MEAC Basketball: Preseason rankings for 2018-19

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8. South Carolina State Bulldogs

The South Carolina State Bulldogs will be back with a lot of their production from the 2017-18 season. They will be a young team with just one senior on the roster for 2018-19, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be a competitive squad.

The Bulldogs return three starters from last season’s team that posted a record of 10-22 overall while going 6-10 in MEAC play. Last year’s leading scorer Damani Applewhite is back after averaging 12.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in 2017-18. Janai Raynor Powell and Ian Kinard will also be back after earning some starting experience last season.

Raynor Powell is a 5-foot-10 guard that put up 8.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game as a junior. Kinard is a 6-foot-8 forward that produced 5.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game as a freshman.

They’ll have some new faces in the rotation this upcoming season but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. A change of strategy could work wonders for them in the MEAC, that’s for sure.