Spartanburg, SC. – Wofford men’s basketball was picked third in the Southern Conference preseason coaches poll released Wednesday, Oct. 7. The Terriers totaled 78 points from the league’s 11 head coaches, behind Furman (100 points, 10 first place votes) and ETSU (86 points, one first place vote). Sophomore guard Chace Watley and redshirt junior guard Cam Lowe were both named to the Preseason All SoCon Team.
Samford (70) and Chattanooga (59) round out the top five, followed by Tennessee Tech (57), Mercer (47), Western Carolina (41), VMI (32), The Citadel (21) and UNCG (14). VMI’s Rickey Bradley Jr. was tabbed Preseason Player of the Year. The Tdawgs are one of three programs with two preseason all league picks, joining Furman and VMI.
Watley, a 6’2″ guard out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, played in all 32 games with 15 starts as a freshman. He scored 309 points, fourth most on the team, and leads all returners in points, assists (43) and steals (18). His 79 made free throws were the most by a Wofford freshman since Jackson Paveletzke made 117 in 2022-23. Watley reached double figures 16 times and posted a career high 19 points against ETSU.
Lowe comes to Spartanburg from Division II Black Hills State, where he spent the last two seasons. The 6’6″ guard from Colorado Springs, Colorado averaged 17.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game in 2025-26, shooting 47.5 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from deep. He was named an NABC Division II All American after leading Black Hills State to a 30-5 record and an Elite Eight run. Lowe scored in double figures 28 times, topped 20 points in 15 games, and dropped a career high 31 on 12-of-15 shooting against Colorado Mesa. His 92 made threes ranked 20th in Division II.
The Old Gold and Black open the 2026-27 season with a Homecoming exhibition against Virginia Tech on Friday, Oct. 16, at 5:00 PM ET inside Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. The regular season tips at Tennessee on Tuesday, Nov. 3, followed by a trip to Chapel Hill to face North Carolina on Friday, Nov. 6. Both are familiar opponents, Wofford having faced Tennessee in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, as well as a 2-for-1 against UNC from 2017-19. The Terriers knocked off UNC in both of the road games in that 3-game series, with an upset over #5 UNC in 2017, followed by another over #17 UNC in 2019. The home opener is Sunday, Nov. 8, against Division II Allen University.