The Big South is back, and the usual parity comes with the return to conference play. Seven of the nine teams sit at a 1-1 record. Longwood, the defending tournament champion, took down Charleston Southern after losing its opener to Presbyterian. While High Point, the defending regular-season champions, fell to UNC Asheville on Jan. 4.
Here are the eight best-performing players for the first week of Big South action.Â
Guards
Jordan Marsh, UNC Asheville, Sophomore: Asheville put the conference on notice by taking down preseason No. 1 team, High Point, 103-99. Marsh put up 29 points, four boards and eight assists and went 10 of 17 from the floor. A veryimpressive performance while taking on one of the best in small conference college basketball.
Zion Walker, Radford, Freshman: The current Big South Freshman of the Week, Walker dazzled in front of his home crowd, registering 30 points in Radford’s 87-67 win. He also led the Highlanders with four assists. After its heavy loss to High Point, this is the exact type of performance needed to get Radford back on track.
Josh Banks, UNC Asheville, Fifth-Year Senior: Banks has been in college basketball for much longer than the two previous inclusions, and with that came the efficient performance against High Point, where he had 20 points on 5 of 10 shooting with three three-pointers.
Forwards
Taje’ Kelly, Charleston Southern, Senior: Kelly has been at Charleston Southern for all four years of his collegiate career and has been a key part of their season. The Buccaneers played a brutal non-conference schedule, facing several Power Five schools. Kelly put up 25 points and five rebounds in a losing effort to the Longwood Lancers. In Charleston Southern’s first Big South game, he registered 14 points and 16 rebounds in a win over Gardner-Webb.
Toyaz Solomon, UNC Asheville, Senior: Solomon came to UNC Asheville after playing two seasons at the JUCO level. Since his transfer to the Bulldogs, he has been instrumental in their success. To this point, Asheville has only played one conference game, but how they won over a team as good as High Point really says something. Solomon put up 22 points and five rebounds in the impressive win.
Reserves
Bobby Pettiford Jr., High Point, Senior: Pettiford is a senior who transferred to High Point from East Carolina in 2024. Pettiford, the former Kansas commit and national champion with the Jayhawks, dropped 24 points in the loss to UNC Asheville. After two games, he leads the conference in shooting percentage (86.7%) after going 13 of 15 over his first two games.
Kelton Talford, Winthrop, Senior: Talford has shown why he was a preseason all-conference first-team member. Talford put up 25 points and 12 boards in a commanding win over USC Upstate. In Winthrop’s loss to Radford, he tallied 15 points with eight rebounds. A walking double-double threat, Talford is truly one of the faces of the conference.
Elijah Tucker, Longwood, Junior: A former Xavier commit, Tucker has starred at Longwood since moving to Farmville, Virginia. A key piece of their conference title win in 2023-24, Tucker is averaging 16.5 points in Longwood’s two games thus far. He put up 20 points and nine rebounds in the loss to Presbyterian.Â
