High Point Wins 2023-24 Sasser Cup Trophy
ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) –
High Point University has been awarded the Big South Conference’s
George F. “Buddy” Sasser Cup Trophy for the 2023-24 athletic season, marking the school’s third consecutive year achieving the top overall athletic season in the Big South. The Cup was presented to High Point Thursday evening at the league’s annual Spring Meetings Awards Banquet, which was held at the Wild Dunes Resort in Isle of Palms, S.C. The Panthers also clinched the league’s Women’s and Men’s All-Sports trophies, becoming just the third member institution to sweep all three awards.
In 2023-24, High Point averaged 8.65 Sasser Cup points in 15 championship sports and accumulated a total of 129.75 points based on its finish in conference regular-season and championship competition. The Panthers won 12 combined Big South championships in 2023-24 -- four regular-season titles and eight tournament crowns. High Point was the regular-season champion in men’s soccer, volleyball and men’s and women’s basketball, and claimed the conference tournament championship in women’s cross country, men’s soccer, volleyball, men’s and women’s indoor track & field, men’s and women’s outdoor track & field, and baseball.
Charleston Southern finished second to High Point this season with a 6.65 average in 15 sports and totaled 99.75 points -- the Buccaneers’ highest finish since being the runner-up in 1994-95.
UNC Asheville was third in the standings (5.85 average), and was followed by
USC Upstate (5.40) and
Radford (5.39) to round out the top five. Asheville recorded its highest-ever standing, Upstate matched its best finish since becoming Big South members in 2018-19, while Radford has appeared in the top five in six out of the last seven full seasons.
FINAL 2023-24 SASSER CUP STANDINGS CHART
High Point claimed the Women’s All-Sports Trophy for the sixth-straight time with its average of 8.63 (69 points earned in eight sports), ahead of Charleston Southern’s 6.83 average (61.5 points earned in nine sports). High Point finished as either the Big South champion or runner-up six times in women’s competition to capture the Women’s All-Sports Trophy. Radford was third in the Women’s All-Sports race with its 6.18 average (61.75 points earned in 10 sports) -- the Highlanders’ best finish since 2020-21.
HPU earned the Men’s All-Sports Trophy for the first time, as the Panthers won the Men’s All-Sports title with an average of 8.68 points. High Point won Big South championships in men’s soccer (regular-season and tournament), men’s basketball (regular-season), men’s outdoor track & field, and its first Big South baseball title. UNC Asheville was second with an average of 7.14 points (50 points in seven sports) -- the Bulldogs’ best-ever finish in men’s overall competition, followed by Charleston Southern at 6.38 (38.25 in six sports).
The Sasser Cup Trophy is named for former Big South Commissioner
Buddy Sasser (1989-96) and is awarded to the Big South member institution with the most successful year athletically, based on an average points system. Points are awarded for both regular-season and tournament finishes in each of the League’s 18 sponsored championships, and the average of the combined total is used to determine the overall point allocation in the respective sport. One bonus point is added to the average total for each Conference Champion/AQ representative, as well as any teams that receive at-large NCAA Championships berths. Teams tied in regular-season or tournament play split the points earned. Each member’s overall point totals are then divided by the number of sports sponsored by that school to determine the average.
The complete listing of the 2023-24 Sasser Cup and All-Sports standings appear below, as well as the annual Sasser Cup champions.
2023-24 Sasser Cup Standings
1. High Point - 8.65
2. Charleston Southern - 6.65
3. UNC Asheville - 5.85
4. USC Upstate - 5.40
5. Radford - 5.39
6. Longwood - 4.85
7. Winthrop - 4.64
8. Presbyterian College - 4.45
9. Gardner-Webb - 4.36
2023-24 Women’s All-Sports Award
1. High Point - 8.63
2. Charleston Southern - 6.83
3. Radford - 6.18
4. USC Upstate - 6.09
5. Longwood - 5.06
6. UNC Asheville - 4.72
7. Presbyterian College - 4.16
8. Winthrop - 3.97
9. Gardner-Webb - 3.70
2023-24 Men’s All-Sports Award
1. High Point - 8.68
2. UNC Asheville - 7.14
3. Charleston Southern - 6.38
4. Winthrop - 5.50
5. Gardner-Webb - 5.19
6. Presbyterian College - 4.83
T-7. Longwood - 4.61
T-7. USC Upstate - 4.61
9. Radford - 4.08
Annual Sasser Cup Champions
2023-24 - High Point
2022-23 - High Point
2021-22 - High Point
2020-21 - Campbell
2019-20 -
none - incomplete season due to COVID-19 pandemic
2018-19 - Campbell
2017-18 - Liberty
2016-17 - Liberty
2015-16 - Liberty
2014-15 - Coastal Carolina
2013-14 - Coastal Carolina
2012-13 - Liberty
2011-12 - Liberty
2010-11 - Liberty
2009-10 - Liberty
2008-09 - Liberty
2007-08 - Liberty
2006-07 - Coastal Carolina
2005-06 - Coastal Carolina
2004-05 - Coastal Carolina
2003-04 - Coastal Carolina
2002-03 - Liberty
2001-02 - Liberty
2000-01 - Coastal Carolina
1999-00 - Liberty
1998-99 - Liberty
1997-98 - Liberty
1996-97 - UNC Greensboro
1995-96 - UNC Greensboro
1994-95 - UNC Greensboro
1993-94 - Campbell
1992-93 - Campbell
1991-92 - Campbell
1990-91 - Coastal Carolina
1989-90 - Coastal Carolina
1988-89 - Coastal Carolina
1987-88 - Coastal Carolina
1986-87 - Winthrop
1985-86 - Winthrop