Men's Basketball



MEN'S BASKETBALL

Golden Eagles #1 in WHAC Preseason Poll

Oct 5, 2009

In a tight race, the men's basketball coaches in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) tabbed Cornerstone University as the team to beat. The Golden Eagles nudged out Davenport University by just one point for the top spot. Aquinas College was voted #3.

Cornerstone returns its top nine players from a 21-12 team last year, including honorable Mention All-American Matt Kingshott and Second Team All-Conference member Caleb Simons. The duo combined for nearly 30 points and 12 rebounds per game last season. Joining them is WHAC All-Newcomer Ronald Bates who shot a staggering 47% from behind the 3-point arc. Joining the returning lettermen is Bryan Pasciak, a two-year starter at Ferris State University (Mich.).

Cornerstone finished third in the conference race in 2008-09 before losing to Aquinas College in the championship game of the conference tournament. The Golden Eagles lost five games by three points or less.

Davenport will look to First Team All-WHAC and Honorable Mention All-American Nathan Cox and All-Newcomer James Nelson to lead the team. Cox led the team in scoring and rebounding last year while Nelson was third in scoring and first in assists. A couple of NCAA DII transfers should make an immediate impact. Junior Darryl Nobles played at Ferris State; David Thompson transferred from Grand Valley State (Mich.) after playing two years and Mario Scott played his freshmen year at Washburn University (Kan.).

Last year's champion, Aquinas, finished third in the voting. Gone is WHAC Player of the Year and All-American Pedja Lazic. John Lierman, also a WHAC First-Teamer, returns for his senior campaign to lead the Saints.

2009-10 Men's Basketball Preseason Rating

Rank

Institution

Pts

1

Cornerstone

60

2

Davenport

59

3

Aquinas

46

4

Indiana Tech

42

5

Siena Heights

32

6

Madonna

23

7

Concordia

17

8

UM-Dearborn

9