HIGH POINT, N.C. - Chris Dortch, the editor and publisher of the Blue Ribbon Basketball Yearbook, has announced the picks for the 2024-25 Big South Conference Men's Basketball preseason rankings. After winning the Big South Regular Season Title in 2023-24, the Panthers were picked as the Blue Ribbon preseason favorite along with three players making the All-Conference Team – Kimani Hamilton, Kezza Giffa, Juslin Bodo Bodo. Giffa was named the Preseason Player of the Year and Bobby Pettiford was named the Preseason Newcomer of the Year after transferring from East Carolina University.
 
BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE | BLUE RIBBON FORECAST
1.   High Point
2.   Winthrop
3.   Longwood
4.   Charleston Southern
5.   UNC Asheville
6.   Gardner-Webb
7.   Presbyterian
8.   Radford
9.   USC Upstate
 
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
F-Kelton Talford, SR, Winthrop
F-Taje´ Kelly, SR, Charleston Southern
F-Kimani Hamilton, JR, High Point
C-Juslin Bodo Bodo, SO, High Point
G-Kezza Giffa, SR, High Point
 
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Kezza Giffa, SR, High Point
 
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Bobby Pettiford, Jr., SR, High Point
 
 
ABOUT THE PLAYERS
 
Kezza Giffa | Senior | Paris, France
 
Giffa had an outstanding season coming off the bench as the six-man for the Panthers. The Big South First Team All-Conference player appeared in 36 games with nine starts. He was second on the team and third in the Big South in scoring, averaging 16.2 points per game. He finished second on the team in assists, averaging 2.9 per game and totaled 20 steals and four blocks during the season. He finished the year second in the nation in free throws made behind Purdue's Zach Edey with 242 free throws and finished eighth overall in free throws attempted with 274.
 
Giffa was a four-time Big South Player of the Week (Jan. 8, 2024, Jan. 22, 2024, Jan. 29, 2024, Feb. 5, 2024), the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week (Jan. 23, 2024) and the Field of 68 Mid-Major Brian Burton's Player of the Week (Feb. 5, 2024) last season. He was also named a Lou Henson Award Finalist and was named to the CBI All-Tournament team after averaging 19 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists over the three games.
 
Kimani Hamilton | Junior | Jackson, Mississippi
 
Hamilton started all 36 games last season and was a key player on the offensive and defensive ends of the court. He finished third on the team and fourth in the Big South in scoring averaging 14.9 points per game. He recorded double-digit points in 27 games and dropped 20+ points in nine games while registering five double doubles. He finished second on the team in rebounding averaging 7.2 per game.
 
Hamilton was named the Big South Player of the Week one time during the season on January 2 and following the season he was named to the Big South First Team All-Conference and the NABC All-District Second Team.
 
Juslin Bodo Bodo | Sophomore | Yaounde, Cameroon
 
Bodo Bodo was named a 2024 Kyle Macy Freshman of the Year Finalist and a National Freshman All-American last season. In the Big South he was named the Freshman & Defensive Player of the Year and named to the Big South All-Freshman team. He was named the Big South Freshman of the Week on nine occasions, breaking the HPU program and Big South records for most freshman of the week honors in a single season. He started all 36 games, averaging 7.1 points per game and led the team and the Big South, finishing 13th in the Nation in rebounding averaging 9.6 per game. He led the team and recorded seven double-doubles. He also led the team and finished second in the Big South in blocked shots, totaling 69 this season to rank 25th in the country (averaging 1.8 per game). Following his outstanding performance at the CBI Tournament (Avg. 15.3 pts, 13.6 rbs) he was named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
Bobby Pettiford | Senior | Durham, N.C.
 
Pettiford, the transfer from East Carolina University, played in all 33 games for the Pirates including 18 starts at the point guard spot last season. He averaged 7.8 points per game and led the team in assists with 3.4 per game, along with leading the AAC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.2. Pettiford scored a career-high 24 points against UNC Wilmington (Nov. 30) to earn a spot on the AAC Weekly Honor Roll. Prior to the 2023-24 season, he was tabbed the Preseason AAC Breakout Player of the Year by The Almanac.


High Point begins the 2024-25 season with an exhibition game at ETSU on October 26 at Freedom Hall in Johnson City, Tennessee before hosting a home exhibition on November 2 against Averett University. Fans can purchase season tickets for the upcoming season by clicking HERE.