JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (October 17, 2025) – The Atlantic Sun Conference revealed preseason honors for men's basketball on Friday, as the University of North Alabama was picked first in the preseason media poll and second in the coaches poll.
 
In addition to the preseason rankings, the league revealed the Preseason All-ASUN Team. The Lions were the only team with more than one player honored, as redshirt junior forward Corneilous Williams and senior forward Donte Bacchus were on the list.
 
Williams was one of two players to be selected unanimously by every head coach in the ASUN. The other was Chris Ashby from Queens, who was voted preseason player of the year. EKU's Montavious Myrick was voted the preseason defensive player of the year.
 
The Lions received 18 out of 51 first-place votes in the media poll, leading all other teams. UNA was the only team to receive over 500 points in the poll with 519. A first-place vote is worth 12 points, a second-place vote is worth 11 point, and that pattern continues all the way to 12th place receiving one point.
 
EKU was ranked second in the media poll, followed by Queens, FGCU and defending champion Lipscomb to round out the top five. All first-place votes went to the top five in the media poll, including 12 to FGCU, nine to Lipscomb, nine to Queens and three to EKU. The bottom half includes Jacksonville, Austin Peay, Stetson, North Florida, Bellarmine, Central Arkansas and West Georgia.
 
The media poll includes the league's sports information directors, as well as outside media members that regularly cover the Atlantic Sun Conference.
 
In a vote of the league's head coaches, UNA was picked second behind Queens. Following UNA is EKU, FGCU, Austin Peay, Jacksonville, Lipscomb, Central Arkansas, Stetson, Bellarmine, North Florida and West Georgia.
 
Despite earning a second-place ranking, UNA did not receive any first-place votes from the coaches. Queens collected half of the votes with six, while EKU and FGCU had two apiece. Austin Peay and North Florida each had one.

The Lions finished with a 24-11 record last season and won a share of the ASUN Regular Season Championship along with Lipscomb with a 14-4 conference record. UNA made a run to the ASUN championship final with wins over Austin Peay and Jacksonville. This marked the first regular season championship for UNA at the Division I level in any sport and the most single-season wins for the men's basketball program since 2008.
 
Last season ended with an appearance in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) as the Lions fell to Bradley in the first round.
 
UNA returns 10 players from last season, including Williams who started all 35 games in the five spot. The 6'9" forward averaged 9.7 points per game and led the ASUN with 9.1 rebounds per game. His 317 rebounds last season set a single-season Division I record for UNA while ranking 21st in the NCAA. He also led the ASUN and ranked 32nd in the NCAA with 11 double-doubles.
 
Bacchus was UNA's primary sixth man last season, playing all 35 games with three starts. He averaged 8.3 PPG and 4.2 RPG to lead all bench players. The 6'7" forward had 12 games in double figures, most notably a season-high 21 points in a win at North Florida and a team-high 19 points against Bradley in the first round of the NIT.
 
Other key returners include point guards Canin Jefferson and Kevin de Kovachich and forward DarKaun King. All three contributed at least seven minutes per game last season, including Jefferson with 15.5 MPG and 5.5 PPG. Another returning guard is King Walker, who redshirted last season and enters his second year of college basketball.
 
One player that returns from injury this season is Dallas Howell, a redshirt-senior with five years in the program. Before ending his season in the third game of the year last year, Howell was averaging 11.3 PPG over 24.3 minutes. He led the Lions to a thrilling road win over Air Force with 17 points on five triples, a block and five rebounds. He has played in 98 career games, which ranks fourth on the Division I games played list at UNA.
 
The Lions also have a front court presence with the likes of 7'1" center Israel Jenrette, 6'10" center Mitchell Chaffee and 6'9" center Jamal Albritton. Albritton was limited with injury last season but enters his third with the program, while Jenrette played in 22 games as a true freshman with 17 points and 34 rebounds. Chaffee, a local senior from Muscle Shoals, played in 11 games last season.
 
Four newcomers join the fold this season, including junior college transfers Tank Washington and Kedar Bodie and true freshmen Braylon Patton and Cortez Graham-Howard. Washington, a forward, led Coastal Alabama Community College with 16.0 PPG last season, while Bodie was named ACCC Player of the Year with 21.2 PPG at Bishop State CC in Mobile, Ala. Patton prepped at Hueytown High School and won three area championships, while Graham-Howard is a three-star prospect from Hillsboro High School in Nashville and was a TSSAA Mr. Basketball finalist.
 
Howell, Williams and Coach Pujol will represent UNA at the 2025 ASUN Basketball Tipoff next Monday, Oct. 20 in Jacksonville, Fla.

2025-26 Men's Basketball Preseason Awards
Preseason Player of the Year: Chris Ashby, Queens
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Montavious Myrick, EKU
 
Preseason All-ASUN Team
^Chris Ashby, Queens
^Corneilous Williams, North Alabama
Tate McCubbin, Austin Peay
Camren Hunter, Central Arkansas
Montavious Myrick, EKU
Chris Arias, Jacksonville
Charlie Williams, Lipscomb
Donte Bacchus, North Alabama
Jamie Phillips Jr., Stetson
Shelton Williams-Dryden, West Georgia
 
^ - denotes a unanimous selection to the Preseason All-ASUN Team
 
Preseason Coaches Poll
Pl.        Team (1st Place Votes)            Points
1.         Queens (6)                              136
2.         North Alabama                       117
3.         EKU (2)                                    111
4.         FGCU (2)                                 98
5.         Austin Peay (1)                        94
6.         Jacksonville                             88
7.         Lipscomb                                 77
8.         Central Arkansas                     57
9.         Stetson                                    56
10.       Bellarmine                               36
11.       North Florida (1)                      34
12.       West Georgia                          32
 
Preseason Media Poll
Pl.        Team (1st Place Votes)            Points
1.         North Alabama (18)                519
2.         EKU (3)                                    495
3.         Queens (9)                               468
4.         FGCU (12)                               465
5.         Lipscomb (9)                            408
6.         Jacksonville                             381
7.         Austin Peay                             357
8.         Stetson                                    243
9.         North Florida                           192
10.       Bellarmine                               189
11.       Central Arkansas                     174
12.       West Georgia                          126

 
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.