Guilford Tops ODAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll

Guilford Tops ODAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
Virginia Wesleyan, Hampden-Sydney Close at 2-3
November 1, 2007
Story courtesy of the ODAC Sports Information Office

SALEM, Va. --- Guilford College earned five place votes and 93 total tallies on the way to earning the #1 spot in the 2007 ODAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll.  Virginia Wesleyan College picked up three top nods and 88 total votes, while Hampden-Sydney College rounds out a tight top three with 83 votes and a pair of first place selections.

Roanoke College (71 votes) and Randolph-Macon College (56) sit in fourth and fifth with Emory & Henry College (47) holding the sixth spot.  Bridgewater College and Washington & Lee University (37 each) tied for the seventh, and Eastern Mennonite University (22) and Lynchburg College (15) round out the ten team survey in the ninth and tenth spots.

Guilford (24-5, 15-3 in 2006-07) returns to hardwood after falling one win short of the national semifinals a season ago, marking its inaugural trip to the NCAA playoffs as one not to be forgotten.  Back for another go around is senior center Ben Strong (24.5 ppg, 11.2 rpg, 2.5 bpg).  Strong not only earned the ODAC’s top player award last season, but was also named the D3hoops.com Player of the Year and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Co-Player of the Year.  He comes into this season with one recognition already under his belt as he was named the Preseason Player of the Year by D-III News.  Also back for the Quakers are point guard Caleb Kimbrough (6.7 ppg, 3.2 apg) and swing man Eric Belkowski (8.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg).

Virginia Wesleyan (28-5, 17-1) has played in the last two NCAA championship games, earning the 2006 national crown while finishing runner-up to Amherst College last season.  The Marlins will have to replace the production of 2,100-point scorer Brandon Adair, a feat coach Dave Macedo will undoubtedly have his squad ready to tackle.  Combo guard Ton Ton Balenga (15.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg, .874 FT%) heads a strong list of returnees that includes forward Tyler Fantin (9.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg), shooter Stephen Fields (8.6 ppg) and point guard D’Juan Tucker (6.7 ppg, 3.0 apg).

Hampden-Sydney (19-11, 10-8) won its ODAC record-tying 10th conference tournament title last season, defeating Roanoke in the final contest.  The Tigers return a strong corps of players in forwards Drew Prehmus (11.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and Tyler Murray (11.1 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and sophomore lefty guard Turner King (12.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg).  H-SC gets an added boost thanks to the return from injury of former All-ODAC first team selection, forward Troy Kaase (17.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg in 2005-06).

Posted below is the entire men’s basketball preseason poll.  For more information on ODAC men’s basketball, please visit any of the participating schools’ websites or the ODAC on the Internet at www.odaconline.com. 

2007-08 ODAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll

(#) Denotes first place votes