2024 Southland Tournament Preview & Conference Awards

CBB Review prepares you for every conference tournament leading up to Selection Sunday on Mar. 17. Up next: The Southland Tournament.

Y’all it’s time for the Southland Tournament. Best time of the year. Will Wade is back from exile, basically Napoleon gathering his army at Elba, but it’s just a 41-year-old Tennessean with 13 really good basketball players.

Texas A&M Corpus-Christi lost their coach but not their mojo, none of the preseason pollsters knew what would happen, toughness Timbs are found in the Bayou, Saddler is cooking up something, and Lamar is good at basketball. Strap in, it’s about to get crazy. (Oh, and it’s in Lake Charles.)

2024 Southland Conference Awards

Player of the Year: Shahada Wells, McNeese

Freshman of the Year: Dominic Capriotti, Houston Christian

Transfer of the Year: Shahada Wells, McNeese

Coach of the Year: Will Wade, McNeese 

First Team:

• G: Jordan Johnson, New Orleans (21.4 PPG, 3.9 APG, 3.2 RPG, 1.5 SPG)
• G: Shahada Wells, McNeese (17.2 PPG, 4.7 APG, 4.6 RPG, 2.9 SPG)
• F: Jamal West Jr., Nicholls (14.1 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.8 BPG)
• F: Christian Shumate, McNeese (12.0 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 0.9 APG, 1.4 BPG)
• F: Roger McFarlane, Southeastern Louisiana (14.7 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 1.5 APG)

Second Team:

• G: Kalen Williams, Texas A&M-Commerce (16.4 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 3.0 APG)
• G: Nick Caldwell, Southeastern Louisiana (15.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 1.2 APG, 42.3 3P%)
• F: Garry Clark, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (13.1 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1.1 APG, 1.1 SPG)
• F: Terry Anderson, Lamar (12.7 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.8 APG, 59.1 2P%)
• C: Adam Hamilton, Lamar (10.8 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 1.7 APG, 1.1 BPG)

Southland Tournament Simulation

First Round – Sun., Mar. 10

5. Southeastern Louisiana (15-16, 10-8) vs. 8. New Orleans (9-22, 4-14) – 6 p.m. on ESPN+

There’s a big gap between the top five teams in the conference and the bottom five teams. After all, SELA is three games ahead of the six-seeded Demons and six games ahead of New Orleans, who won the tiebreaker with Houston Christian just to qualify for the conference tournament. The Lions swept the season series, with Roger McFarlane recording a double-double in each game against the Privateers. There’s no reason to think that won’t happen again. 

George’s pick: 5. Southeastern Louisiana

6. Northwestern State (9-22, 7-11) vs. 7. Texas A&M-Commerce (12-19, 6-12) – 8:30 p.m. on ESPN+

Revenge is a dish best served cold. Rick Cabrera’s group will have that chance and an opportunity to send the Lions back to Hunt County after Commerce just defeated the Blazers at home in triple OT, 83-80. Now on a neutral court in Lake Charles, it’s anyone’s game, and given that Natchitoches is almost three times closer to the venue than Commerce is, the Demons could find themselves with a slight fan advantage. The trio of Justin Wilson, Braelon Bush, and Chase Forte have been playing at quite a high level lately, and here’s to assuming they win the rubber match. Forte gets the Toughness Timbs.

George’s pick: 6. Northwestern State

Second Round – Mon., Mar. 11 

4. Lamar (18-13, 12-6) vs. 5. Southeastern Louisiana – 6 p.m. on ESPN+

Much like there’s a huge gap between the No. 5 team in the standings and the No. 8 team, there’s also a sizable margin between the 4 and the 5. Lamar swept the season series, with the most recent victory in Hammond in mid-February coming on the back of a 19-9-7 statline from Terry Anderson to lead the Cardinals to victory. I know of the “it’s hard to beat a team three times” mantra, but I don’t think that applies here, even with the duo of McFarlane and Caldwell being one of the best tandems in the conference. The Lions come into the tournament limping, anyway, after a 54-80 loss to Nicholls at home in their last regular season game. 

George’s pick: 4. Lamar

3. Nicholls (18-13, 13-5) vs. 6. Northwestern State – 8:30 p.m., ESPN+

Tevon Saddler has done a great job turning around this Colonels program in his first year at the helm, including a win over LSU in the team’s second game of the season. Their 12-6 Southland record includes a two-game sweep over the Demons, albeit in two close contests. Diante Smith and Jamal West Jr. are playing at an all-conference level, and it’s worth noting that the Demons haven’t beaten a single team above them in the conference standings all season. 

George’s pick: 3. Nicholls State

Semifinals – Tues., Mar. 12

1. McNeese (28-3, 17-1) vs. 4. Lamar – 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU

Wade vs. Brooks. Old vs. new. Wells vs. Pryor. Shumate vs. Anderson. This is going to be a good game, just like the most recent matchup, a 58-56 nailbiter at the Montagne Center in favor of the Cowboys via a late Antavion Collum three. The difference? This game’s going to be in Lake Charles, where the Pokes hit over 50% of their threes, Christian Shumate got some major airtime, and Wade won comfortably, 88-69, in January. With the crowd in favor of State, there’s a much higher chance of this matchup ending like the first meeting than the most recent iteration.

George’s pick: 1. McNeese

2. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (21-10, 14-4) vs. 3. Nicholls – 9 p.m. on ESPN+

Despite losing coach Steve Lutz to Western Kentucky after last season’s tournament appearance and replacing him with an in-house hire in Jim Shaw, the Islanders really haven’t missed a beat. Odessa transfer Dian Wright-Forde, a.k.a James Harden Jr., and Tarleton transfer Garry Clark have energized the offense, and the Islanders have eight different players averaging 6+ PPG this season. Nicholls did win the most recent matchup in Thibodaux, but Corpus Christi won their home game against the Colonels as well. Who takes the rubber match? Nicholls hasn’t lost to a team not named McNeese since February 10, but Corpus Christi hasn’t lost at all since February 12, the aforementioned road defeat in Thibodaux. These are two teams peaking at the right time, but someone has to win, and that team will be under the guidance of Jim Shaw. 

George’s pick: 2. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

Championship – Wed., Mar. 13

1. McNeese vs. 2. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – 5 p.m. on CBSSN

If there’s a team that’s going to take down Wade at home, it’s the NCAA rules enforcement committee. But if there’s a second team, it would be the Islanders. Though the Pokes swept the season series, they did so by just a combined 8 points. Southeastern Louisiana is the only other team in the Southland not to lose a game by double-digits against Wells and Co., and as mentioned earlier, if Corpus-Christi reaches the title game, they will have not lost a game in over a month. But when it comes down to ceiling and floor, not even yet factoring in homecourt advantage, the answer is McNeese, the team that took down Michigan, Louisiana, Southern Miss, UAB, and VCU. It’ll be exciting to watch this team in March, and even if the Islanders or Colonels end up with the auto-bid, it would be a shame for McNeese not to receive an at-large bid. 

George’s pick: 1. McNeese