BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Gulf South Conference announced the 2021-22 preseason all conference rankings and teams Friday morning with the Mississippi College men's basketball team picked 12th and the women tabbed 11th in the league.
The Mississippi College men's team is coming off of a shortened spring season in which the Choctaws finished 2-6 overall on the season with wins over Union (89-57) and Christian Brothers (72-60). MC enters the season under the direction of first year head coach,
Randy Bolden, who was named the 13th head coach in Mississippi College men's basketball history on April 8, 2021.
Prior to MC, Bolden served as the head coach at Jones College for four years, guiding the Bobcats to a 59-31 record, including back-to-back 20-win seasons, a south division championship, and a conference runner-up finish in 2018-19.
Mississippi College was tabbed with two top newcomers,
Miles Miller and
Tradavis Thompson, in Friday's GSC release. Miller comes to Mississippi College after previous stops at Ole Miss and Lipscomb. Miller played in 18 games with four starts in 2020-21 at Lipscomb, for an average 15.1 minutes on the floor each game. He went 17-of-58 from the field for a .293 percentage and 8-of-30 from deep for a .267 3-point percentage, including 2.6 PPG, 1.3 RPG, while pulling down 23 rebounds, 23 assists, and 9 steals.
Thompson joins MC after a stint at Jones College. In his time at Jones, Thompson played in 27 games, averaging 11.1 points per game, 3.0 rebounds per game, and 2.0 assists per game. He also shot 46.0 percent from the field with a 34.1 three point made percentage.
MC will look to begin the season on Oct. 28 with an exhibition versus Florida State in Tallahassee (Fla.) before opening up regular season play on Nov. 13 with a road matchup at Lynn University. Tip-off at Lynn is set for 1 p.m. in Bacon Raton (Fla.)
On the women's side, Mississippi College enters the 2021-22 season under the direction of
Greg Long. Long enters his second season at the helm of the Choctaw program, after finishing 3-9 overall in a shortened 2021 spring season. The Choctaws wrapped up the spring season with wins over Delta State (63-62, 68-61 2OT) and UAH (72-48).
Ally Alford and
KB Bradley were tabbed Mississippi College's two newcomers of the season by the GSC on Friday. Prior to MC, Alford prepped at North Delta School, earning District AAA All Conference five-times. She was also named the 2019 and 2020 District AAA MVP, a member of the AAA North State All Tournament (2017-2021), the State All-Tournament Team her freshman and junior seasons, while also leading NDS to the AAA State Championship her junior season. In 2018, 2019 and 2020, Alford was named to the All-MAIS team as well as being named the 2020 Player of the Year in MAIS-AAA.
Joining her on the newcomer list, Bradley comes to MC after finishing up her high school career at White Station High School. In her time at White Station HS, Bradley averaged nine points, 3 rebounds, five steals and four assists during her senior and final season.
MC will take the court for an exhibition matchup on Nov. 1 at Mississippi State, before tipping off the regular season on Nov. 12 versus LeMoyne-Owen. Tip-off versus LeMoyne-Owen is set for 7:30 p.m. in Tuskegee, Ala.
2021-22 Preseason All-GSC MBB Team
Maalik Cartwright – Delta State
Quay Kennedy – Lee
Cam Hamilton – Valdosta State
Michael Zabetakis – West Georgia
Jacolbey Owens – Valdosta State
MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE NEWCOMERS
Miles Miller G 6-3 RS-So. Meridian, Miss. Lipscomb
Tradavis Thompson G 6-2 So. Raymond, Miss. Jones County CC
2021-22 GSC MBB Preseason Coaches' Poll
| Rank |
School (First-Place Votes) |
Total Pts |
| 1. |
Valdosta State (7) |
134 |
| 2. |
Lee (3) |
129 |
| 3. |
West Georgia (2) |
122 |
| 4. |
Alabama Huntsville (1) |
114 |
| 5. |
Union |
96 |
| 6. |
West Alabama |
80 |
| 7. |
Montevallo |
76 |
| 8. |
West Florida |
71 |
| 9. |
Delta State |
69 |
| 10. |
Auburn Montgomery |
36 |
| 11. |
Christian Brothers |
35 |
| 12. |
Mississippi College |
32 |
| 13. |
Shorter |
20 |
2021-22 Preseason All-GSC WBB Team
Jaelencia Williams – Union
Kwajelin Farrar – Valdosta State
Haley Schubert – Lee
Zyaire Ewing – Delta State
Shanique Lucas – Union
MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE NEWCOMERS
Ally Alford G 5-6 Fr. Batesville, Miss. North Delta School
Kayla Bradley G 5-6 Fr. Memphis, Tenn. White Station HS
2021-22 GSC WBB Preseason Coaches' Poll
| Rank |
School (First-Place Votes) |
Total Pts |
| 1. |
Union (10) |
142 |
| 2. |
Lee (1) |
126 |
| 3. |
Valdosta State (2) |
122 |
| 4. |
Montevallo |
116 |
| 5. |
Delta State |
91 |
| 6. |
Alabama Huntsville |
88 |
| 7. |
West Alabama |
83 |
| 8. |
West Florida |
66 |
| 9. |
West Georgia |
61 |
| 10. |
Christian Brothers |
46 |
| 11. |
Mississippi College |
33 |
| 12. |
Auburn Montgomery |
24 |
| 13. |
Shorter |
16 |
