IRVINE, Calif. – Hawai'i Pacific University was selected ninth in the annual PacWest Conference Men's Preseason Basketball Poll chosen by the league's coaches.
With six first-place votes, Point Loma has been picked as the PacWest's preseason favorite as the conference prepares to tip-off its 12-game conference schedule for 2021. Point Loma's Kaden Anderson is the PacWest Preseason Player of the Year after earning All-PacWest first team honors last season.
Point Loma finished in second place in the regular season standings last year and won the PacWest Championships. Anderson had seven double-doubles last year and ranked sixth in the league in both scoring and rebounding as Point Loma went 24-6 on the season. Brock Mackenzie was also named to the Preseason All-PacWest team after making 42.9 percent of his 3-point attempts last year, including his memorable buzzer-beater to win the PacWest Championships.
Azusa Pacific, which received two first-place votes, is the PacWest's regular season defending champion after becoming only the second team in conference history to win 20 conference games in PacWest Coach of the Year Peter Bond's first year as head coach.
Concordia was picked third in the preseason poll with one first-place vote after recording its third-consecutive 20-win season last year. The Eagles won their first game since sports were halted in March in an exhibition against Westmont.
With two first-place votes, Biola is picked fourth in the preseason poll, giving the PacWest Southern California Pod all of the top-4 spots in the preseason poll. The Eagles have two players on the Preseason All-PacWest team with Michael Bagatourian and Chris Rossow. Bagatourian averaged 15.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per game last year, which both rank in the top-10 in the conference. Rossow had a breakout performance at the PacWest Championships last year scoring 81 points with 19 assists and seven steals in three games to lead the Eagles to the championship game.
Chaminade reached the PacWest Championships for the fourth time in a row last year and is picked fifth in the preseason poll. The Silverswords enter the season as favorites in the PacWest Hawai'i Pod.
The favorite in the PacWest Northern California Pod is Fresno Pacific, picked sixth overall in the preseason poll. The Sunbirds have the most experienced roster in the league. Aamondae Coleman was named to the Preseason All-PacWest team after averaging 17.9 points per game with a total now of 1,127 career points putting him on the brink of the PacWest's top-20 list.
Academy of Art was picked seventh and is represented on the Preseason All-PacWest team by Stefan Milivojevic, who was the league's most efficient 3-point shooter last season, making 45.3 percent of his attempts to lead the Urban Knights to the PacWest Championships.
Hawai'i Hilo, HPU, Dominican and Holy Names complete the preseason poll. The Sharks return senior guard
David Rowlands of Dayton, Ohio/Moorpark. Rowlands was second on the team in scoring in 2019-20 with 9.2 points per game, while dishing 2.9 assists to go with 2.7 rebounds. He led HPU with 12 points in the Sharks 83-50 exhibition loss against the University of Hawai'i in December.
This season's schedule features a 12-game in pod conference season for the 11 PacWest programs. The Hawai'i Pod features HPU, Chaminade and UH Hilo. The Southern California Pod has Azusa Pacific, Biola, Concordia and Point Loma, while the Northern California Pod has Academy of Art, Dominican, Fresno Pacific and Holy Names.
The regular season starts tonight with Concordia hosting Northwest Nazarene in the first of three games for the Nighthawks in the Southern California Pod prior to the start of conference play. The first conference game will be on Saturday as HPU goes to the Big Island to face the Vulcans in a doubleheader. Friday, January 22 will be the first full slate of games as Fresno Pacific goes to Holy Names, Point Loma hosts Concordia and Biola hosts Azusa Pacific. HPU hosts Chaminade for a set of contests on Saturday and Sunday, January 23 and 24. The two California pods will alternate host sites for doubleheaders, while in the Hawai'i pod, the host site for Saturday's games will also host on Sunday.
+++ HPU +++
| 2020-21 PACWEST PRESEASON MEN'S BASKETBALL POLL |
|
TEAM |
POINTS |
2019-20 PACWEST
RECORD |
| 1. |
Point Loma (6) |
116 |
18-4 |
| 2. |
Azusa Pacific (2) |
106 |
20-2 |
| 3. |
Concordia Irvine (1) |
91 |
14-8 |
| 4. |
Biola |
89 |
13-9 |
| 5. |
Chaminade |
85 |
15-7 |
| 6. |
Fresno Pacific |
61 |
9-13 |
| 7. |
Academy of Art |
59 |
10-12 |
| 8. |
Hawai'i Hilo |
47 |
10-12 |
| 9. |
Hawai'i Pacific |
32 |
8-14 |
| 10. |
Dominican |
24 |
6-16 |
| 11. |
Holy Names |
16 |
6-16 |
| First-place votes in parenthesis |
Preseason All-PacWest Team
Kaden Anderson, Point Loma (Player of the Year)
Stefan Milivojevic, Academy of Art
Aamondae Coleman, Fresno Pacific
Michael Bagatourian, Biola
Brock Mackenzie, Point Loma
Chris Rossow, Biola
