UNA basketball stars Lane, Ortiz land preseason honors; Lions in Top 5 in ASUN polls

The Atlantic Sun Conference released its 2024 preseason information for men’s basketball on Thursday, as the University of North Alabama has a favorable outlook heading into the 2024-25 season.

In the preseason coaches poll, UNA was selected third. The media poll also had UNA in the top half of the field, as the Lions were voted fifth. Lipscomb, who lost to UNA in the ASUN Quarterfinal last season, ranked first in both polls.

UNA received one first place vote from the 12 head coaches, while receiving three first place votes from the media. A total of 54 media members, including the 12 sports information directors, voted on the media rankings.

Additionally, the Lions had two players on the Preseason All-ASUN Team, including junior guard Jacari Lane and senior guard Daniel Ortiz.

The formidable backcourt duo reunites this season after starting together at UNA in 2022-23. Ortiz transferred to UAB for the 2023-24 and helped the Blazers win the American Conference and appear in the NCAA Tournament, but the former Lion decided to transfer back to UNA for his senior season. Lane enters his third season with the Lions.

Jacksonville’s Robert McCray V was voted ASUN Preseason Player of the Year. McCray finished with third team all-conference honors. FGCU’s Keeshawn Kellman was voted the ASUN Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.

Lane is the only first team all-conference selection returning to the ASUN this season.

Lane started all 32 games last season and averaged 14.7 points per game, including 15.9 PPG in conference play. The �鶹��ý native broke his own Division I school record last season with 122 assists, while scoring in double figures 24 times. For his efforts, he was named the Rocket City Awards Male College Athlete of the Year and is the only back-to-back winner in the award’s history.

Ortiz will enter his fourth season of basketball in 2024-25 and his third at UNA. The Shreveport, La. native was named to the 2022 ASUN All-Freshman team his rookie season, scoring 14.4 PPG. He went on to second team all-conference honors in 2023, leading UNA in scoring once again with 14.8 PPG over 33 starts. Ortiz transferred to UAB last season, averaging 6.6 PPG while helping the Blazers appear as a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He now returns to UNA as a senior with “unfinished business” to take care of.

Ortiz has 1,153 career points entering this season, including 921 of those at UNA. Lane enters his junior season with 880 career points.

The 2024 ASUN Tipoff event is set for Monday, Oct. 14 hosted by Queens in Charlotte, N.C. The Lions will be represented by Coach Tony Pujol, junior Jacari Lane and senior Dallas Howell. The event will air on ESPN+ from 12-2 p.m. To watch, click here.

2024-25 ASUN Men’s Basketball Preseason Awards

Preseason Player of the Year: Robert McCray V, Jacksonville

Defensive Player of the Year: Keeshawn Kellman, FGCU

Preseason All-ASUN Team

Devontae Blanton, EKU ^

Keeshawn Kellman, FGCU ^

Jacob Ognacevic, Lipscomb ^

Will Pruitt, Lipscomb ^

Isaac Haney, Austin Peay

Sai Witt, Austin Peay

Ben Johnson, Bellarmine

Robert McCray V, Jacksonville