Virginia Wesleyan, Hampden-Sydney Close at 2-3
SALEM, Va. --- Guilford College earned five
place votes and 93 total tallies on the way to earning the #1 spot
in the 2007 ODAC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll.
Virginia Wesleyan College picked up three top nods and 88 total
votes, while Hampden-Sydney College rounds out a tight top three
with 83 votes and a pair of first place selections.
Roanoke College (71 votes) and Randolph-Macon College (56) sit in
fourth and fifth with Emory & Henry College (47) holding the
sixth spot. Bridgewater College and Washington & Lee
University (37 each) tied for the seventh, and Eastern Mennonite
University (22) and Lynchburg College (15) round out the ten team
survey in the ninth and tenth spots.
Guilford (24-5, 15-3 in 2006-07) returns to hardwood after falling
one win short of the national semifinals a season ago, marking its
inaugural trip to the NCAA playoffs as one not to be
forgotten. Back for another go around is senior center Ben
Strong (25.4 ppg, 11.2 rpg, 2.5 bpg). Strong not only earned
the ODAC's top player award last season, but was also named the
D3hoops.com Player of the Year and the National
Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Co-Player of the
Year. He comes into this season with one recognition already
under his belt as he was named the Preseason Player of the Year by
D-III News. Also back for the Quakers are point
guard Caleb Kimbrough (6.7 ppg, 3.2 apg) and swing man Eric
Belkowski (8.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg).
Virginia Wesleyan (28-5, 17-1) has played in the last two NCAA
championship games, earning the 2006 national crown while finishing
runner-up to Amherst College last season. The Marlins will
have to replace the production of 2,100-point scorer Brandon Adair,
a feat coach Dave Macedo will undoubtedly have his squad ready to
tackle. Combo guard Ton Ton Balenga (15.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg, .874
FT%) heads a strong list of returnees that includes forward Tyler
Fantin (9.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg), shooter Stephen Fields (8.6 ppg) and
point guard D'Juan Tucker (6.7 ppg, 3.0 apg).
Hampden-Sydney (19-11, 10-8) won its ODAC record-tying
10th conference tournament title last season, defeating
Roanoke in the final contest. The Tigers return a strong
corps of players in forwards Drew Prehmus (11.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and
Tyler Murray (11.1 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and sophomore lefty guard Turner
King (12.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg). H-SC gets an added boost thanks to
the return from injury of former All-ODAC first team selection,
forward Troy Kaase (17.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg in 2005-06).
Posted below is the entire men's basketball preseason poll.
For more information on ODAC men's basketball, please visit any of
the participating schools' websites or the ODAC on the Internet at
www.odaconline.com.
Click HERE
to watch ODAC Men's Basketball Media Day coaches' interviews.
2007-08 ODAC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
(#) Denotes first place votes
1. |
Guilford |
93 (5) |
2. |
Virginia Wesleyan |
88 (3) |
3. |
Hampden-Sydney |
84 (2) |
4. |
Roanoke |
71 |
5. |
Randolph-Macon |
56 |
6. |
Emory & Henry |
47 |
7. |
Bridgewater |
37 |
|
Washington & Lee |
37 |
9. |
Eastern Mennonite |
22 |
10. |
Lynchburg |
15 |