LAKE CHARLES – Coming off one of the most historic seasons in school history with a 30-win season plus Southland Conference regular season and tournament championships, the McNeese Cowboys have been selected as an overwhelming favorite to repeat those titles as the league released its preseason poll and teams on Thursday.
 
In addition to the first place projection in the poll, which is voted on by league head coaches and sports information directors, McNeese landed three players on the preseason All-SLC first team and another two on the second for a total of five players on the 10-man team.
 
Reigning Defensive Player of the Year Christian Shumate, was an automatic selection to the first team after he garnered the postseason honors last year. Joining him are transfer Quadir Copeland and Joe Charles while earning a spot on the second team are Javohn Garcia and newcomer Brandon Murray.
 
McNeese received 242 points in the voting, including 21 of the 24 first place votes. Two first place votes on the poll belong to McNeese which isn't able to vote for itself.  Stephen F. Austin, playing in its first season back as a member of the Southland Conference since 2019, is picked to finish second followed by Nicholls, who received the other three first place votes.
 
Joining Shumate, Copeland and Charles on the first team are Garry Clark of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Jamal West Jr. of Nicholls. Keon Thompson of SFA, Robert Brown III of Nicholls and UIW's Jalin Anderson round out the second team selections.
 
Last season, Shumate played a major role in helping McNeese roll up 30 wins for just the second time in school history and the first as a Division I program.
 
The senior from Chicago led the SLC and ranked 31^st in the NCAA in rebounds per game (9.5), offensive rpg (3.6, 15th in NCAA), total rebounds (313, 24th NCAA) and double-doubles (12, 35th NCAA). H was second in the SLC in blocks per game (1.4), total blocks (47), and defensive rpg (6.1).
 
He pulled down a career-high 21 rebounds in a win at UAB, marking the 6th-most in school history and also the most by a Southland player on the year. He recorded 24 games with 10 or more points and 15, 10-rebound games on the year. He also led the team with 57 dunks with nine of those featured on SportsCenter Top 10 Plays of the Day (vs. Southern Miss, #8; at Northwestern State, #3; at AMCC, #10; vs. AMCC, #6; at HCU, #1 and #7; at Nicholls, #1; vs. UIW, #8; vs. Nicholls, #3).
 
Entering the 2024-25 season, Shumate is just the seventh player in school history to score 1,000 points and grab 800 rebounds. His 8.7 rebounds per game average ranks ninth all-time while his .542 shooting percentage is third all-time. He's also recorded a school record 34 career double-doubles.
 
Copeland (6-6, 200) is a junior transfer guard from Syracuse where he averaged 9.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last season. The Philadelphia native played in all 32 games for the Orange last season, starting one.
 
He scored 10 or more points 14 times with a high of 25 points at North Carolina State and 22 versus Pittsburgh. He recorded one double-double, that coming in the season opener against New Hampshire where he scored 10 points with 13 rebounds. He ranked second on the team with 4.6 assists and dished out a season-high eight dimes against Chaminade and Oregon.
 
Garcia earned SLC All-Tournament Team honors last season after helping the Cowboys clinch the title and their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 22 years.
 
The senior from Columbus, Ohio averaged 11.2 points per game last season and 12.4 points in SLC games only. He scored double-figures 21 times and netted 20 or more points twice – 22 vs. Southeastern and 20 vs. New Orleans.
 
He ranked second on the team in three-point shooting with a 44.4 percent aim and was third with 40 total threes made. Garcia scored 19 points to help lead the Cowboys in the tournament championship game win over Nicholls.
 
Charles comes to McNeese after spending the last three seasons at Louisiana-Lafayette where he earned third team All-Sun Belt Conference honors last season.
 
The Carencro native averaged 11.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game last year while starting all 33 games. He finished the season with a team-leading 11 double-doubles and also led the team in rebounds with 318, steals (60) and blocked shots (37). He became the first Cajun to start the season with three-straight double-doubles.
 
He scored 10 or more points 20 times on the season and sank 20 or more points four times with a career-high of 26 points at Southern Miss.
 
Murray (6-5, 210) is a senior guard transfer from Ole Miss and who also spent a season each at Georgetown and LSU.
 
The Germantown, Maryland native appeared in 23 games for Ole Miss last season, making three starts. He averaged 19.8 minutes, 4.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game. He made his Ole Miss debut on December 16 against California, scoring three points with a rebound, four assists, and one block.
 
Murray scored a season-best nine points on December 31 against Bryant and January 10 against Florida and recorded a career-best two blocks against Florida on January 10. On January 27 at Texas A&M, he scored eight points and grabbed a career-best eight rebounds in the Rebels victory.
 
He started all 27 games at Georgetown in his sophomore season and ranked second on the team with 13.7 points per game. He also led the squad with 38 steals and was third with 35 three-pointers made.
 
Murray signed with LSU out of high school, playing for current Cowboys' head coach Will Wade. As a freshman, he started in 32 of 33 games and ranked third on the team with 10.0 points per game.
 
2024 Southland Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
1. McNeese, 242 (21)
2. SFA, 208
3. Nicholls, 205 (3)
4. A&M-Corpus Christi, 191
5. Lamar, 143
6. Southeastern, 121
7. UIW, 117
8. UTRGV, 112
9. Northwestern State, 90
T10. A&M-Commerce, 54
T10. New Orleans, 54
12. HCU, 48
 
2024 All-Southland Preseason Teams
First Team
Christian Shumate, Sr., F, McNeese
Garry Clark, Sr., F, A&M-Corpus Christi
Jamal West Jr., Sr., F, Nicholls
Quadir Copeland, Jr., G, McNeese
Joe Charles, Sr., F, McNeese
 
Second Team
Javohn Garcia, Sr., G, McNeese
Keon Thompson, Jr., G, SFA
Robert Brown III, Sr., G, Nicholls
Jalin Anderson, Gr., G, UIW
Brandon Murray, Sr., G, McNeese