Brooks named preseason SoCon Player of the Year, Davidson picked second

Southern Conference coaches tabbed Davidson senior forward and former Hopewell standout De’Mon Brooks as the preseason SoCon Player of the Year, and coaches and media picked the Wildcats to finish second in the conference.

Brooks averaged 13.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game last year after being named the preseason conference player of the year. The honor was eventually awarded to his teammate, Jake Cohen. Brooks won the award after his sophomore campaign in 2012.

The Wildcats have one player on the preseason all-conference team in Brooks.

In a narrow vote by both the coaches and media, Elon was selected to win the SoCon with Davidson, last year's conference champion, coming in second. The Phoenix received seven first-place votes by the coaches for a total of 96 points. Davidson received three first-place votes with a total of 90 points.

In the media poll, Elon finished with 270 points and 14 first-place votes compared to Davidson’s 268 points and 12 first-place votes.

This is the last season in the SoCon for both Elon and Davidson. Elon will move to the Colonial Athletic Association next year while the Wildcats will move to the Atlantic 10.

Appalachian State tied for fourth in the coaches preseason poll and sixth in the media poll.

--Jonathan Jones