NEW ORLEANS – University of South Alabama senior Rodrick Sikes and junior Josh Ajayi have been voted to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Team, as announced by the league on Thursday morning.

Sikes was named to the second team while Ajayi was named to the third.

The league's coaches picked the Jaguars seventh in the poll.

In his first season at South Alabama, Sikes was a second-team all-conference selection after averaging 18.7 points per game and converting 88 times from 3-point territory. He set a new school record with five 30-point games, including a career-high 38 at ULM, the second-highest point total by a Sun Belt student-athlete all season.

His 597 points in 2017-18 are tied for sixth in school history and third-most by a USA junior. In Sun Belt games, the Ocean Springs, Miss. native ranked second in the league with 20.2 ppg.

Ajayi put up 12.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest as a sophomore and recorded a team-high six double-doubles. He paced the Jaguars in rebounding, grabbing 10 or more on seven occasions, while setting and then tying his career high with 14 against ULM and Appalachian State.

The native of El Monte, Calif. is the program's active leader in points (729), rebounds (376) and steals (40).

Georgia State is the unanimous pick in poll, picking up all 12 first-place votes and 144 points. Georgia Southern and Louisiana are tied for second with 125 points and ULM and Troy are tied for fourth with 89. Appalachian State received 86 points and South Alabama garnered 80.

South Alabama takes the court Saturday for an exhibition against Tuskegee at 4 p.m.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the South Circle, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics. Contributions to South Circle directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give

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2018-19 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Honors
All-Sun Belt First Team
Ronshad Shabazz, Appalachian State (Sr., G, Raleigh, N.C.)
Tookie Brown, Georgia Southern (Sr., G, Madison, Ga.)
D'Marcus Simonds, Georgia State (Jr., G, Gainesville, Ga.)
Travis Munnings, ULM (Sr., F, Freeport, Bahamas)
Jordon Varnado, Troy (Sr., F, Brownsville, Tenn.)

All-Sun Belt Second Team
Zac Cuthbertson, Coastal Carolina (Sr., F, New Bern, N.C.)
Devin Mitchell, Georgia State (Sr., G, Lawrenceville, Ga.)
JaKeenan Gant, Louisiana (Sr., F, Springfield, Ga.)
Rodrick Sikes, South Alabama (Sr., G, Ocean Springs, Miss.)
Nijal Pearson, Texas State (Jr., G, Beaumont, Texas)
 
All-Sun Belt Third Team
Ty Cockfield II, Arkansas State (Sr., G, Gainesville, Ga.)
Ike Smith, Georgia Southern (Sr., G, Gainesville, Fla.)
Marcus Stroman, Louisiana (Sr., G, Columbia, S.C.)
Michael Ertel, ULM (So., G, Indianapolis, Ind.)
Josh Ajayi, South Alabama (Jr., F, El Monte, Calif.)
 
2018-19 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Player of the Year
D'Marcus Simonds, Georgia State (Jr., G, Gainesville, Ga.)

Rank    School (1st place votes)    Pts
1. Georgia State (12)    144
2. Georgia Southern    125
Louisiana    125
4. ULM    89
Troy    89
6. Appalachian State    86
7. South Alabama    80
8. Texas State    67
9. Arkansas State    42
10. Coastal Carolina    40
11. UTA    33
12. Little Rock    16