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GREENVILLE, SC – The men’s basketball coaches have picked UNC Pembroke as champions in the 2024-25 Conference Carolinas Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll, the conference office announced on Thursday.

UNC Pembroke captured the East Division crown last season following two straight regular season titles. The Braves won their first tournament title since their return to Conference Carolinas in 2024.

The Braves collected 195 points and 13-of-15 first-place votes (schools can’t vote for themselves) to claim the top spot in the poll.

Chowan University was picked second with 176 points and one first-place vote while Emmanuel University checked in at third with 160 points.

Chowan, who finished 19-8 overall last season, has a trio of seniors on the league’s “Players to Watch” list: former Hertford County High School standout Daylan Askew (6’- 4” guard who was named first team All-Conference last season), RJ Wilson (6’-7” forward, 2^nd Team All-Conference during the 2023-24 season), and Cheick Traore (6’-8” center).

Rob Burke, a 1999 Chowan grad where he played for his legendary father Bob Burke, enters his fourth season as the Hawks head coach. Rob Burke was Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year last season.

Chowan opens its 2024-25 season on Friday, Nov. 8 vs. Lenoir-Rhyne in a tipoff tournament hosted by Clayton State University in Morrow, GA.

Francis Marion University received the final first-place vote and is picked fourth in the preseason poll with 147 points. Converse University rounded out the top five with 128 points.

Lees-McRae College wasn’t far behind in the sixth spot with 127 points as the Bobcats were followed by Young Harris College with 123 points.

Barton College (115), Belmont Abbey College (103), and King University (79), rounded out the top 10. The University of Mount Olive (78), North Greenville University (54), Southern Wesleyan University (32), new member Shorter University (31) and Erskine College (27) completed the poll.

The 2025 Atlantic Casualty Conference Carolinas Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships will get underway on Sunday, March 2 and Monday, March 3. The fourth, fifth and sixth seeds in men’s and women’s basketball will host two games over the two days. The 12th-seeded team will battle the seventh-seeded team on March 2 at the sixth seed for the right to face the sixth seed on March 3. The 11th-seeded team will battle the eighth-seeded team on March 2 at the home of the fifth seed for the right to face the fifth seed on March 3, while the 10th-seeded team will take on the ninth-seeded team at the home of the fourth seed on March 2 for the chance to take on the fourth seed on March 3.

The 2025 Atlantic Casualty Conference Carolinas Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships quarterfinals are set for Friday, March 7 at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. The semifinals will be contested on Saturday, March 8, while the men’s and women’s basketball finals are scheduled for Sunday, March 9.