Big South Announces 2024-25 Men's Basketball Preseason Honors
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – High Point guard
Kezza Giffa (Paris, France) has been voted the 2024-25 Big South Conference Men’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year by the league’s head coaches and media panel, it was announced this morning. Giffa is the first High Point student-athlete to be voted Preseason Player of the Year since
John Brown in 2015-16.
Giffa was a First-Team All-Big South honoree last season, and was a Mid-Major All-American as well as a finalist for the Lou Henson Mid-Major Player of the Year Award. He was also the USBWA Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week (Jan. 23) and College Basketball Invitational (CBI) All-Tournament Team member. Giffa appeared in all 36 of High Point’s games last season (nine starts) and averaged 16.2 points to finish second on the squad and third in the Big South in scoring. He finished the year second in the nation in free throws made (242), tied the Big South single-game record for free throws made (22) vs. Presbyterian on Feb. 3, and ranked second in the conference with an 88.3 free throw percentage. Giffa dropped 20-plus points in 13 games and 30+ three times -- including a league-high 37 points at Winthrop on Jan. 27. He was second on the Panthers in assists and dished out at least five helpers eight times. Giffa helped High Point to a Runner-Up finish in the CBI with averages of 19.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists. He received eight first-place votes and 146 total points in the voting to earn the top spot on the preseason All-Conference team.
2024-25 Big South Conference Men’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
First-Team
Kezza Giffa, High Point, Sr., G
Kelton Talford, Winthrop, Sr., F
Kimani Hamilton, High Point, Jr., F
Juslin Bodo Bodo, High Point, Soph., F
Taje' Kelly, Charleston Southern, Sr., F
Second-Team
RJ Johnson, Charleston Southern, R-Jr., G
Michael Christmas, Longwood, Gr., F
Josh Banks, UNC Asheville, 5th Year, G
A'lahn Sumler, Charleston Southern, Jr., G
K.J Doucet, Winthrop, Sr., F
Talford is a two-time First-Team All-Big South honoree. He averaged 14.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and made 62.4 percent from the field to lead the Eagles in 2023-24. Talford increased those averages in league play to 16.2 points, 6.6 boards and 65.0 percent from the floor. He had two double-doubles in 2023-24 and six games with 20-or-more points.
Hamilton was a First-Team All-Conference performer in his first season with High Point last season. He also received NABC All-District Second-Team honors. Hamilton averaged 14.9 points while starting all 36 games, registered five double-doubles and was second on the squad with 7.2 rebounds. He grabbed 10+ boards in seven games, in addition to 83 assists, 26 blocks and 43 steals.
Bodo Bodo was the Big South Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in 2023-24, as well as a Freshman All-American. He averaged 7.1 points and led the Big South with 9.6 rebounds, and finished second in the league with 1.8 blocked shots per game. Bodo Bodo tied the Big South Tournament single-game record for rebounds with 19 vs. Radford in the quarterfinals, and earned CBI All-Tournament Team recognition after averaging 15.3 points and 13.6 rebounds.
Kelly collected Honorable Mention All-Conference honors last season, as he was second in the Big South in double doubles with nine in addition to ranking among the conference leaders with 14.4 points and 7.6 rebounds. He had 10 games with at least 10 rebounds, as well as six 20-point performances. Kelly scored a career-high 26 points in CSU’s Big South quarterfinal contest against UNC Asheville.
The Preseason All-Conference Second-Team features three returning All-Big South honorees (Johnson, Banks and Sumler), an All-Tournament Team member (Christmas) and the one of the league’s top returning scorers (Doucet).