Big South Basketball: 2021 Conference Tournament preview, predictions

When it comes to transfers in college hoops, the mid-majors of the world are at the mercy of the power conference and heavyweight programs. Each offseason, many of their top players enter the transfer portal, eventually ending up at a higher-profile school. Big South Basketball felt this the most a year ago, losing stars such as Carlik Jones, Jose Perez, and Ben Stanley.

But the conference was able to rebound with a new cast of stars for the 2020-21 season. Six players throughout the league averaged at least 16.0 ppg, including three over 20 ppg. One of them was Phlandrous Fleming Jr., a talented scoring senior for Charleston Southern who averaged 20.1 ppg and 7.4 rpg.

He came on towards the end of the regular season, with five straight double-doubles and several high-scoring performances. In the final game against Presbyterian, Fleming went for a career-high 35 points, including a game-winning three-pointer to win in overtime.

That proved to be the last time we see Charleston Southern this season. A University-mandated pause a week ago took the basketball team out of commission, and now out of the conference tournament. They likely won’t be the first team in NCAA Basketball this happens to, as “Championship Week” gets going soon.

This doesn’t change too much for the Big South in this tournament. At 3-18 overall and 2-15 in league play, the Buccaneers would’ve been the No. 11 seed and highly unlikely of a run to get the automatic bid.

Eliminating the bottom team, the Big South looks to be very competitive in both the First Round and in the quarterfinals, as no team currently in the tournament has fewer than five wins in league play. Still, there’s a clear heavy favorite to win this event, with plenty of consequences if that does and doesn’t happen.