CHARLOTTE, N.C. – For the third straight season, the High Point University men's basketball team was selected No. 1 in the 2026-27 Big South Conference preseason polls on Wednesday morning. Cam'Ron Fletcher was voted the Preseason Player of the Year and to the First Team All-Conference selection. Joining Fletcher on the First Team ballot was transfers Jason Rivera Torres and CJ Brown while Isaac Garrett was named to the Second Team.
 
High Point finished the 2025-26 season as the Big South Regular-Season and Tournament Champions, becoming the first team to win back-to-back seasons since Winthrop in 2019-2021. Head Coach Flynn Clayman, the 2025-26 Big South Coach of the Year, was the first head coach in Big South history to win the Big South Championship in his first year since 1998-99. HPU finished the season with a Big South and program record, 31-5, breaking the program and conference record of 29 wins set by High Point the season before and Winthrop in 2006-07. The Panthers went on to the NCAA Tournament and picked up an upset over No. 5 seed Wisconsin to advance to the Round of 32 for the first time in program history.
 
Cam'Ron Fletcher – Preseason Player of the Year & First Team All-Conference
 
In Fletcher's 27 games last season, he averaged 13.2 points per game on 54.4% from the field to total 356 points throughout the season. He scored a career-high 27 points against the University of Illinois Chicago (Nov. 20) in the Boardwalk Battle and was named the Boardwalk Battle Tournament MVP after averaging 22.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. Fletcher led the team in rebounding, averaging 7.1 rebounds per game to total 192 rebounds during the season. He collected seven double-doubles during the season and registered his first double-double since 2022 in the season-opener versus Furman (Nov. 3) with 11 points and 10 rebounds. In the Big South Championship, he dropped 17 points and a career-high 19 to help High Point beat Winthrop (Mar. 8) and claim the tournament title. In the NCAA Tournament, he scored 14 points and collected 11 rebounds to help High Point knock off No. 5 Wisconsin (Mar. 19). Rounding out his stats, he added 34 steals, 25 assists, and 16 blocks during the season.
 
Jason Rivera Torres – Preseason First Team All-Conference
 
Rivera Torres joined the Panthers ahead of the 2026-27 season after spending the past season at Monmouth where he was named to the Second Team All-CAA and the CAA All-Defensive Team. During the 2025-26 season, the 6'7" guard was the only player on the team to start all 34 games for the Hawks and averaged 15.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. He scored in double figures in 29 games and had nine games with 20 or more points. He posted a career high 30 points at Hofstra (Jan. 10) and finished the season with eight double-double performances. Rivera Torres ranked top 10 in the CAA for scoring, rebounding, field goal%, free throw %, and average minutes played. He led the Hawks with 70 steals and had seven games with four or more steals. He finished second on the team in blocks with 39 and was one of two Hawks to record 100 or more assists on the season showing his versatility as a player.
 
CJ Brown – Preseason First Team All-Conference
 
Brown joined High Point after spending two seasons at South Florida. The 6'2" guard started in 34 games for the Bulls and averaged 10.9 points per game, 3.9 rebounds per game, 4.7 assists per game and 1.0 steals per game. He posted 19 double-digit scoring games, and three 20-point games. He recorded his best game of the year with 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting and a season-best 10 assists and three steals at Oklahoma State (11/19). He led the team in assists per game and ranked third in the American Conference averaging 4.7 per game and registered 11 games with six or more assists. Brown helped USF win the American Conference Tournament Title for first time in 36 years and made the NCAA Tournament for first time in 14 years. During Brown's freshman year, he was named to the AAC All-Freshman Team (2024-25) and was coach by current High Point assistant coach, Ben Fletcher. 
 
Isaac Garrett – Preseason Second Team All-Conference
 
Garrett, a 6'8" forward from Oakland averaged 13.7 points per game, 7.1 rebounds per game, 2.3 assists per game, 1.1 steals per game and 1.0 blocks per game in 2025-26. He started in all 28 games for Oakland and scored a career-high 30 points on 16-for-16 free throws vs. Robert Morris (Jan. 4) becoming the first Oakland player to hit 30+ all season and third-most free throws made at 1.000% in program history. He posted 20 double-digit point games, and seven double-figure rebound outings with eight double-doubles on the season. He led the team in total rebounds and defensive rebounds and registered a season-high 12 rebounds at Northern Iowa (Dec. 13).

Below is the full list of selections for the 2026-27 Big South Preseason Poll and Awards.

2026-27 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
Rk          Team (first-place votes) ___Points
1.           High Point (7)                            79
2.           Presbyterian (2)                         69
3.           Winthrop                                    57
4.           Longwood                                  54
5.           UNC Asheville                            43
6.           Radford                                      34
7.           Charleston Southern                  33
8.           USC Upstate                              21
9.           Gardner-Webb                           15
 
Note: points are based on a weighted system.  First-place votes received 9 points, followed by 8 points for second-place, and so on.

2026-27 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
 
First-Team
Cam'Ron Fletcher, High Point (Preseason Player of the Year)
Jason Rivera Torres, High Point
Jaylen Peterson, Presbyterian
Carl Parrish, Presbyterian
CJ Brown, High Point
 
Second-Team
Alphonzo Billups III, Longwood
Isaac Garrett, High Point
Triston Wilson, Presbyterian
MJ Williams, Longwood
Spence Sims, Winthrop

High Point will host its home exhibition match against UNC Wilmington on Saturday, October 17 at 1:00 p.m. Doors will open at 11:30 a.m.