College hoops ’26-27: Big South preview

Big South Conference men’s basketball has become High Point’s World – with the other Big South members merely living in it.

And it looks like more of the same this season.

After beating Wisconsin and narrowly losing to Arkansas in last season’s NCAA Tournament, High Point is the pick to win its third consecutive Big South title.

Meanwhile, the Charlotte area’s two Big South schools, Winthrop and Gardner-Webb, are in very different places as we prepare to launch the 2026-27 season Monday.

Winthrop, which has lost to High Point in the last two Big South tournament championship games, is again picked to finish near the top of the standings.  Gardner-Webb, which won only four times in 33 games a year ago, is predicted to finish last again among the Big South’s 10 teams.

So in this first Queen City Sports Report college basketball preview, here’s a look at Winthrop, Gardner-Webb, and the Big South as a whole.

Winthrop

The Eagles were 23-11 a year ago, with a 13-3 Big South record.  Like many other mid-major and low-major programs, they saw the roster depleted in the offseason.

But head coach Mark Prosser worked the transfer portal hard and landed eight players from other programs.  Add in the recruits, and you have 11 newcomers and five returnees on this squad.

The notable returnee is guard Seifeldin Handawy, who averaged 5.7 points a nd 4.3 rebounds a game last season. Also back is guard Kaleb Evans, a former high school standout in South Carolina.

But the new faces are expected to play key roles.  Leading that group is Spence Mims, who moved to Rock Hill from Gardner-Webb, where he was Big South Freshman of the Year in 2025-26.  Mims averaged 9.9 points and shot 43 percent from three-point range.

He was a second-team selection on the all-conference preseason team.

Prosser also landed a pair of outstanding shooting guards from D2 U Indy, in Tyler Parrish and Micah Davis.  And two players from North Dakota made the move south, including guard Anthony Smith III, who was second in the Summit League last year in assists.

Winthrop is heavy in solid guards, so frontcourt play will be a question mark.

Opener: 9 a.m. Monday, vs. Queens (at Rock Hill Sports and Event Center)

Home opener: Friday, vs. North Dakota

Notable nonconference games: Illinois, Utah State

Gardner-Webb

Third-year head coach Jeremy Luther made a lot of roster changes, as you might expect after a 4-29 season.

“With the turnover we’ve had, we need to build chemistry early,” he said. “We’re a lot bigger. We recruited a lot of length and size.”

The loss of guard Spence Mims, Freshman of the Year in the Big South, stung.  Mims left for Winthrop.

Luther said the Runnin’ Bulldogs should be improved behind the play of guards Seth Brown and Jacob Hudson and forward Jamias Ferere.

Brown averaged 13.6 points last season at D2 Fresno Pacific. Hudson averaged 10.7 points with Gardner-Webb, and Ferere scored 6.3 points a contest for the Bulldogs.

“Those guys made some big steps over the summer,” Luther said.

Gardner-Webb faces a rugged nonconference schedule, but Luther said that was by design.  “It’s a good test to see how we can compete early,” he said.

Opener: Monday, at UConn

Home opener: Nov. 11, vs. Erskine

Notable nonconference games: UConn, Texas and South Carolina in November; and Wake Forest, Georgia and Kentucky in December.

Big South outlook

High Point, led by forward Cam’Ron Fletcher (13.2 points, 54 percent floor shooting), is the overwhelming preseason pick to win the title. Fletcher had 14 points and 11 rebounds in the NCAA victory over Wisconsin and followed with 25 points in the Arkansas loss.

The Panthers had three of the five preseason all-conference first-team selections.  Joining Fletcher were guards Jason Rivera Torres and C.J. Sloan. Forward Isaac Garrett was a second-team all-conference pick.  Rivera Torres was a standout last season at Monmouth.

Presbyterian was picked by coaches to finish second, behind preseason first-team all-conference picks Jaylen Peterson and Carl Parrish.

Winthrop was picked to finished third, followed by Longwood, UNC Asheville, Radford, Charleston Southern, USC Upstate and Gardner-Webb.