KINDER, La. – Under the direction of new basketball head coach Will Wade and a strong contingent of transfers to go along with a returning star, the McNeese Cowboys have been picked for a second-place finish in the 2023-24 Southland Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Poll, the league announced on Tuesday as part of its annual SLC Media Day event held at the Grand Casino Coushatta Resort near Kinder.
In addition, returning all-conference selection
Christian Shumate was named to the preseason All-SLC first team along with TCU graduate transfer guard
Shahada Wells while junior transfer guard
Javohn Garcia, out of the College of the Sequoias, earned a nod on the second team.
The Cowboys are picked for their highest finish since being predicted to win the league in the 2011-12 season after coming off a Southland Conference title campaign a year before, the last SLC title McNeese has captured. McNeese tallied 142 points and six first-place votes in the poll conducted by league head coaches and communications directors.
Southeastern edged out the Cowboys for the top spot with 144 points while equaling McNeese with six first-place votes. New Orleans was picked third (132) followed by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (124), Northwestern State (84), Nicholls (71), Texas A&M-Commerce (66), HCU (50), Lamar (45), and UIW (42).
Joining Shumate and Wells on the first team are Jordan Johnson of New Orleans, Roger McFarlane of Southeastern and Bonke Maring of HCU. The second team includes McNeese's Garcia, Southeastern's Nick Caldwell and Alec Woodard, Micah Tomas of Nicholls, Tyson Jackson of New Orleans, and Texas A&M-Commerce's Jerome Brewer Jr.
McNeese and Southeastern led the way with three selections each followed by New Orleans with two while HCU, TAMUC and Nicholls each had one.
About McNeese's Preseason Selections:
Christian Shumate, Forward, 6-6, 213, Jr.-2L, Chicago, Illinois
• Will enter the 2023-24 season with 550 career rebounds, ranking him 21st all-time in the McNeese record book.
• Has scored 916 career points at McNeese as he's looking to become just the 32nd player in school history to reach the 1,000-point milestone.
• 1st Team All-SLC by The Almanac
2022-23 Season:
2ND TEAM ALL-SLC
SLC ALL-TOURNAMENT
• Guided the Cowboys to the 2023 SLC Tournament semifinals as a No. 8 seed to become the first team in tournament history to do so.
• Set a SLC Tournament record with 41 rebounds in three games, breaking a 33-year-old mark.
• Ranked 2nd in the SLC with 9.7 rebounds per game.
• Led the conference and ranked 11th in the NCAA with 16 double-doubles.
• Grabbed 3.7 offensive rebounds, ranking No. 1 in the SLC and 7th in the nation.
• 330 total rebounds on the season to rank 13th in the country and ranking tied as the 9th-most in a single-season in school history.
• His 512 points scored is ranked as the 2nd-most by a sophomore in McNeese history and the 29th-most by any class all-time while his team-high 15.1 ppg average is the 10th-best by a sophomore all-time.
• Scored 10 or more points 26 times on the year including 15 straight games to end the season.
• Netted 20 or more points eight times and clipped 30 or more twice, including a career-high 32 points against UIW on Feb. 18.
• 10 or more rebounds 20 times and had a season-high 15 boards vs. A&M-Corpus Christi in the SLC tourney semifinals., where he also scored 30 points.
• Sank 55% from the field and 34% from three-point range.
• In three SLC tournament games, averaged 26.7 points and 13.7 rebounds.
• Played in 34 games making 32 starts.
Shahada Wells, Guard, 6-0, 184, Grad-TR, Amarillo, Texas
• The Almanac's SLC Newcomer of the Year by The Almanac.
• Voted by league coaches anonymously as the league's "Best Pro Prospect" and "Player Who Scares You the Most" conducted by The Almanac
• 1st Team All-SLC by The Almanac
2022-23 Season at TCU:
• Helped guide TCU to a 22-13 record and to the second round of the NCAA Tournament where it fell by three points to eventual Elite Eight participant Gonzaga.
• Appeared in 35 games and made nine starts.
• Averaged 5.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
• Sank 44% from the field, 24% from 3FG range and 71% at the free throw line.
• Scored double-digits 10 times with a high of 17 points in an 83-60 win at Kansas where he sank 7 of 8 from the field including 3 of 4 from long range.
• Season-high seven rebounds at Iowa State (Feb. 15) and seven assists vs. ULM (Nov. 17).
Javohn Garcia, Guard, 6-3, 183, Jr.-TR, Columbus, Ohio
2022-23 Season at College of the Sequoias:
• Named the California Community College Men's Basketball Coaches Association (CCCMBCA) North Player of the Year and earned All-State honors.
• Averaged 20.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists in appearing in 30 games with 29 starts.
• Sank 52 percent of his shots including 46 percent from three-point range and 85 percent at the free throw line.
• Scored double-figures in all but one game and had 20 or more points 14 times.
• Netted 40 points against LA Southwest on Nov. 17 behind 14 of 22 shooting (3-5 from long range).
• 34 points vs. Cabrillo on Dec. 31 after sinking 11 of 19 (1-2 3FG) and hitting all 11 of his free throws.
• Guided team to a 27-4 overall record and 14-0 conference mark, winning the Central Valley Division of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA).
