LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – In a vote by the league's head coaches, Colorado College was selected as the preseason favorite to win the 2017-18 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) men's basketball championship.
Colorado College picked up seven first place votes for 49 total points in the poll. The Tigers, led by Head Coach Andy Partee, finished the 2016-17 season with an 11-15 record, while going 10-4 in conference play. The Tigers entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed, but fell to eventual champion Texas Lutheran University in the semifinals, 73-65.
CC returns two of the top five scorers in the league from last season, Eric Houska and John Hatch, with each player averaging more than 17.0 points per game during the 2016-17 campaign. Complementing his strong offensive efforts, Hatch was also named the Defensive Player of the Year in 2017.
The team will also feature other familiar faces as four more players with starting experience are back for the new season: Chris Martin, CooXooEii Black, Ryan Young and Edmund Pendleton. Martin led the Tigers in rebouding with 6.8 per contest, followed by Hatch (6.0) and Young (5.3). Houska was the team's leader in assists with an average of 5.2 per game.
After earning the team's first SCAC regular season title last season, Schreiner comes in second in the coaches preseason poll with 38 points, receiving the remaining first-place vote. The Mountaineers, led by fourth-year head coach Connor Kuykendall, will have some spots to fill as only two of the top seven scorers from last season's team will return.
Schreiner's leading scorer, Keenan Gumbs returns for his senior season after averaging 14.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and one steal per game last year. Senior Blake Kelley will also be a key returner after leading the Mountaineers with 5.9 assists last season. He was third on the team with 11.1 points per game.
Trinity University was just behind Schreiner in the preseason coaches' rankings with 37 points. With a 2016-17 conference mark of 7-7 (12-14 overall), the Tigers earned the fifth seed at the 2017 SCAC Tournament for the second year in a row. Coach Pat Cunningham, in his 19th season as the head man at Trinity, returns the entire starting lineup from last season, highlighted by the 2017 Newcomer of the Year -- and the team's leading scorer -- Danny Rivara. Alongside Rivara will be third team All-SCAC selection Matt Jones and Jayden Holden, an honorable mention all-SCAC choice a year ago.
Coming in at fourth in the preseason poll is the defending SCAC Champion, Texas Lutheran University (19-10, 10-4 SCAC), with 32 points in the voting. The Bulldogs, led by second-year head coach Mike Wacker, will look to rebuild after losing three starters to graduation. Those players accounted for 46.8 points per game, more than half of the Bulldogs' scoring (79.5 ppg) in 2016-17.
The top scoring returner is senior Matthew Gillette, who played in all 29 games last year, coming off the bench to average 7.1 points per game. Gillette is joined by Harris Jowell (6.0) as top scorers returning from last season. Both players also ranked in the top-five in rebounding for the Bulldogs last year.
Southwestern University (14-13, 8-6 SCAC) was the coaches' fifth choice, tallying 28 points in the voting. The Pirates, under the leadership of fourth-year head coach Janson Hightower, will also have some rebuilding to do with three of the team's starters graduating last spring. Ryan Ogden, a second team all-SCAC selection, will return to the lineup. During the 2016-17 campaign, Ogden averaged 16.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, while also dishing out 2.2 assists.
The Pirates closed out last year's season in the conference tournament, falling to Schreiner in the semifinals, 82-76.
Centenary College (12-14, 6-8 SCAC) will have big shoes to fill with James Sapp, the the 2017 SCAC Player of the Year, finishing his career last spring. Sapp led the conference in both scoring and rebounding, but was followed closely by teammate, and Gents' senior, Travion Kirkendoll. Kirkendoll averaged 18.0 points and 7.0 rebounds last season, while also dishing out 4.1 assists and grabbing 2.1 steals.
The team is also under new leadership this season, as Chris Dorsey makes his debut as the Gents' head coach. Dorsey came to Centenary after spending three years at his alma mater Lyndon State.
Austin College is the coaches' seventh pick after coming off a 2016-17 campaign that saw the 'Roos finish with an overall record of 6-19 (2-12 SCAC). Head coach Rodney Wecker, in his 11th season leading the 'Roo program, returns just one player with significant starting experience, Austin Wells. Wells played in 24 games, making 19 starts and averaging 9.3 points per game.
The University of Dallas, who finished the 2016-17 season with an overall mark of 9-16 (2-12 SCAC), rounds out the coaches' preseason rankings. 10th-year head coach Jarred Samples has just two starters back from a season ago, both of which averaged more than 10.0 points per game. Darrius Colvin is the leading scorer among the returners, averaging 13.4 points last year. He also led the team in rebounding, grabbing 6.6 per game.
2017-18 SCAC Predicted Order of Finish
1. Colorado College - 49 points (7)
2. Schreiner University - 38 points (1)
3. Trinity University - 37 points
4. Texas Lutheran University - 32 points
5. Southwestern University - 28 points
6. Centenary College - 18 points
7. Austin College -13 points
8. University of Dallas - 9 points
(Seven points were awarded for a first-place vote, six points for a second-place, down to one point for a seventh-place vote. Coaches were not permitted to rank their own team. First-place votes in parenthesis.)
