Birmingham, Ala. – Senior Guard Kolby Horace has been selected as a Preseason All-Gulf South Conference member as the Statesmen are projected to finish 7^th in the GSC in the Preseason Coaches' Poll announced by the Conference Office this morning.

The poll, all-conference, and newcomers to watch were selected and voted on by all coaches in the conference.

Delta State University received 54 points in the coaching poll, coming in 7^th place out of the 12 members of the conference. Montevallo is selected to finish first with 114 points and 6 first place votes, UAH is projected to finish second with 111 points and 4 first place votes, and Valdosta State is selected to finish third with 108 points and 2 first place votes.

Horace is a top-returning scorer for the Statesmen after averaging 14 points per game in the 2024-25 season. He scored over 20 points in 8 different games, including his season-high with 27 points in the season opener victory over Lemoyne-Owen. He racked up 133 rebounds, 48 assists and 60 steals after starting all 30 games last season for the Statesmen.

Delta State has three Gulf South Conference newcomers to watch entering this season in Redshirt junior guard Dacory Porter, Freshman guard Elisha Puckett, and Junior Forward Jackson Twombly.
Porter transferred to Delta State from Holmes CC last season. Before redshirting last season at Delta State, Porter averaged 9.3 points per game at Holmes CC. He had 78 rebounds, 95 assists, and 42 steals on 28 starts for the Bulldogs in the 2023-24 season.

Puckett joins the Green and White out of Centerville, Tennessee. He received Class 2A All-State honors in his senior season after scoring over 1400 points in his career at Hickman County High School.

Junior Forward Jackson Twombly played in 29 games last season for Danville Community College. He shot 54.8% from the field while averaging 11 points per game. He averaged 4.1 rebounds per game and had a team-high 11 blocks during the 2024-25 season.  

The Statesmen begin their season against Lemoyne-Owen on November 17 at home at Walter Sillers Coliseum. The game is set to start at 7:00 PM. The Statesmen have 14 games at home this season, and the GSC home-opener is on December 4^th against Union.