregory, USC Upstate
 
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