ATLANTA, GA (November 4, 2025) – After another 20-win season and a trip to the conference championship game, Maryville has been voted the preseason favorite in the 2025 Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) Men’s Basketball Poll for the fourth consecutive season. The Scots earned the top spot in this year’s poll, collecting 36 points and six first-place votes in the vote by the league’s head coaches.
Maryville finished 11-1 in CCS play last year and entered 2025 ranked No. 21 nationally in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25. The Scots return four core starters, including Kyle Cloninger, the reigning CCS Rookie of the Year, and Chase Morgan, both of whom earned all-conference honors. They will be joined by key contributors Javi Rosell and Jackson Garner as Maryville looks to make another postseason push after a narrow 93-92 loss to Huntingdon in last year’s title game.
Asbury earned 25 points to secure the No. 2 spot in the preseason poll after finishing 9-18 overall and 4-8 in conference play last season. The Eagles made a strong postseason showing, defeating Covenant in the quarterfinals before bowing out to Maryville in the semifinals. Junior guard Luke Imfield, a first team All-CCS selection, returns to lead a roster that showed flashes of potential under head coach Will Shouse.
Piedmont followed closely behind in third with 23 points and one first-place vote. The Lions went 11-15 last season and advanced to the CCS quarterfinals before falling to eventual champion Huntingdon. Senior guards Dylan Patrick and Fisher Darden, both second team all-CCS honorees, headline a backcourt that will be key to Piedmont’s climb back into contention.
Huntingdon, the reigning CCS champions, were slotted fourth with 21 points after last year’s Cinderella postseason run. The Hawks entered the 2024-25 tournament as the No. 3 seed and surged through the bracket, defeating Piedmont and Belhaven before knocking off top-seeded Maryville, 93-92, to claim the program’s first CCS title. Huntingdon finished 22-7 overall and 8-4 in league play, earning its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance before falling to Emory in the opening round. The Hawks will look to reload this season with a youthful roster featuring a large group of freshmen and sophomores.
Covenant landed fifth with 20 points after posting a 9-16 overall record and a 4-8 mark in conference play last season. The Scots return Pierce Smith, the 2024-25 CCS Defensive Player of the Year, alongside senior guard Logan Patterson, another all-conference honoree, as they aim to climb the standings in 2025.
Belhaven was picked sixth with 12 points after finishing 21-5 (11-1 CCS) last season, while LaGrange rounded out the poll in seventh with 10 points.
Conference play tips off on Friday, January 2, with a pair of conference teams taking the court. Follow all the CCS basketball action with updated scores, schedules at standings at
www.collegiateconferenceofthesouth.com.
The 2025-26 CCS Men’s Basketball Championship kicks off on Tuesday, February 24 and is capped by the championship game on Saturday, February 28, hosted by the highest remaining seed.
A look at the 2025-26 CCS Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll:
2025-26 CCS Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
| 1. |
Maryville College |
36 points (6) |
| 2. |
Asbury University |
25 points |
| 3. |
Piedmont University |
23 points (1) |
| 4. |
Huntingdon College |
21 points |
| 5. |
Covenant College |
20 points |
| 6. |
Belhaven University |
12 points |
| 7. |
LaGrange College |
10 points |
First-place votes in parenthesis.
ABOUT THE COLLEGIATE CONFERENCE OF THE SOUTH (CCS)
The CCS is an NCAA Division III athletic conference that began play during the 2022-23 academic year. The conference features nine members institutions (Agnes Scott College, Berea College, Belhaven University, Covenant College, Huntingdon College, LaGrange College, Maryville College, Piedmont University, and Wesleyan College) and sponsors championships across 14 sports. In addition to sharing the member institutions' geographic identity, the name 'Collegiate Conference of the South' is indicative of a shared commitment to academic excellence, which is commensurate with the NCAA Division III philosophy.
Follow all things #CCSMBB and #CCSWBB on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram at @ccofsouth for all the latest news around the league.