Photo credit: Georgia State Athletics
Release from Georgia State Athletics:
The back-to-back Sun Belt champion Georgia State men’s basketball team has been picked to finish second in the league this season, while seniors Markus Crider and Kevin Ware, along with redshirt-junior Jeremy Hollowell were honored with preseason all-conference recognition on Wednesday.
Voting for the Preseason Sun Belt All-Conference Team and Poll was conducted by the league’s 11 head coaches.
The Panthers went 25-10 during the 2014-15 season, including a 15-5 mark in Sun Belt play to win their second-straight regular season title. Georgia State went on to win the conference tournament title and advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001, upsetting No. 3-seed Baylor 57-56 to reach the third round of the tournament.
With the 25 wins, Georgia State is one of just 20 programs in the country to reach that total in each of the last two years. Since returning to the Sun Belt two years ago, the Panthers have compiled a 32-6 mark in conference games.
Crider and Ware each earned All-Sun Belt Preseason Second-Team honors, while Hollowell earned third team recognition.
Crider earned Sun Belt All-Tournament honors last year after averaging 11.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in conference championship, leading Georgia State to the NCAA tournament. He finished the season averaging 9.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, shooting 59.5 percent from the floor, which ranked second in the Sun Belt.
Ware was named Sun Belt tournament MVP and to the all-tournament team after scoring 18 points in the championship game, nearly half of Georgia State’s total, playing 39 minutes and going 8-of-17 from the floor to lead Georgia State to the NCAA tournament. He finished his first season with GSU averaging 7.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in 28.6 minutes per contest.
Hollowell will be making his first appearance on the court for Georgia State this season after redshirting last season following his transfer from Indiana. As a sophomore at Indiana (2013-14), Hollowell appeared in 29 games, making 15 starts, averaging 5.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. He shot 77.9 percent from the free throw line and averaged 18.3 minutes per game.
UL Lafayette was unanimously selected to win the league as Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year Shawn Long returns for his senior season. UL Monroe was selected third, followed by Arkansas State and Little Rock rounding out the top five.
Preseason Coaches Poll
(First place votes in parenthesis)
| Rank | Team | Points (1st Place Votes) |
| 1 | UL Lafayette | 119 (9) |
| 2 | Georgia State | 108 (2) |
| 3 | UL Monroe | 97 |
| 4 | Arkansas State | 71 |
| 5 | Little Rock | 68 |
| 6 | Appalachian State | 64 |
| 7 | South Alabama | 56 |
| 8 | UT Arlington | 48 |
| Texas State | 48 | |
| 10 | Georgia Southern | 28 |
| 11 | Troy | 19 |
Preseason First Team All-Conference
Anthony Livingston (Arkansas State, Jr., F, Interdisciplinary Studies)
Shawn Long (UL Lafayette, Sr., F/C, General Studies)
Ken Williams (South Alabama, Junior, Guard, Interdisciplinary studies)
Emani Gant (Texas State, Senior, Forward)
Wesley Person (Troy, Sophomore, Guard, Global Business)
Preseason Second Team All-Conference
Frank Eaves (Appalachian State University, Senior, Guard, Management)
Markus Crider (Georgia State, Senior, Forward, Speech)
Kevin Ware (Georgia State, Senior, Guard, Religious Studies)
Josh Hagins (Little Rock, Senior, Guard, Health Science)
Majok Deng (UL Monroe, Senior, Forward, General Studies)
Preseason Third Team All-Conference
Jeremy Hollowell (Georgia State, RS-Junior, Forward, Interdisciplinary Studies)
Roger Woods (Little Rock, Senior, Forward, Criminal Justice)
Devonta Walker (UL Lafayette, Sr., F, General Studies)
Jay Wright (UL Lafayette, Jr., G, General Studies)
Nick Coppola (UL Monroe, Junior, Guard, Risk Management and Insurance)
Preseason Student-Athlete of the Year
Shawn Long (UL Lafayette, Sr., F/C, General Studies)
The Sports Inquirer 
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