# 2023–24 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball season

The 2023–24 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball season was the season for Sun Belt Conference men's basketball teams that began with practices in October 2023, followed by the start of the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began in December 2023, and concluded on March 2, 2024. The 2024 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament took place from March 5–11, 2024, at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Florida.

## Head coaches
### Coaching changes
#### Arkansas State

On March 22, 2023, former Alabama assistant coach Bryan Hodgson was named the new head coach of the Red Wolves.

#### Coastal Carolina

Head coach Cliff Ellis retired on December 6, 2023, after 17 seasons with the Chanticleers. Assistant coach Benny Moss was named interim head coach for the rest of the season.

#### Georgia Southern

After head coach Brian Burg left to coach Ole Miss, on March 14, 2023, former Alabama assistant coach Charlie Henry was named head coach.

#### Old Dominion

Jeff Jones resigned after the ninth game of the season following a heart attack he had on December 20, 2023. Special assistant coach Kieran Donohue was named interim head coach for the rest of the season. Jones retired from coaching on February 26, 2024.

### Coaches

| Team | Head coach | Previous job | Years at school | Overall record | Sun Belt record | Sun Belt titles | Sun Belt Tournament titles | NCAA Tournaments |
| Appalachian State | Dustin Kerns | Presbyterian | 5 | 97–65 (.599) | 55–35 (.611) | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Arkansas State | Bryan Hodgson | Alabama (Asst.) | 1 | 20–16 (.556) | 11–7 (.611) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Coastal Carolina | Cliff Ellis | Auburn | 15 | 297–227 (.567) | 57–65 (.467) | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Coastal Carolina | Benny Moss (interim) | Coastal Carolina (Asst.) | 13 | 5–13 (.278) | 5–16 (.238) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Georgia Southern | Charlie Henry | Alabama (Asst.) | 1 | 8–23 (.258) | 8–10 (.444) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Georgia State | Jonas Hayes | Xavier (Assoc.) | 2 | 24–38 (.387) | 11–25 (.306) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| James Madison | Mark Byington | Georgia Southern | 4 | 82–36 (.695) | 41–23 (.641) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Louisiana | Bob Marlin | Sam Houston | 14 | 265–188 (.585) | 150–103 (.593) | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Louisiana–Monroe | Keith Richard | LSU (Asst.) | 14 | 163–271 (.376) | 91–165 (.355) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marshall | Dan D'Antoni | Los Angeles Lakers (Asst.) | 10 | 177–148 (.545) | 95–81 (.540) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Old Dominion | Jeff Jones | American | 11 | 203–131 (.608) | 11–7 (.611) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Old Dominion | Kieran Donohue (interim) | Old Dominion (Special asst. coach) | 11 | 4–18 (.182) | 3–15 (.167) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Alabama | Richie Riley | Nicholls State | 6 | 110–83 (.570) | 57–50 (.533) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Southern Miss | Jay Ladner | Southeastern Louisiana | 5 | 65–88 (.425) | 33–57 (.367) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Texas State | Terrence Johnson | Texas State (Asst.) | 4 | 69–51 (.575) | 37–29 (.561) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Troy | Scott Cross | TCU (Asst.) | 5 | 80–76 (.513) | 43–45 (.489) | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Preseason
### Preseason Coaches Poll

On October 16, 2023, the conference announced a preseason conference poll as voted on by the league's 14 head coaches.
| Rank | Team |
| 1. | James Madison (7) |
| 2. | Appalachian State (2) |
| 3. | Old Dominion (1) |
| 4. | Southern Miss |
| 5. | Louisiana (2) |
| 6. | South Alabama (2) |
| 7. | Marshall |
| 8. | Troy |
| 9. | Arkansas State |
| 10. | Texas State |
| 11. | Georgia State |
| 12. | Coastal Carolina |
| 13. | Georgia Southern |
| 14. | Louisiana–Monore |

#### Preseason Awards

The conference also announced preseason All-SBC teams.

#### Sun Belt preseason player of the year

* Austin Crowley – Southern Miss

#### Preseason All-Sun Belt teams

2023-24 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Teams :
| First Team | Second Team | Third Team |
| Austin Crowley – Southern Miss Terrence Edwards Jr. – JMU Donovan Gregory – Appalachian State Chaunce Jenkins – Old Dominion Christyon Eugene – Troy Themus Fulks – Louisiana | Tyrell Jones – South Alabama Kamdyn Curfman – Marshall Tyreke Locure – Louisiana–Monroe Dwan Odom – Georgia State Obinna Anochili-Killen – Marshall | Terrance Ford Jr. – Arkansas State Brenden Tucker – Georgia State C. J. Huntley – Appalachian State Freddy Hicks – Arkansas State Aamer Muhammad – Troy |

## Regular season
### Early season tournaments

| Team | Tournament | Finish |
| Appalachian State | Fort Myers Tip-Off | 1st (Palms Division) |
| Arkansas State | Acrisure Invitational | 3rd |
| Coastal Carolina | Myrtle Beach Invitational | 8th |
| Georgia Southern | TowneBank Holiday Classic | 4th |
| Georgia State | Capitol Challenge | 3rd |
| James Madison | Cancún Challenge | 1st (Rivera Division) |
| Louisiana | Gulf Coast Showcase | 5th |
| Marshall | Cayman Islands Classic | 6th |
| Old Dominion | Diamond Head Classic | 6th |
| South Alabama | Jaguar Classic | 1st |
| Southern Miss | Jacksonville Classic | 4th |
| Texas State | Louisiana Tech MTE | – |
| Troy | Trojan Classic | 1st |

### Player of the week

| Week | Player(s) of the Week | School |
| Nov 13 | Terrence Edwards Jr. | James Madison |
| Nov 20 | Freddy Hicks | Arkansas State |
| Nov 27 | Kobe Julien | Louisiana |
| Dec 4 | Kobe Julien (2) | Louisiana |
| Dec 11 | T. J. Bickerstaff | James Madison |
| Dec 18 | Jordan Mason | Texas State |
| Dec 25 | Terrence Edwards Jr. (2) | James Madison |
| Jan 1 | T. J. Bickerstaff (2) | James Madison |
| Jan 8 | André Curbelo | Southern Miss |
| Jan 15 | Caleb Fields | Arkansas State |
| Jan 22 | Tre'Von Spillers | Appalachian State |
| Jan 29 | Nate Martin | Marshall |
| Feb 5 | Caleb Fields (2) | Arkansas State |
| Feb 12 | Victor Iwuakor | Southern Miss |
| Feb 19 | Terrence Edwards Jr. (3) | James Madison |
| Feb 26 | Samuel Tabe | South Alabama |
| March 4 | Tyren Moore | Georgia Southern |

### Records against other conferences

Power 6 Conferences :
| Conference | Record |
| ACC | 1–1 |
| Big East | 0–0 |
| Big Ten | 1–4 |
| Big 12 | 0–6 |
| Pac–12 | 0–2 |
| SEC | 1–7 |
| Combined | 3–20 |
| Other NCAA Division I Conferences | Record |
| America East | 0–0 |
| American | 4–5 |
| ASUN | 5–7 |
| Atlantic 10 | 0–3 |
| Big Sky | 0–0 |
| Big South | 5–2 |
| Big West | 1–1 |
| CAA | 3–7 |
| Conference USA | 2–6 |
| Horizon | 2–2 |
| Independents/Non-Division I | 0–0 |
| Ivy | 0–1 |
| MAAC | 0–0 |
| MAC | 16–12 |
| MEAC | 3–1 |
| Missouri Valley | 2–2 |
| Mountain West | 1–1 |
| Northeast | 0–0 |
| OVC | 4–2 |
| Patriot | 0–0 |
| Southern | 3–4 |
| Southland | 2–5 |
| SWAC | 5–0 |
| Summit | 1–1 |
| West Coast | 0–2 |
| WAC | 2–0 |
| Combined | 61–64 |

## Postseason
### Sun Belt tournament

| First round Tuesday, March 5 ESPN+ | First round Tuesday, March 5 ESPN+ | First round Tuesday, March 5 ESPN+ | Second round Thursday, March 7 ESPN+ | Second round Thursday, March 7 ESPN+ | Second round Thursday, March 7 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Saturday, March 9 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Saturday, March 9 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Saturday, March 9 ESPN+ | | | Semifinals Sunday, March 10 ESPN+ | Semifinals Sunday, March 10 ESPN+ | Semifinals Sunday, March 10 ESPN+ | Championship Monday, March 11 ESPN2 | Championship Monday, March 11 ESPN2 | Championship Monday, March 11 ESPN2 |
| | | | | | | 1 | Appalachian State | 85* | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | South Alabama | 71 | 9 | Georgia Southern | 80 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 9 | Georgia Southern | 76 | | | | | | 1 | Appalachian State | 65 | |
| | | | | | | | | | 4 | Arkansas State | 67 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Arkansas State | 89 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Louisiana | 80 | 5 | Louisiana | 62 | | | | | | | |
| 12 | Louisiana–Monroe | 71 | 13 | Coastal Carolina | 66 | | | | | | | | 4 | Arkansas State | 71 |
| 13 | Coastal Carolina | 75 | | | | | | | | | | | 4 | 2 | James Madison | 91 |
| | | | | | | 2 | James Madison | 81 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | Georgia State | 74 | 10 | Marshall | 64 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 10 | Marshall | 86 | | | | | | 2 | James Madison | 73 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 11 | Texas State | 68 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | Troy | 68 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | Southern Miss | 59 | 11 | Texas State | 74 | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Texas State | 92* | 11 | Texas State | 75 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 14 | Old Dominion | 83 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
* – Denotes overtime period

### NCAA tournament

| Seed | Region | School | First Four | 1st round | 2nd round |
| 12 | South | James Madison | Bye | W 72–61 #5 Wisconsin – (Brooklyn, NY) | L 55–93 #4 Duke – Brooklyn, NY) |
| | | W–L (%): | 0–0 (–) | 1–0 (1.000) | 0–1 (.000) Total: 1–1 (.500) |

### National Invitation Tournament

| Seed | Bracket | School | 1st round |
| — | Wake Forest | Appalachian State | L 76–87 #1 Wake Forest – (Winston-Salem, NC) |
| | W–L (%): | 0–1 (.000) | 0–1 (.000) Total: 0–1 (.000) |

### College Basketball Invitational

| Seed | School | 1st round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals |
| 4 | Arkansas State | W 86–85 #13 Bethune–Cookman – (Daytona Beach, FL) | W 74–61 #4 Montana – (Daytona Beach, FL) | L 80–81 #1 High Point – (Daytona Beach, FL) |
| | W–L (%): | 1–0 (1.000) | 1–0 (1.000) | 0–1 (.000) Total: 2–1 (.667) |

## Honors and awards
### Sun Belt Awards

2023-24 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Individual Awards :
| Award | Recipient(s) |
| Player of the Year | Terrence Edwards Jr. – James Madison |
| Coach of the Year | Dustin Kerns – Appalachian State |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Justin Abson - Appalachian State |
| Newcomer of the Year | T. J. Bickerstaff – James Madison |
| Freshman of the Year | Myles Rigsby – Troy |
| Sixth Man Award | Tayton Conerway – Troy |
2023-24 Sun Belt Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams :
| First Team | Second Team | Third Team |
| Terrence Edwards Jr. - James Madison Christyon Eugene – Troy Caleb Fields – Arkansas State Donovan Gregory – Appalachian State Tre'Von Spillers – Appalachian State | T. J. Bickerstaff – James Madison Austin Crowley – Southern Miss Chaunce Jenkins – Old Dominion Kobe Julien – Louisiana Tyren Moore — Georgia Southern | Joe Charles – Louisiana Noah Freidel – James Madison Terence Harcum – Appalachian State Hosana Kitenge – Louisiana Nika Metskhvarishvili – Louisiana–Monroe John Ojiako – Coastal Carolina Taryn Todd – Arkansas State |