Ospreys Swoop Up @ASunMBB Preseason Honors

Full Preseason All-Conference Team and Polls | Preseason All-Conference Video

MACON, Ga. - North Florida enters the 2015-16 Atlantic Sun Men's Basketball season as the favorites to capture the league crown after garnering first place in both preseason coaches' and media polls, announced Thursday by the league office.

"We are very humbled and honored to receive this vote of confidence from our peers and media," said seventh-year head coach Matthew Driscoll. "We completely understand the selection but also know from doing this for a long time that reality occurs in March."

The Ospreys also collected both individual preseason honors as Beau Beech was voted Preseason Player of the Year and Demarcus Daniels was picked to repeat as the A-Sun's Defensive Player of the Year. Both were also selected to the 10-man Preseason All-Conference team and joined by junior teammates Dallas Moore and Chris Davenport.

"To have four guys on the all-league team plus the Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, shows our work and efforts have come to fruition," added Driscoll. "It is amazing to see the progress the program has made in a relatively short amount of time. Program development is critical to sustained success and our having three players 6'7" or taller named to the all-conference team is a reflection of that. We believe that their probably isn't another team from any conference that can make that same claim."

The regular season and tournament champions from 2014-15, UNF secured seven of the eight first place votes in the coaches' poll, while picking up 24 of the 31 first place votes in the media poll. FGCU came in second in both polls, as the Eagles collected the final first place vote in the coaches' poll and six first place nods in the media poll. League newcomer NJIT earned the final first place vote in the media poll.

NJIT and Lipscomb split third and fourth place in each poll, with the Highlanders picked third in the coaches poll and the Bisons picked third in the media poll. Jacksonville and USC Upstate followed in fifth and sixth in the coaches' poll. Kennesaw State and Stetson were tied for seventh to round out the selections by the league's head coaches. In the media poll, the Spartans and Dolphins flipped positions, with KSU coming in seventh and Stetson eighth.

2015-16 Atlantic Sun Preseason All-Conference Team (* - Denotes unanimous selection)
- Beau Beech, North Florida*: The Preseason Player of the Year returns after being first team All-Conference last season. Beech was North Florida's leading scorer in A-Sun play at 15.9 PPG and ranked second in the A-Sun with 89 made three-pointers. He reached double-figures in 23 games, including five games with 20 or more points to help the Ospreys win their first-ever conference regular season and tournament titles and an NCAA appearance.
- Dallas Moore, North Florida*: The junior guard from St. Petersburg, Fla. is a 2014-15 first team All-Conference returning starter for the Ospreys. Finished last season as UNF's leading scorer at 15.8 PPG, third most in the A-Sun. Averaged 3.7 assists per game during the season, including 4.4 in league play. Finished season with 28 double-figure scoring games, while scoring 20 or more points in 13 games.
- Demarcus Daniels, North Florida: The 2014-15 A-Sun Defensive Player of the Year returns as the Preseason pick by the coaches to repeatthat honor. Was named the A-Sun Tournament MVP last season. Grabbed 5.9 rebounds per game, which ranked in the top-10 in the A-Sun. Shot 51.1 percent from the field in conference play. Swatted a UNF single-season record 55 shots last season to surpass 100 career blocks.
- Chris Davenport, North Florida: Led the Ospreys in rebounding and scoring last year on their way to an NCAA Tournament appearance. Averaged 11.3 PPG and 6.5 RPG last season. Made 54.7 percent of field goals in conference play, which ranked second in the league. Posted double-figures in 20 games for the Ospreys.

- Yonel Brown, Kennesaw State
- Winfield Willis, NJIT
- Julian DeBose, FGCU*
- Kori Babineaux, Jacksonville*
- Josh Williams, Lipscomb*
- Damon Lynn, NJIT*

For the fifth-straight year, the Atlantic Sun took to social media to poll the fans for the conference preseason superlative awards. North Florida's Beau Beech took home the Fan-Voted Preseason Player of the Year with 697 votes, while his teammate Demarcus Daniels earned the Fan-Voted Preseason Defensive Player with 660 ballots cast in his favor.

North Florida opens the season at Illinois on Nov. 13 and tips off its 14-game home schedule Nov. 16 against UT Rio Grande Valley in UNF Arena. Season tickets are on sale for men's basketball online or by calling the UNF Athletic Ticket Office at (904) 620-BIRD (2473).

The Atlantic Sun Conference is a NCAA Division I league with eight member institutions committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun meets the challenge of maintaining the highest standards in academic and athletic achievement with a true balance between student and athlete. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun footprint reaches into seven of the top 50 media markets in the nation. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University. Follow the Atlantic Sun on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Players Mentioned

Beau Beech

Demarcus Daniels

Chris Davenport

Dallas Moore

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