The newest powerhouse in mid-major basketball, High Point basketball, looks to continue its dominance and make another postseason run
The tradition continues! It’s another year of our countdown of the top 100 preseason teams in college basketball until the start of the season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: High Point basketball.
High Point basketball was never seen as a basketball powerhouse. They had a couple of 20+ win seasons in their history, but were never good enough to make the NCAA Tournament. Then, Alan Huss took over, and that completely changed. He went 27-9, most wins in program history, then followed that up the very next season with 29 wins and the school’s first tournament appearance in school history. Flynn Clayman took over last year and continued to build off of that, winning 31 games and winning their first tournament game in program history.
Last year’s tournament was a blast, from watching Chase Johnston hit a couple jaw-dropping threes, then capping it off with a game-winning layup, his first two-point make of the season. Then, Rob Martin went toe to toe with Darius Acuff, scoring 30 points in a narrow loss to the Razorbacks. Both of them are gone, as well as leading scorer Terry Anderson, but when you’re High Point, you can rebuild easily and bring in a roster just as good, if not better than last year.
It starts with Cam’Ron Fletcher, last year’s leading rebounder who’s back for another season of college basketball. They also retain Braden Hausen and Conrad Martinez, who both had solid seasons last year. Then, they bring in a ton of experience. Starting point guard CJ Brown started all 34 games for the American Conference winners, South Florida. Jason Rivera-Torres averaged over 15 points a game and 2 steals a game at Monmouth. Isaac Garrett averaged over a steal and a block, solidifying the frontcourt for this team.
Even the bench has depth with two double-digit scorers in Filip Brankovic and Frankquon Sherman. Even the 10th man, Liam Campbell, scored 15 points in an NCAA Tournament game last year. In the NIL era, few teams have benefited more than High Point. This team is so far ahead of every other team in the Big South, it would truly be a shock if they lost more than two games in conference play. The better question is, how much longer until we see High Point jump up into a better conference where they can compete to their level?
Head coach: Flynn Clayman (2nd season overall, 2nd overall)
2025-26 record: 31-5 (15-1)
2026 postseason finish: Lost in Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament
Notable departures:
- Terry Anderson (16.0 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.7 APG)
- Rob Martin (16.0 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 3.9 APG)
- Owen Aquino (9.3 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 2.4 APG)
- Scotty Washington (8.2 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 0.9 APG)
Notable non-conference games:
- Liberty (Nov 2 – Field of 68 Tip Off)
- vs. Washington State (Nov 7)
- at Saint Louis (Nov 15)
- vs. George Mason (Dec 2)
- vs. Miami (OH) (Dec 12)
- at LSU (Dec 18)
Projected Rotation
PG: CJ Brown (6-2, 175, Jr.)
2025-2026 stats: 10.9 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 4.7 APG, 1.0 SPG, 38.1 FG%, 72.7 FT% (USF)
SG: Curtis Williams Jr. (6-6, 180, Sr.)
2025-2026 stats: 12.4 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 1.2 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.5 BPG, 40.0 FG%, 33.5 3P%, 82.5 FT% (Tulane)
SF: Jason Rivera-Torres (6-7, 195, Sr.)
2025-2026 stats: 15.8 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 2.9 APG, 2.1 SPG, 1.1 BPG, 40.2 FG%, 81.0 FT% (Monmouth)
PF: Cam’Ron Fletcher (6-7, 220, Sr.)
2025-2026 stats: 13.2 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 0.9 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.6 BPG, 54.4 FG%, 36.2 3P%, 71.6 FT%
C: Isaac Garrett (6-8, 230, Sr.)
2025-2026 stats: 13.7 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.1 SPG, 1.0 BPG, 53.7 FG%, 80.4 FT% (Oakland)
6: Braden Hausen (6-7, 213, Jr.)
2025-2026 stats: 6.7 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.2 APG, 1.0 SPG, 40.2 FG%, 35.8 3P%, 79.2 FT%
7: Conrad Martinez (6-0, 175, Sr.)
2025-2026 stats: 8.8 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.4 SPG, 45.3 FG%, 84.4 FT%
8: Filip Brankovic (6-8, 265, So.)
2025-2026 stats: 13.0 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 1.9 APG, 0.4 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 52.6 FG%, 83.6 FT% (UTRGV)
9: Frankquon Sherman (6-7, 220, Sr.)
2025-2026 stats: 10.4 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 1.0 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.7 BPG, 46.8 FG%, 73.3 FT% (Kennesaw State)
10: Liam Campbell (6-4, 205, Jr.)
2025-2026 stats: 4.9 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 0.5 APG, 51.0 FG%, 52.0 3P%, 80,0 FT% (St. Mary’s)
High Point basketball team MVP: Cam’Ron Fletcher
Cam’Ron Fletcher is back. Yes, that Cam’Ron Fletcher, who started his college basketball career in 2020-2021. He played at Kentucky for one season, then four seasons at Florida State, then a season at Xavier, then last year at High Point. He’s back for season seven, and that experience matters. Last year was his best, averaging 13 points and 7 rebounds a game, as well as over 1 steal a game. He shot an efficient 54.4% from the field, and rarely fouled.
We really saw him hit that next gear in the final three games. Against Winthrop in the Big South final, he scored 17 points on 5-6 shooting, grabbing a ridiculous 19 rebounds. Then in the win against Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, he scored 14 points, hitting three 3-pointers and grabbing 11 rebounds. Finally, in the loss to Arkansas, he scored 25 points, grabbing 8 rebounds in that one.
It might have taken some time to figure out the proper way to use Fletcher, but it seems like Clayman figured it out at the right time. Now, we’ll get a full season of this, making him the conference player of the year favorite at this point. If he can bring his best every game, crash the glass, and start to hit threes as we saw at the end of the season, he’ll be dangerous.
High Point basketball make-or-break player: Jason Rivera-Torres
After two quiet seasons at Vanderbilt and San Francisco, Rivera-Torres transferred down to Monmouth and finally found his footing. He was phenomenal, scoring 16 points per game and grabbing 8 rebounds per game. What was even more impressive was his defense, averaging over 2 steals a game and a block a game. Rivera-Torres also played 35 minutes a game, hitting 40 or more minutes in a game 5 times last season.
Now, on his fourth team in four years, can he replicate this success? High Point basketball lost Terry Anderson and Rob Martin as their first-scoring guards, and Rivera-Torres is the most obvious option to replace that scoring. With the playmaking of CJ Brown, he should be able to get plenty of opportunities, and if he can average 15 a game, then good luck to everyone else. Defensively, we know he’ll be just as good, so it’ll come down to how good he can be on the other end.
Key statistic: Steals/Fast break points per game
While you might see High Point as more of an offensive-minded team, which you’d be right since they were 8th in the country in points per game, it’s their defense that drove that. They finished 2nd in college basketball in steals per game, with 10.1, and as a result finished 3rd in fast break points, with 18.61. We’re going to see just that this year. All five projected starters averaged at least 1 steal a game last year, including the 2.1 from Rivera-Torres. They’re going to play very aggressively and try to score as many easy buckets as possible.
In Big South play, they already have such a talent advantage that this deals an even bigger blow since teams can’t try to reduce the pace on them and try to force them to win in the halfcourt. With some big-time non-conference games on deck, these fast-break points could be the difference between a loss and a key resume win.
High Point basketball 2026-27 projections
Projected conference finish: 1st in the Big South Conference
Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Round of 32 Exit