ROME, Ga. – Senior Dedric Ware has become Shorter’s first-ever basketball player to receive Gulf South Conference honors when the 6-foot-2 guard was named to the GSC Preseason Team by the league’s coaches.
The conference’s coaches also picked the Hawks to finish the 2014-15 season eighth in the 10-team league, the Lady Hawks were also picked by the GSC’s coaches to finish eighth and two first-year players from both the men’s and women’s teams were tabbed as the Top Newcomers for the upcoming season.
Ware, who hails from Gainesville, transferred to Shorter from Truett-McConnell and immediately had an impact for the Hawks during the 2012-13 season when he averaged 15 points and 5.4 assists. Last year, Ware took his game to another level as led the team averaging 18.9 points, 4.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds a game.
Selected as Top Newcomers for the Hawks were a pair of 6-7 junior transfers, forward Kordario Fleming of Memphis, Tenn., who comes to Shorter from Jacksonville, and forward Joshua Milsap of Samson, Ala., who previously played at West Alabama.
Delta State was tabbed by the coaches as the favorite to win it all in 2014-15, Christian Brothers came in at second, while last year’s GSC Tournament Cham-pions, North Alabama, rounded out the Top 3.
The GSC saw three teams advance to the NCAA Tournament last season – UNA, the 2013-14 GSC Tournament Champions, DSU and UWA. Both UNA and UWA fell in the regional round, while DSU advanced to the regional final, but fell to Tuskegee.
In the women’s preseason poll, the Lady Hawks were picked to finish eighth while two of their first-year players grabbed Top Newcomer recognition in the GSC – junior transfer Taylor Adams, a 6-1 forward from Scottsboro, Ala., who comes to Shorter from Gadsden State, and 5-8 freshman guard Jackie Hudson of Union City, Tenn.
Delta State was the choice as the GSC’s top team heading into the 2014-15 season. In its first season eligible for the GSC Tournament, Union is tabbed to finish second while last year’s GSC Tournament Champions, West Florida, was picked to finish third in the standings.
The Hawks tip off the new season on Nov. 10 when they head to Atlanta to take on NCAA Division I Georgia State, while the Lady Hawks open the new year with a pair of road tests in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., facing Barry on Nov. 14 and Nova Southeastern the next day.
