ASHEVILLE, N.C. (Mar. 6, 2026) - The weather has turned, and the Bucs have crossed Sam's Gap hoping to make a long weekend of their trip to North Carolina. 

The ETSU men's basketball team begins its run at the 2026 SoCon Men's Basketball Championship at Harrah's Cherokee Center on Saturday at noon, awaiting their specific opponent at press time. 

EVENT: 2026 SoCon Men's Basketball Championship 
DATES: March 7, 12:00pm (Quarterfinal), March 8, 4:00pm (Semifinal), March 9, 7:00 (Championship Game) 
VENUE: Harrah's Cherokee Center (Asheville, NC) 
TV: ESPN+ (Saturday, Sunday), ESPN or ESPN2 (Monday) 
RADIO: WXSM-AM 640 (Jay Sandos, all games) 
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast (Saturday, Sunday, Monday) 

ETSU enters the tournament as the top seed having won the regular season outright by two games. The Bucs are seeking their 11th conference tournament championship, having won the SoCon tournament most recently in 2020. The Bucs are 45-27 in the SoCon tournament all-time and 29-13 in Asheville. 

The Bucs boast a host of individual awards, led by Brooks Savage winning the Anton Foy SoCon Coach of the Year for 2026, the fifth ETSU coach to win Coach of the Year. Three of the previous four have gone on to win the conference tournament the same year they won the award: Les Robinson in 1990, Murry Bartow in 2004, and Steve Forbes in 2020. Savage's next win will be his 60th at ETSU. 

ETSU also boasts its second consecutive SoCon Defensive Player of the Year in Cam Morris III, the only player in the league who ranks in the top 10 in both blocked shots and steals this season. Jaylen Smith is the SoCon Sixth Man of the Year, leading all SoCon players with 10 or fewer starts in points and all players with 15 or fewer starts in made threes, assists, and steals. 

The Bucs begin their run Saturday, awaiting the winner of the 8/9 game between Chattanooga and The Citadel. 

For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com.