# 2021–22 Southern Conference men's basketball season

The 2021–22 Southern Conference men's basketball season started non-conference play on November 9, 2021, and began conference play on December 29, 2021. The regular season ended on February 27, 2022, setting up the 2022 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament from March 4 to March 7.

## Conference Schedule

Each team is scheduled to play 18 conference games. Each team will play every team twice, once at home and once on the road.

## Head Coaches
### Coach Changes

East Tennessee State hired Desmond Oliver to replace Jason Shay who left for Wake Forest to become an assistant.
UNC Greensboro hired Mike Jones to replace Wes Miller who left for Cincinnati to become head coach.
Western Carolina hired Justin Gray to replace Mark Prosser who left for Winthrop to become head coach.

### Coaches

| Team | Head Coach | Previous Job | Years At School | Record at School | SoCon Record | SoCon Titles | NCAA Tournaments |
| Chattanooga | Lamont Paris | Wisconsin (Assistant) | 5 | 60-63 | 29-41 | 0 | 0 |
| The Citadel | Duggar Baucom | VMI | 7 | 64-118 | 21-85 | 0 | 0 |
| East Tennessee State | Desmond Oliver | Tennessee (Assistant) | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 |
| Furman | Bob Richey | Furman (Assistant) | 5 | 89-35 | 51-18 | 0 | 0 |
| Mercer | Greg Gary | Purdue (Assistant) | 3 | 33-25 | 19-16 | 0 | 0 |
| Samford | Bucky McMillan | Mountain Brook HS | 2 | 6-13 | 2-9 | 0 | 0 |
| UNC Greensboro | Mike Jones | Radford | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 |
| VMI | Dan Earl | Navy (Associate HC) | 7 | 57-123 | 25-79 | 0 | 0 |
| Western Carolina | Justin Gray | Winthrop (Assistant) | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wofford | Jay McAuley | Wofford (Assistant) | 3 | 34-24 | 20-15 | 0 | 0 |
Notes:
* Year at school includes 2021–22 season.
* Overall and SoCon records are from the time at current school and are through the end of the 2020–21 season.
* NCAA Tournament appearances are from the time at current school only.

## Preseason Awards

The Preseason Southern Conference men's basketball polls was released on October 26, 2021.

### Preseason men's basketball polls

First Place Votes in Parentheses

#### Coaches Poll

* Chattanooga (7) - 77
* Furman (2) - 71
* East Tennessee State - 59
* Mercer (1) - 58
* Wofford - 49
* UNC Greensboro - 45
* VMI - 32
* Samford - 24
* The Citadel - 23
* Western Carolina - 12

#### Media Poll

* Chattanooga (18) - 254
* Furman (3) - 220
* Wofford (1) - 191
* Mercer (2) - 190
* East Tennessee State - 186
* UNC Greensboro (3) - 160
* VMI - 104
* The Citadel - 74
* Samford - 57
* Western Carolina - 49

### Preseason Honors

| Honor | Recipient |
| Preseason Player of the Year | Hayden Brown, The Citadel |
| Preseason All-Southern Conference Team | Hayden Brown, The Citadel |
| Preseason All-Southern Conference Team | Ledarrius Brewer, East Tennessee State |
| Preseason All-Southern Conference Team | David Sloan, East Tennessee State |
| Preseason All-Southern Conference Team | Mike Bothwell, Furman |
| Preseason All-Southern Conference Team | Alex Hunter, Furman |
| Preseason All-Southern Conference Team | Neftali Alvarez, Mercer |
| Preseason All-Southern Conference Team | Felipe Haase, Mercer |
| Preseason All-Southern Conference Team | David Jean-Baptiste, Chattanooga |
| Preseason All-Southern Conference Team | Malachi Smith, Chattanooga |
| Preseason All-Southern Conference Team | Jake Stephens, VMI |

## Regular season

Source:

### Conference standings

| | | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | |
| Rank | Team | Record | Percent | Record | Percent | Tiebreaker |
| 1 | Chattanooga | 14-4 | .778 | 24-7 | .774 | |
| 2 | Furman | 12-6 | .667 | 20-11 | .645 | |
| 3 | Samford | 10-8 | .556 | 20-10 | .667 | 1-1 vs Chattanooga |
| 4 | Wofford | 10-8 | .556 | 18-12 | .600 | 0-2 vs Chattanooga |
| 5 | VMI | 9-9 | .500 | 16-14 | .533 | 1-1 vs Mercer |
| 6 | UNC Greensboro | 9-9 | .500 | 17-13 | .567 | 0-2 vs Mercer |
| 7 | Mercer | 8-10 | .444 | 15-16 | .584 | |
| 8 | East Tennessee State | 7-11 | .389 | 15-16 | .484 | |
| 9 | The Citadel | 6-12 | .333 | 12-17 | .484 | |
| 10 | Western Carolina | 5-13 | .278 | 11-20 | .355 | |

### Conference Matrix

| | Chattanooga | The Citadel | East Tennessee State | Furman | Mercer | Samford | UNC Greensboro | VMI | Western Carolina | Wofford |
| vs. Chattanooga | – | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 0-1 |
| vs. The Citadel | 2-0 | – | 1-1 | 2-0 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 2-0 |
| vs. East Tennessee State | 2-0 | 1-1 | – | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 2-0 |
| vs. Furman | 2-0 | 0-2 | 1-1 | – | 0-2 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 0-2 | 0-2 |
| vs. Mercer | 2-0 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 2-0 | – | 1-1 | 0-2 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 |
| vs. Samford | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | – | 1-1 | 1-1 | 0-2 | 1-1 |
| vs. UNC Greensboro | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 2-0 | 1-1 | – | 1-1 | 0-2 | 1-1 |
| vs. VMI | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | – | 1-1 | 1-1 |
| vs. Western Carolina | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 2-0 | 1-1 | 2-0 | 2-0 | 1-1 | – | 2-0 |
| vs. Wofford | 2-0 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 2-0 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 0-2 | – |

### Players of the Week

| Week | Player(s) of the Week | School |
| Nov. 15 | Mike Bothwell | Furman |
| Nov. 22 | Malachi Smith | Chattanooga |
| Nov. 29 | Max Klesmit | Wofford |
| Dec. 6 | Jalen Slawson | Furman (2) |
| Dec. 13 | Jake Stephens | VMI |
| Dec. 20 | Malachi Smith (2) | Chattanooga (2) |
| Dec. 27 | Ques Glover | Samford |
| Jan. 3 | Jake Stephens (2) | VMI (2) |
| Jan. 10 | Malachi Smith (3) | Chattanooga (3) |
| Jan. 17 | Jake Stephens (3) | VMI (3) |
| Jan. 24 | Malachi Smith (4) | Chattanooga (4) |
| Jan. 31 | Jordan King | ETSU |
| Feb. 7 | Nicholas Robinson | Western Carolina |
| Feb. 14 | Jake Stephens (4) | VMI (4) |
| Feb. 21 | Hayden Brown | The Citadel |
| Feb. 28 | | |

### Players of the Month

| Month | Player(s) of the Week | School |
| November | Hayden Brown | The Citadel |
| December | Jacksen Greco | Mercer |
| January | Malachi Smith | Chattanooga |
| February | | |

### Records against other conferences

| Power 7 Conferences | Record | Power 7 Conferences | Record |
| ACC | 2-5 | American | 0-1 |
| Big East | None | Big Ten | None |
| Big 12 | None | Pac-12 | 1-0 |
| SEC | 3-6 | Power 7 Total | 6-12 |
| Other Division I Conferences | Record | Other Division I Conferences | Record |
| America East | 2-1 | Atlantic 10 | 1-3 |
| ASUN | 5-1 | Big Sky | None |
| Big South | 15-10 | Big West | None |
| Colonial | 2-2 | Conference USA | 1-4 |
| Horizon League | 2-0 | Ivy League | None |
| MAAC | 0-2 | MAC | 2-0 |
| MEAC | 3-1 | MVC | 1-0 |
| MWC | None | NEC | None |
| OVC | 5-4 | Patriot League | 2-1 |
| Southland | 1-1 | SWAC | 2-0 |
| Summit League | None | Sun Belt | 5-3 |
| WAC | 1-0 | WCC | 2-1 |
| Other Division I Total | Other Division I Total | Other Division I Total | 52-34 |
| NCAA Division I Total | NCAA Division I Total | NCAA Division I Total | 58-46 |
| NCAA Division II Total | NCAA Division II Total | NCAA Division II Total | 4-0 |
| NCAA Division III Total | NCAA Division III Total | NCAA Division III Total | 8-0 |
| NAIA Total | NAIA Total | NAIA Total | 6-0 |
| NCCAA Total | NCCAA Total | NCCAA Total | 2-0 |
| Total Non-Conference Record | Total Non-Conference Record | Total Non-Conference Record | 78-46 |

## Conference Tournament

The 2022 Ingles SoCon Tournament will be held in Asheville, North Carolina at Harrah's Cherokee Center from March 4 to March 7.
| First round March 4 ESPN+ | First round March 4 ESPN+ | First round March 4 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals March 5 ESPN+/Nexstar | Quarterfinals March 5 ESPN+/Nexstar | Quarterfinals March 5 ESPN+/Nexstar | Semifinals March 6 ESPNU | Semifinals March 6 ESPNU | Semifinals March 6 ESPNU | Championship March 7 ESPN | Championship March 7 ESPN |
| | | | 1 | Chattanooga | 71 | | | | | |
| | | | 9 | The Citadel | 66 | | | | | |
| 8 | East Tennessee State | 76 | 9 | The Citadel | 66 | | | | | |
| 9 | The Citadel | 84* | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | The Citadel | 84* | | | | 1 | Chattanooga | 79 | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Wofford | 56 | | |
| | | | 4 | Wofford | 68 | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | VMI | 66 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 1 | Chattanooga |
| | | | | | | | | | 2 | Furman |
| | | | 2 | Furman | 80 | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | Mercer | 66 | | | | | |
| 7 | Mercer | 81 | 7 | Mercer | 66 | | | | | |
| 10 | Western Carolina | 53 | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Western Carolina | 53 | | | | 2 | Furman | 71 | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | Samford | 68 | | |
| | | | 3 | Samford | 66 | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | UNC Greensboro | 64 | | | | | |