Morehouse Ranked No. 17 in NABC Preseason Poll

HEAD COACH GRADY BREWER
MOREHOUSE MEN'S BASKETBALL

KANSAS CITY, Missouri -- A quintet of teams that have been a part of recent Elite Eights stand atop the NABC/Division II pre-season coaches poll for the 2018-19 season.

Bellarmine, who has made three Elite Eight appearances since winning the NCAA Division II title in 2011, picked up the bulk of the first place votes and heads the pre-season r  ankings. The Knights are followed by West Liberty, who reached five Elite Eights in a six-year span beginning in 2011 and Lincoln Memorial, who played in the 2016 national championship game in the first of back-to-back appearances.

The next two teams in the poll are West Texas A&M, who was a national semifinalist a year ago and Northwest Missouri State, won the 2017 national title.

After Northwest is Saint Anselm, followed by Queens (N.C.), who also reached last year’s national semifinal round and Indiana (Pa.), who played in the national title game in 2015. Cal Poly Pomona, who was the first national champion of the 2010s, is ranked ninth in the pre-season.

Southern Nazarene rounds out the top 10 following its best season as a member of NCAA Division II and the same can be said for West Florida, a 28-win team a year ago that was ranked one spot in back of fellow Gulf South Conference foe Valdosta State.

Defending national champion Ferris State appears in the poll at No. 13, while Western Washington is ranked 14th and another 2018 Elite Eight entry, East Stroudsburg, was picked 15th.

The pre-season top 20 is completed by Virginia State, Morehouse, St. Cloud State, Regis and Southwest Minnesota State; three of those teams either won a regular season or conference tournament title last year.

The final five teams in the poll are Dallas Baptist, Florida Southern, Findlay, UC San Diego and Missouri Southern.

Two pre-season events kick off the 2017-18 season this weekend, beginning with the D2CCA Tip-Off Classic in Anaheim, Calif., which starts Friday. The field includes No. 4 West Texas A&M and two others that received votes, Azusa Pacific and Drury.

The other event takes place in St. Joseph, Mo., with the Hall of Fame Classic, which includes the two teams that faced off in the national title game, Ferris State and Northern State, in a field that also has Queens (N.C) and Northwest Missouri State.

NABC/Division II Rankings (Oct. 30, 2018 – Pre-Season Poll)
		Record	Points	Last
1.	Bellarmine, Ky. (14)	29-3	398	4
2.	West Liberty, W.Va. (1)	26-4	364	12
3.	Lincoln Memorial, Tenn.	32-2	347	1
4.	West Texas A&M	32-4	332	11
5.	Northwest Missouri State (1)	27-4	277	5
6.	Saint Anselm. N.H.	22-9	272	NR
7.	Queens, N.C.	32-4	259	7
8.	Indiana, Pa.	22-8	231	NR
9.	Cal Poly Pomona	23-7	225	25
10.	Southern Nazarene, Okla.	27-3	207	8
11.	Valdosta State, Ga.	26-5	196	15
12.	West Florida	28-4	195	9
13.	Ferris State, Mich.	38-1	183	2
14.	Western Washington	21-8	182	NR
15.	East Stroudsburg, Pa.	27-6	162	NR
16.	Virginia State	25-5	148	17
17.	Morehouse, Ga.	25-3	138	10
18.	St. Cloud State. Minn.	24-9	113	NR
19.	Regis, Colo.	27-6	110	22
20.	Southwest Minnesota State	25-9	93	NR
21.	Dallas Baptist, Texas	26-6	92	16
22.	Florida Southern	21-11	81	NR
23.	Findlay, Ohio	28-5	75	13
24.	UC San Diego	21-11	63	NR
25.	Missouri Southern	20-10	58	NR
Others receiving votes: Clayton State (Ga.) 40, Fairmont State (W.Va.) 38, UNC Pembroke 35, Point Loma (Calif.) 34, Saint Martin’s (Wash.) 32, Northern State (S.D.) 27, Nova Southeastern (Fla.) 19, Barry (Fla.) 18, Minnesota State 18, Texas A&M-Commerce 17, Drury (Mo.) 13, Shaw (N.C.) 13, Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 12, Dominican (N.Y.) 12, Ashland (Ohio) 11, Lees-McRae (N.C.) 13, Tarleton State (Texas) 10, Claflin (S.C.) 9, Daemen (N.Y.) 8, Fort Lewis (Colo.) 4, Merrimack (Mass.) 4, Chico State (Calif.)  3, King (Tenn.) 3, Clark Atlanta (Ga.) 2, Stanislaus State (Calif.) 2, Colorado School of Mines 1, Dixie State (Utah) 1.   Records are final from 2017-18 season.  Last ranking was from the final 2017-18 poll.

SIAC MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS