BIRMINGHAM - The University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team has been selected to finish second in the Gulf South Conference, as announced in the conference's coaches preseason poll Monday.
Under third-year head coach Mick Hedgepeth, the Chargers earned two first place votes for first place a year after going 23-10 overall and 15-7 in the GSC while earning the fourth seed in the GSC Men's Basketball Championship. UAH trailed only last year's regular season champion, West Alabama, which received nine first place votes. UAH and UWA were the only programs to receive first place votes.
The Chargers are also coming off a season in which they made it to the GSC championship semifinals before winning two games in the NCAA South Regional, 92-73 versus No. 2 seed Palm Beach Atlantic and 83-74 against No. 3 West Alabama, before losing in the NCAA Division II South Region Championship against Nova Southeastern. The 2025-26 season marked the first time the program went to back-to-back regional finals since 2013.
In addition to the team's preseason rankings, sophomore Jordan Mabe was selected to the Preseason All-GSC Team. The six-foot-seven forward averaged 8.61 points per game, scoring a total of 284 points, last season while playing in all 33 games for the Chargers and shooting 64.33% on 157 attempts. The Corbin, Kentucky, native also averaged 3.91 rebounds per game while pulling down 129 total boards and recorded 11 blocks.
A pair of Chargers were also named to the Newcomers to Watch list with sophomore Jax Abernathy and senior Xavier Martinez earning the recognition.
A six-foot-4 guard transfer from Trevecca Nazarene, Abernathy averaged 16.69 points, 2.93 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game last season for the Trojans while earning Third Team All-GSC. Martinez is a five-foot-10 guard coming from University of Colorado Colorado Springs where he averaged 13.79 points, 2.52 rebounds and 4.36 assists per game over the last three seasons. Martinez was a two-time Second Team All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference selection and earned honorable mention his freshman year.
The Chargers will open the 2026-27 regular season Nov. 9 against Harding at SportsMED Arena in Spragins Hall, with tipoff scheduled for 6 p.m.
2026-27 GSC Men's Basketball Coaches Preseason Poll
First-place votes in parentheses
|
Rank
|
Team
|
Points
|
|
1
|
West Alabama (9)
|
99
|
|
2
|
UAH (2)
|
92
|
|
3
|
Trevecca Nazarene
|
73
|
|
4
|
Valdosta State
|
70
|
|
5
|
Lee
|
69
|
|
6
|
AUM
|
61
|
|
7t
|
Delta State
|
37
|
|
7t
|
Mississippi Christian
|
37
|
|
9
|
Union
|
33
|
|
10t
|
Christian Brothers
|
17
|
|
10t
|
Montevallo
|
17
|
2026-27 Preseason All-GSC Women's Basketball Team
-
Jordan Mabe, UAH, So., F
-
Zach Gray, Lee, Sr., F
-
Fred Bailey, Trevecca Nazarene, So., PG
-
Blaise Wallace, Valdosta State, Sr., F
-
BJ Brown Jr., West Alabama, Jr., PG
Listed alphabetically by school.
