ELMHURST, Ill. - The Western Illinois men's basketball team was picked to finish fourth in The Summit League's annual preseason poll of league coaches, SIDs and media Wednesday (Oct. 17) after receiving 274 points. The Fighting Leathernecks had a league-high two players selected to Preseason All-League First Team in seniors Ceola Clark III and Terell Parks.
The fourth-place prediction is the highest for Western since the 2005-06 season when the Leathernecks were picked to finish fourth.
South Dakota State (390), who earned the league's tournament crown last season, was voted to win the 2012-13 Summit League Basketball Championship after receiving 30 of the 31 first-place votes. The two other team's that were picked ahead of Western in the poll were North Dakota State (321) and Oakland (310) who were picked second and third, respectively.
IUPUI (193) edged Fort Wayne (191) by two points for fifth while Kansas City (120), South Dakota (108) and league newcomer Omaha (64) rounded out the poll.
The Leathernecks are slated to play two home exhibition games versus Harris-Stowe State (Nov. 1) and Missouri S&T (Nov. 5) before opening their 2012-13 campaign on November 10th at home against Wabash.
2012-13 SUMMIT LEAGUE MEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON POLL
|
Rk
|
Team (1st)
|
Pts.
|
|
1.
|
South Dakota State (30)
|
390
|
|
2.
|
North Dakota State (1)
|
321
|
|
3.
|
Oakland
|
310
|
|
4.
|
Western Illinois
|
274
|
|
5.
|
IUPUI
|
193
|
|
6.
|
Fort Wayne
|
191
|
|
7.
|
Kansas City
|
120
|
|
8.
|
South Dakota
|
108
|
|
9.
|
Omaha
|
64
|
PRESEASON ALL-LEAGUE
First Team
Travis Bader, Oakland
Taylor Braun, North Dakota State
Ceola Clark III, Western Illinois
Frank Gaines, Fort Wayne
Terell Parks, Western Illinois
Nate Wolters, South Dakota State
Second Team
Lawrence Alexander, North Dakota State
Marshall Bjorklund, North Dakota State
Ian Chiles, IUPUI
Jordan Dykstra, South Dakota State
Drew Valentine, Oakland
Preseason Player of the Year: Nate Wolters, South Dakota State
#WIUAthletics
