The Appalachian Athletic Conference is a NAIA DII men’s basketball league made up of twelve programs from Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

2018-2019 Recap

The Appalachian Athletic Conference is always a very tough league. They finished the year with two teams ranked inside the Top 25 and a third team that was receiving votes. Union (KY) won both the regular season and tournament championships. The tournament title was their sixth straight. Both Union (KY) and Montreat (NC) qualified for the NAIA DII National Tournament, but both were beaten in the first round.

Top Players Returning

ALL-CONFERENCE 1ST TEAM

Name                                 Class      Pos       School                               Hometown

Austin Butler                    JR           G          Montreat                           Morganton, NC

Vernon Jackson               SO          PG        Allen                                  Tampa, FL

DeMarkus Loman (AAC DPOY)   JR     G   Union          Atlanta, Ga.

ALL-CONFERENCE 2ND TEAM

Name                                 Class      Pos       School                               Hometown

Jeremiah Jenkins             SO          PG        Bluefield                            Norfolk, Va.

Corey Benton                   SO           G            CIU                                   Columbus, Ohio

Tyler Nichols                    JR           G          Milligan                             Elizabethton, Tenn.

Ty Patterson (AAC Fr. of the Yr)   FR    F  Tennessee Wesleyan     Knoxville, TN

Key Players Lost

AARON Levarity (Milligan (TN)) – Conf Player of the Year (3rd Team All American)

Transferred

EJ Bush  (HM All-American) SO    G/F    Bryan                         TRANSFERRED (Carson-Newman)

The league will be losing 12 seniors off of the All-Conference List:

Samuel Bunkley               SR          G/F       Reinhardt                           Detroit, Mich.

Christian Davis                SR          G          Truett McConnell              North Augusta, SC

K.J. Duronslet                  SR          G          Union                                 Sacramento, Calif.

Jeron Hemphill                 SR          F           Montreat                            Morganton, NC

Aaron Levarity                SR          F           Milligan                             Freeport, Bahamas

Warren Vinson                SR          G          St. Andrews                      Rock Hill, SC

ALL-CONFERENCE 2ND TEAM

Name                                 Class      Pos       School                               Hometown

Lance Blakley                   SR          F           Union                                 Lexington, Ky.

Taboris Griggs                 SR          F           Point                                  Decatur, Ga.

Alonzo Mobley                 SR          G/F       Montreat                            Lincolnton, NC

Arthur Pearson                SR                       CIU                                  

Ty’quon Reid                   SR          G          Bluefield                            Goldsboro, N.C.

Latroy Strong                   SR          G/F       Reinhardt                           Jacksonville, Fla.

New Coaches

Coach Newton comes to Reinhardt from Andrew College (NJCAA), after being named the GCAA Coach of the Year. He takes over a Reinhardt team that went 14-14 last season and 12-10 in the AAC.

Coach Deer comes to Point from UT-Tyler, where he was the Associate Head Coach. In his last stint as a Head Coach at Johnson University in Florida he was named the National Christian College Athletic Association Division II South Region Coach of the Year.