ATLANTA—The ASUN Conference announced men's basketball's preseason honors on Wednesday afternoon, and Bellarmine's Juston Betz was named the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in a vote of the league coaches.
 
Last season, Betz was the ASUN's third-best rebounder with an average of 7.1 per game, a statistic made more impressive that he did that as a 6-3 guard.  He also ranked among the league's top eight in steals, assist to turnover ratio, and minutes played, He also was named the All-Tournament Team of the ASUN Championship. 
 
Betz, a graduate student who is working on his second master's degree, also raked in the academic honors a year ago.  He was one of just 48 D1 men's basketball players to earn Academic All-District honors and he was on the ASUN's All-Academic Team.
 
The ASUN also sponsored a fan vote for preseason honors, and Betz also won Defensive Player of the Year on that ballot as well.
 
The league also revealed its preseason coaches and media polls with the Knights ranking fifth in the media poll and tied for sixth in the coaches poll.
 
The ASUN's complete preseason recognitions:
 
2022-23 ASUN Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Honors & Awards
 
Preseason Player of the Year: Darius McGhee, Liberty
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Juston Betz, Bellarmine
 
ASUN Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team

Pos.	Name	School	Cl.	Hometown	Academic Major
G	*Darius McGhee	Liberty	Sr.	Roxboro, N.C.	Interdisciplinary Studies
G	*Kevion Nolan	Jacksonville	Sr.	Anniston, Ala.	Social Sciences
C	*Ahsan Asadullah	Lipscomb	Sr.	Atlanta, Ga.	Finance
G	Camren Hunter	Central Arkansas	So.	Bryant, Ark.	General Business
F	Michael Moreno	Eastern Kentucky	Jr.	Georgetown, Ky.	Business
G	Chase Johnston	FGCU	Jr.	Boca Raton, Fla.	Integrated Studies
G	Chris Youngblood	Kennesaw State	Jr.	Tuscaloosa, Ala.	Entrepreneurship
F	Kyle Rode	Liberty	Sr.	Lexington, Ky.	Information Systems
F	Carter Hendricksen	North Florida	Sr.	Lexington, Ky.	Sport Management
G	Jose Placer	North Florida	Jr.	Orlando, Fla.	Sport Management

* - Denotes unanimous selection
 
Preseason Men's Basketball Coaches Poll

Pl.	Team (1st Place Votes)	Points
1.	Liberty (10)	192
2.	Jacksonville (3)	171
3.	Jacksonville State	148
4.	FGCU	136
5.	North Florida (1)	127
6.	Lipscomb	116
6.	Bellarmine	116
8.	Kennesaw State	108
9.	Austin Peay	88
10.	Eastern Kentucky	87
11.	Central Arkansas	52
12.	Stetson	50
13.	Queens	42
14.	North Alabama	37

 
Preseason Men's Basketball Media Poll

Pl.	Team (1st Place Votes)	Points
1.	Liberty (20)	402
2.	Jacksonville (8)	365
3.	Jacksonville State	335
4.	FGCU	331
5.	Bellarmine	270
6.	Kennesaw State	244
7.	North Florida	207
8.	Lipscomb (1)	202
9.	Austin Peay (1)	189
10.	Eastern Kentucky	186
11.	Central Arkansas	159
12.	North Alabama	101
13.	Stetson	89
14.	Queens	70

 
Fan-Voted Preseason Player of the Year: Michael Moreno, Eastern Kentucky
Fan-Voted Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Juston Betz, Bellarmine