Photo by Darwin Moore / MTSU Sidelines
Story by Carl Coates Jr. / Sports Reporter
Honors for Middle Tennessee’s men’s basketball team have already been awarded, as senior guard Giddy Potts was selected to the 2017-18 All-Conference USA Basketball Preseason Team Monday morning.
Last season, Potts was a key piece to the Blue Raiders’ success. As the starting shooting guard, the Athens, Alabama, native shot an impressive 48.3 percent from the field en route to averaging 15.3 points a game.
Along with his solid field goal percentage, he made some noise from behind the arc as well. Already having a reputation as a top three-point threat for the Raiders, Potts registered a solid 38.4 percent from the three-point line to follow up his sophomore campaign when he shot a blistering 50.6 percent from distance.
In terms of defense, Potts consistently showed that he was a solid on-ball defender, as his quick hands led to him recording a team-leading 47 steals.
This is not a surprise for the man in charge on the Blue Raider bench. Head Coach Kermit Davis has seen Potts’ leadership in action for the last three seasons.
“The loudest voice on our team is Giddy Potts,” Davis said. “His leadership by example is phenomenal because of what he does every day, and how he goes about his business.”
So far, Potts has been the only Blue Raider to be named Preseason All-Conference Team for this upcoming season.
Conference USA will reveal the remaining players on the All-Conference roster by the end of this week.
The Blue Raiders will be in action for the first time this year against Arkansas Fort Smith on Nov. 2, with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m.
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Giddy Potts is a great person to look up to on and off the court. In high school, he had a lot of doubters that thought he could not play college basketball, because he is was too “big”. Head coach Kermit Davis thought different and gave him a chance. That chance he gave to Giddy turned out to be a great decision. Every since Giddy has hit the campus he has been working hard on his game. It shows when you watch him play. Now since Reggie Upshaw and Jarvis Williams are gone on to start their professional careers, Potts is the ultimate leader of this team. This is his senior season, and he is already predicted to be an All-Conference USA member. With his team behind him, hopefully he will have a great season, and win conference player of the year. The hopes of him making it to NBA are slim, but with his work ethic and underdog mentality, if anybody can do it is him.