CHARLOTTE, N.C.- The Florida SouthWestern State Men's Basketball team has high expectations for the 2022-2023 season and apparently the rest of the country agrees as the Buccaneers will start the season ranked #2 in the NJCAA Preseason National Rankings released on Monday by the National Office.
FSW is coming off of a 24-6 campaign in which they missed the National Tournament only by a technicality that limits the number of participants from a single region to three. The Bucs finished the regular season ranked 14th in the National Poll but closed the season ranked #5 by the Massey Ratings. The team that got the bid in front of the Bucs, Northwest Florida State, went on to win the 2022 National Championship in Hutchinson, Kansas.
The Bucs return starting point guard Jordan Mitchell, who played in all 30 games as a freshman a season ago, racking up 167 assists on the season, third most in a season in program history, and Omar Rowe, who shot 46% from the three point line in eight games before injury ended his 2021-2022 campaign. FSW has also replenished a cabinet that lost six Division I players to graduation last season with a number of high profile transfers including 2022 NJCAA All-American Bradley Douglas who averaged 16 points and 5 assists per game last season at Santa Fe, and Tyson Brown, a 6'9 big man who was an All-WJCAC performer a season ago at Western Texas when he averaged a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds per contest.
FCSAA squads check in at #1 and #2 in the preseason poll with defending National Champions Northwest Florida in front of the Bucs at #1 with FSW coming in at #2 and Indian Hills, Kilgore, and Salt Lake rounding out the Top 5. Five Florida squads are in the preseason Top 25 including FSW and Northwest Florida at the top followed by Chipola at #9, Tallahassee at #10, and Eastern Florida State at #25.
The Bucs are scheduled to open their season on November 1st against Florida Coastal Prep. With emergency operations currently stationed on the FSW campus, the Bucs are working on finding an alternate venue in the area for that contest. Stay tuned to FSWBucs.com and @FSWBucs on social media for the most up to date schedule for the 2022-2023 season.