Greenville, S.C. –  Western Carolina redshirt junior forward Marcus Kell was today named to the 2025-26 Preseason All-Southern Conference team as selected by the league's head coaches and announced by the conference as part of its annual SoCon Media Day at the Greenville Marriott.
 
In addition to Kell's honor, the Catamounts were picked seventh in the 2025-26 SoCon Preseason Coaches poll.
 
Kell is the first Catamount to garner preseason recognition from the league's coaches since the 2023-24 season, when Vonterius Woolbright, Tre Jackson, and Russell Jones Jr. received the honor, with Woolbright being tabbed the Preseason Player of the Year.
 
Kell put together a solid 2024-25 season, scoring 352 points with an average of 11.7 points per game to finish second on the team. He upped his per-game average in conference play to 14.7 points per outing, which included 14  of his seasonal 16 double-figure scoring outputs.
 
During league play, Kell recorded three double-doubles, coming against UNCG (Feb. 8), ETSU (Feb. 12), and Mercer (March 1), while scoring a career-high 31 against Chattanooga (Feb. 19). During the hot stretch for the Rock Hill, S.C. native, he also garnered back-to-back SoCon Player of the Week awards on Feb. 10 and Feb. 17.
 
Kell finished second on the team with 113 field goals overall, including a season-high 11in his career-best performance against Chattanooga. He also finished fourth on the team with 44 3-pointers, connecting on a team-best 37.9% of his made triples. He is the top returner on the glass from a season ago for WCU, with 164 rebounds, including 57 on the offensive boards. He had six or more rebounds in 15 games and thrice posted double-digit rebounds. Throughout the 2024-25 season, Kell recorded 26 blocks, 15 steals, and 20 assists, while shooting 80.2% from the free throw line in league play. He was also a 2025 Spring Academic All-SoCon selection and a member of the 2024-25 SoCon Academic Honor Roll in the classroom.
 
Chattanooga was tabbed as the preseason favorite by the coaches with 77 points and five first-place votes. Furman claimed the remaining five first-place votes in the poll to finish a close second with 73 points.
 
Samford received 62 points and was slotted third, followed by ETSU (61), UNCG (43), and VMI (41) in fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively. WCU earned 32 points to claim seventh in the rankings, followed by Mercer with 30 points, Wofford with 21 points, and The Citadel with 10 points to round out the 10-team preseason poll.
 
Chattanooga placed a league-high three players on the preseason All-SoCon team, followed by Furman and Samford with two apiece, combining for seven of the 10 honorees. ETSU and VMI joined WCU with one player on the honorary squad to round out the preseason awards. VMI senior guard Rickey Bradley Jr. was dubbed the SoCon Preseason Player of the Year.
 
With the schedule officially released on Aug. 12, Western Carolina opens the season with a road bout at Big 12 foe Cincinnati on Nov. 3, before traveling in-state to Duke on Nov. 8. WCU opens its home slate on Nov. 13 against Voorhees University out of Denmark, S.C.
 
All game times, home game promotions, and broadcast information will be released later this month, though most home games will be available on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) and live audio from the Catamount Sports Network.
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount men's basketball and WCU Athletics through our social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@catamountmbb @wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@CatamountMBB @catamounts).
 
2025-26 Southern Conference Preseason Coaches Poll

 
2025-26 Preseason Southern Conference Player of the Year
Rickey Bradley Jr, Sr., G, VMI
 
2025-26 Preseason All-Southern Conference team
Jaylen Smith, Jr., G, ETSU
Cooper Bowser, Jr., F, Furman
Tom House, Sr., G, Furman
Jadin Booth, Gr., G, Samford
Dylan Faulkner, Jr., C, Samford
Jikari Johnson, Gr., G, Chattanooga
Collin Mulholland, R-So., F, Chattanooga
Teddy Washington Jr., Gr., G, Chattanooga
Rickey Bradley Jr, Sr., G, VMI
Marcus Kell, R-Jr., F, Western Carolina