ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's basketball team enters the 2021-22 season with a first-year head coach in Mike Jones.
 
Jones leads the Spartans after a successful 10-year stint at Radford that included a victory in the NCAA Tournament.
 
While, there will be some familiar faces from last season on this season's team, the Spartans will be different from the one that won 21 contests, won the Southern Conference tournament and participated in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history when the curtain rises on the 2021-22 season on Tuesday, Nov. 9 against North Carolina A&T at 7 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum.

UNCG was picked to finish sixth in the SoCon preseason poll Tuesday morning. Selected ahead of the Spartans were Chattanooga, Furman, ETSU, Mercer and Wofford and above VMI, Samford, The Citadel, and Western Carolina. 

Seniors Mohammed Abdulsalam and Kaleb Hunter will lead the Spartans this season. They are experienced and determined to make sure those preseason predictions are revised once the season is concluded. Each player had plenty of memorable moments last season.
 
Hunter, who enters the season with 724 career points, had 12 double-digit scoring games for the Spartans last season and averaged 8.6 points per contest. Hunter had one double-double last season against Norfolk State (16 points, 10 rebounds).
 
In averaging 6.6 points and 6.9 rebounds, Abdulsalam led the SoCon in offensive rebounding per game (2.93). He was 50th in offensive rebounds per game and seventh in the conference in rebounding (7.0). Abdulsalam had a career best 16 rebounds against Western Carolina and a career-high 15 points against North Carolina A&T.
 
Other key returnees for the Spartans this season include Bas Leyte, Kobe Langley, Khyre Thompson, J.C. Tharrington, and Reggie Raynor. Leyte, Langley and Thompson played key roles last season in helping the Spartans to their fifth consecutive 20-win season.
 
Thompson, who scored in double figures three times last season, had five rebounds in 11 minutes in the SoCon championship game against Mercer. Leyte had five rebounds in 13 minutes against Florida State in the NCAA Tournament. Langley is one of the top defensive performers in the SoCon.
 
They will join impact transfers De'Monte Buckingham (CSU-Bakersfield), Jalen White (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi), Dante Treacy (Robert Morris), and Miles Jones (Radford) and newcomers Jalen Breath and A.J. Williams to form the core of UNCG's program this season.  
 
In addition to the 1,294 career points he has scored, Buckingham has reached double figures 59 times. He has also hit for 20 or more points nine times, including a career-best 28 in a contest against Georgetown while as a member of Richmond.

Treacy helped Robert Morris win the Northeast Conference postseason tournament championship in 2020.  White led Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in scoring with 11.7 points per game, including 12.4 points in conference during the 2020-21 year. He ranked ninth in the Southland Conference in defensive rebounds with 4.7 per outing. White scored in double-figures 11 times.

Three SoCon squads are under new leadership this season, with Desmond Oliver taking the reins at ETSU, Mike Jones entering his first season at UNCG and Justin Gray making his debut at Western Carolina.
 
The SoCon Basketball Media Day presented by Ingles will take place in Asheville, North Carolina, at Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville on Tuesday, with interviews with each head coach conducted by Pete Yanity airing on ESPN+ on Wednesday beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern. The league's women's coaches will go first, followed by the men's coaches.
 
The 2021-22 season gets underway Tuesday, Nov. 9, with nine SoCon teams in action, while ETSU opens its season on Friday, Nov. 12.
 
The 2022 Ingles SoCon Men's Basketball Championship will be held March 4-7 at Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville in Asheville, North Carolina, with the semifinals airing live on ESPNU and the final on ESPN.
 
2021-22 Southern Conference Preseason Coaches Poll
Team (1st-place votes)      Total
1. Chattanooga (7)              77
2. Furman (2)                      71
3. ETSU                             59
4. Mercer (1)                       58
5. Wofford                          49
6. UNCG                            45
7. VMI                                32
8. Samford                         24
9. The Citadel                     23
10. Western Carolina          12
 
2021-22 Preseason Southern Conference Player of the Year
Hayden Brown, Gr., F, The Citadel
 
2021-22 Preseason All-Southern Conference team
Hayden Brown, Gr., F, The Citadel
Ledarrius Brewer, R-Jr., G, ETSU
David Sloan, Sr., G, ETSU
Mike Bothwell, Sr., G, Furman
Alex Hunter, 5th, G, Furman
Neftali Alvarez, R-Jr., G, Mercer
Felipe Haase, R-Sr., F, Mercer
David Jean-Baptiste, Gr., G, Chattanooga
Malachi Smith, So., G, Chattanooga
Jake Stephens, Sr., C, VMI
 
2021-22 Southern Conference Preseason Media Poll
Team (1st-place votes)      Total
1. Chattanooga (18)            254
2. Furman (3)                      220
3. Wofford (1)                      191
4. Mercer (2)                       190
5. ETSU                             186
6. UNCG (3)                       160
7. VMI                                104
8. The Citadel                     74
9. Samford                         57
10. Western Carolina          49