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Conference Previews: Oral Roberts takes the Southland by storm

Scott Sutton

Oral Roberts head coach Scott Sutton gestures in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Xavier, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011, in Cincinnati. Oral Roberts won 64-42. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

AP

Throughout the month of October, CollegeBasketballTalk will be rolling out our previews for the 2012-2013 season. Check back at 9 a.m. and just after lunch every day, Monday-Friday, for a new preview item.

To browse through the preview posts we’ve already published, click here. To look at the rest of the Conference Previews we’ve published, click here. For a schedule of our previews for the month, click here.

The Southland is going to look a lot different this year than it did last season.

Gone is regular season champ UT-Arlington, who, along with Texas State and UT-San Antonio, jumped to the WAC. Arlington won the conference by three games with a 15-1 record last year. Lamar may as well be gone, as they lose four starters, by rotation players and, essentially, everyone that made them the team to win the conference tournament title.

But the league will have a favorite, as last year’s Summit League champ Oral Roberts joins the conference. ORU loses a number of key players, including Summit Player of the Year Dominique Morrison, but they still have a lot of talent on the roster. Steven Rountree was one of the league’s most active and productive big men last season, and he’ll be joined in the front court by Damen Bell-Holter, who averaged 13.3 points and 7.8 boards in 2010-2011. Warren Niles, who was the team’s second-leading scorer last season, and Utah transfer Shawn Glover will also play major roles, but the key will be whether or not the point guard role gets filled this year.

Stephen F. Austin will probably be ORU’s biggest challenger, as the Lumberjacks not only have a winning nickname, but they always seem to be in the mix for the league’s regular season title. Second-leading scorer Antonio Bostic returns while Taylor Smith is a JuCo transfer that averaged 9.2 points and 6.3 boards in less than 20 minutes last year.

There are three other teams to keep an eye on in the league. Northwestern State brings back Shamir Davis and adds a couple of talented newcomers. Central Arkansas has LaQuentin Miles back, who is the league’s leading returning scorer. But Southeastern Louisiana may be the best bet for making a run to the league title. Brandon Fortenberry, who averaged 17.6 points in just seven games last year, is back, as is Roosevelt Johnson up front. Throw in Providence transfer Dre Evans, and the Lions have sleeper written all over them.

All-Conference Team (*denotes Player of the Year)

G: Brandon Fontenberry, SE Louisiana
G: Shamir Davis, Northwestern State
F: LaQuentin Miles, Central Arkansas
F: Damen Bell-Holter, Oral Roberts
F: Steven Rountree, Oral Roberts*

Predicted Standings

1. Oral Roberts
2. Southeastern Louisiana
3. Stephen F. Austin
4. Northwestern State
5. Central Arkansas
6. Sam Houston State
7. McNeese State
8. Lamar
9. Nicholls State
10. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.