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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON COACHES’ POLL
- New Mexico State
- Grand Canyon
- Seattle
- UTRGV
- Cal Baptist
- Utah Valley
- Cal State Bakersfield
- Kansas City
- Chicago State
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON MEDIA POLL – Same order as Coaches’ Poll
MEDIA DAY COACHES’ PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAM 1ST TEAM
Milan Acquaah – Cal Baptist
Terrell Brown – New Mexico State
Terrell Brown – Seattle
Carlos Johnson – Grand Canyon
Alessandro Lever – Grand Canyon
MEDIA DAY COACHES’ PRESEASON ALL-WAC 2ND TEAM
Ivan Aurrecoechea – New Mexico State
Myles Carter – Seattle
AJ Harris – New Mexico State
Javon Levi – UTRGV
Trevelin Queen – New Mexico State
MEDIA DAY MEDIA PRESEASON ALL-WAC 1ST TEAM
Milan Acquaah – Cal Baptist
Terrell Brown – New Mexico State
Carlos Johnson – Grand Canyon
Javon Levi – UTRGV
Trevelin Queen – New Mexico State
MEDIA DAY MEDIA PRESEASON ALL-WAC 2ND TEAM
Brandon Averette – Utah Valley
Ivan Aurrecoechea – New Mexico State
Terrell Brown – Seattle
Jaylen Fisher – Grand Canyon
Alessandro Lever – Grand Canyon
NOTES FROM DAVID. I believe the WAC has given us a first. Two different players with the same name on the preseason all-conference team!
Okay, so I like, watch, and follow all of college basketball, but like everyone else I find some leagues to be a lot more intriguing than others, and the WAC has become one of my favorite leagues. It actually has a rather rich (and largely forgotten) history, and was at one time a league that regularly put teams in the rankings and sent multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament. During all of the conference realignment, the WAC was decimated more than any other conference that actually survived, and while many dismissed it (and understandably so) as an also-ran league, it has actually become quite a competitive basketball league. Now I’m not going to compare it to the Power 5, but I will say that it is far more exciting than what most people realize.
Let’s start with New Mexico State. I’ll try my best to not gush over them too much. They won 29 games a year ago, one of their regular losses was by just 3 to Kansas, and after losing their conference opener to Cal Baptist they won out all the way through the WAC Tournament. I’m convinced that had New Mexico State played in the Pac-12 last year, they would have finished in first place. I really mean that. In the NCAA Tournament, they faced Auburn, and the most accurate way to describe what happened in that game was that they played great, they were in a position to win it, and they blew it. Auburn went on to the Final Four and lost about as close as you can lose to Virginia, who won it all. Now, I’m not saying that New Mexico State would have made the Final Four…but I do think they were a top-20 team and would have made the Sweet Sixteen. But, because their chances at notable wins are so limited, no one outside of the die-hard basketball fans really noticed them. That’s why I hated to see them not pick up the win against Auburn. They were good enough to where they deserved more recognition than what they got. Well, I’m telling you that you need to notice them. Four starters from last year are back. This is a VERY good team! Their guards are outstanding, they’ve got depth, and they are a ton of fun to watch. They face both Arizona and Mississippi State on the road this year, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they won both of them. This is a DAMN good team!!
Grand Canyon is another intriguing story. As a program that is just beginning its third season since completing the transition to D-1, they’ve become competitive right away having finished in the top three the last two years, and making the conference championship game both years. They’ve got a great home court advantage and atmosphere, and with three starters back from last year’s team, including their top two scorers, they should be good again this year. When GCU and New Mexico State play each other, I highly encourage you to browse Twitter and watch those two fanbases go at it. It is classic!!
Seattle is interesting. They got off to a really solid 12-3 start to last season, and then were hit hard with injuries. They ended up going just 6-10 in WAC play, but with four starters back, and a presumably healthy roster, they could be tremendously improved. They’re definitely worth keeping an eye on.
UTRGV is not at the top of the league, but they are a program that is definitely going in the right direction. Last year they won 20+ games in the first time in close to two decades, they made the semis of the WAC Tournament, and made it to a postseason tournament as well. They’ve got three starters back this year and should get some strong play out of their guards. They could take another step forward as they continue to build their program.
Utah Valley has been one of the better teams in the league the last few years, but with former coach Mark Pope going to BYU, and with the bulk of their contributing players from a year ago being gone, they are in rebuild mode.
Kansas City (formerly branded as UMKC) had flirted with the idea of going down to D-2, but seems committed to staying up. They’ve got a new coach in Billy Donlon who had some pretty good years at Wright State earlier in his career and can hopefully get things turned around. Three starters are back, so they should be able to improve on their 11 win season from a year ago.
Cal State Bakersfield will be playing (I think) their final season in the WAC this year before moving on to the Big West. That is one horrendously ugly court that the league will now be without. With three starters back from last year’s team the Roadrunners should also be a little better than they were a year ago.
And that leaves Chicago State. They’ve won just three games in each of the last two seasons, and are one of the worst programs in D-1. I’m actually rooting for this program, and this institution, to build and experience some success. Another thing that’s crazy, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen this before, is that they have just one returning player from last year’s team. I don’t even know what to think about that. An infusion of productive JUCO transfers as well as the new freshmen may actually make Chicago State not as bad as they have been in recent years.