NEW ORLEANS –– Appalachian State University men's basketball sophomore guard Ronshad Shabazz earned third-team all-Sun Belt honors, as voted on by the conference's 12 head coaches and released by the league office on Wednesday morning.

Shabazz returns for his sophomore campaign after a standout freshman season that saw the rookie average 11.9 points per game - the most by a true freshman for Appalachian since Ricky Nedd averaged 11.6 points per game during the 1990-91 season. Shabazz broke out in a nationally televised game on ESPN2 at then No. 7 North Carolina. The Raleigh, N.C. native scored a team-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor.

Over the course of the season, Shabazz posted five more 20-point outings, including a career-high 29 point performance in a narrow 101-100 loss at home to Georgia Southern. Shabazz finished 10-of-17 from the floor and 7-for-9 from the charity stripe.

In addition to announcing the preseason all-conference teams, the Sun Belt also released its preseason poll for the new 12-team league which now features former Big South member Coastal Carolina. UT Arlington (140 points, 10 first-place votes) finished atop the poll, while Little Rock (124 points, one first-place vote) and Georgia State (114 points, one first-place vote) rounded out the top three.

Georgia Southern and Coastal Carolina rounded out the top five. South Alabama was picked sixth, followed by UL Lafayette, UL Monroe, Troy and Arkansas State. Appalachian was picked to finish 11th with Texas State picked 12th behind the Mountaineers.

Preseason First Team All-Conference
Devin Carter (Arkansas State, Senior, Guard, Interdisciplinary Studies)
Tookie Brown (Georgia Southern, Sophomore, Guard, Sport Management)
Marcus Johnson Jr. (Little Rock, Senior, Guard, Criminal Justice)
Kevin Hervey (UT Arlington, Junior, Forward, Interdisciplinary Studies)
Erick Neal (UT Arlington, Junior, Guard, Communication Broadcasting)

Preseason Second Team All-Conference
Elijah Wilson (Coastal Carolina, Senior, Guard)
Mike Hughes (Georgia Southern, Junior, Guard, Sport Management)
Jeremy Hollowell (Georgia State, Senior, Forward, Interdisciplinary Studies)
Ken Williams (South Alabama, Senior, Guard, Interdisciplinary Studies)
Wesley Person (Troy, Junior, Guard, Global Business)

Preseason Third Team All-Conference
Ronshad Shabazz (Appalachian State, Sophomore, Guard, Undecided)
Jay Wright (UL Lafayette, Senior, Guard, General Studies)
Nick Coppola (UL Monroe, Senior, Guard, Risk Management and Insurance)
Kavin Gilder-Tilbury (Texas State, Senior, Forward, General Studies)
Jordon Varnado (Troy, Sophomore, Forward, Global Business)

Preseason Player of the Year
Kevin Hervey (UT Arlington, Junior, Forward, Interdisciplinary Studies)