Peach Belt Announces Men’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team

AUGUSTA, GA – The Peach Belt Conference has announced the five members of the 2011-12 men’s basketball Preseason All-Conference team from the league office in Augusta.  Georgia Southwestern is the only team with two players on the team with Phillip Brown and Colin Slotter.  UNC Pembroke’s Shahmel Brackett, Francis Marion’s Liki Turner and USC Aiken’s Alvin Brown were also placed on the team.  The preseason All-Conference team is chosen by the league’s head coaches.

Phillip Brown was named the 2010-11 PBC Player of the Year, the first GSW player in any sport to receive that honor.  A returning senior from Jonesboro, Ga., Brown was also named an All-American by the NABC last year and so far this season has received preseason awards from the Sporting News and the DII Bulletin.  Brown became the first PBC men’s basketball player in eight years to average a double-double with 14.7 points and 10.9 rebounds per game.  He also led the PBC with a .629 field goal percentage and was second in blocks with 66.  A three-time PBC Player of the Week last year, his 10.9 rebounds per game is the second-highest single-season average in PBC history.

Brown’s teammate Colin Slotter was named the 2010-11 PBC Freshman of the Year.  Returning for his sophomore season, the guard from Marietta, Ga.,  was also named third-team All-Conference after leading the Hurricanes with 15.0 ppg, ninth-highest in the Peach Belt.  That scoring average jumped to 16.5 points per game against conference opponents, and he scored 20 or more points seven times last season.  Slotter made 101 field goals last year, third most in the league.

UNC Pembroke’s Shahmel Brackett was named the PBC Freshman of the Year in 2009-10 and third-team All-Conference last year.  Now a junior, the guard from Florence, S.C.,  was named preseason Honorable Mention by the Sporting News after leading the Braves to their first PBC tournament championship game appearance last year and being named All-Tournament.  Brackett averaged 15.3 ppg which led the team and was eighth in the PBC.  He was also ranked in the PBC top 10 in steals and scored 20 or more points seven times during the year with a pair of double-doubles.

Alvin Brown was also named a preseason honorable mention by the Sporting News after being named the 2010-11 PBC Defensive Player of the Year.  Brown led the PBC in blocks with 3.3 per game, the third-highest single-season average in PBC history.  The junior from Fort Washington, Md., had the fifth triple-double in PBC history with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 13 blocks against North Georgia last January 17, earning PBC Player of the Week honors and setting a school record for blocks.  Brown averaged 8.9 points and 5.9 rebounds, hitting 61.8% of his shots from the field.

Liki Turner was named second-team All-Conference in his first season at Francis Marion.  Now returning for his senior season, the senior from Richmond, Va., led the team and was ranked fifth in the PBC with 16.5 ppg.  He also had 7.6 rebounds per game, 6^th in the conference, and was ranked in the top 10 in free throw percentage.  He scored in double figures in 23 of 26 games for the Patriots, going over 20 points 11 times including a season-best 25 points against Lander.  Turner was named the PBC Player of the Week the first two weeks of last year and had six double-doubles a year ago.

PBC Men's Basketball
2011-12 Preseason All-Conference Team

Shahmel Brackett, UNC Pembroke
Alvin Brown, USC Aiken
Phillip Brown, Georgia Southwestern
Colin Slotter, Georgia Southwestern
Liki Turner, Francis Marion