UC San Diego Predicted to Win CCAA Men's Basketball Title
Video release | 2018-19 Schedule | 2017-18 FInal Standings
SAN RAMON, Calif. – The CCAA’s head coaches have picked a preseason favorite, but the race at the top is tight, to say the least. Five votes separate reigning tournament champion UC San Diego and last season’s regular-season champion, Cal Poly Pomona. The Tritons earned just enough to climb to No. 1 in the 2018-19 CCAA Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll.
The Tritons collected 141 points in the poll and nine first-place votes to claim the top spot, followed by the Broncos’ tally of 136 points as Cal Poly Pomona picked up the remaining four first-place votes in play.
Last year’s CCAA Tournament victors, UC San Diego returns a lineup expected to highlight a senior guard Christian Bayne and swingman Christian Oshita, both first-team All-CCAA picks after last season. The duo won’t be alone, as the Tritons return four starters from their tournament-championship season. UC San Diego enters the season at No. 24 in the NABC preseason basketball poll, released yesterday.
Cal Poly Pomona, ranked ninth in the NABC preseason basketball poll, returns 2017-18 CCAA Freshman of the Year Phoenix Shackelford, along with All-CCAA first-team selections and NABC All-District picks William Christmas and Jordan Ogundiran. The Broncos are led by reigning CCAA Coach of the Year Greg Kamansky, who enters his 19th season as Cal Poly Pomona’s head coach, where he stands as the program’s winningest men’s basketball coach in history.
The next two teams in the poll are also separated by a razor-thin margin as Chico State’s 116 points narrowly edged Stanislaus State’s 114 for third and fourth, respectively. Chico State will be without the services of a talented senior class loss to matriculation, but the Wildcats are enjoying a string of five-straight 20-win seasons and looking to push the mark to a half dozen.
Stanislaus State’s squad boasts age and experience a roster chock full of upperclassmen has but three freshmen and sophomore members. Returners to note include 2017-18 Newcomer of the Year Vida Faniel, and second-team all-conference honoree junior Ty Davis.
The Warriors are followed by Cal State San Bernardino’s 84 points, and the Coyotes are newly under the direction of Andy Newman, who was charged to lead the team last May. Newman joins the Cal State San Bernardino as the winningest men’s basketball coach at Texas Permian Basin. While they coach different sports, he’ll be the second in his family to lead a CCAA squad joining brother Eric, skipper of the UC San Diego baseball team.
Cal State LA rates No. 6 with a total vote count of 80, followed by Cal State San Marcos (76), Cal State Dominguez Hills (68), and San Francisco State (54). Sonoma State (50), Cal State East Bay (42), Humboldt State (36) and Cal State Monterey Bay (17) round out the preseason prognostications.
With exhibition play just getting underway, the regular season tips off on Nov. 9 with all 13 schools in the league hitting the hardwood on opening day.
The 2019 Men’s Basketball Tournament continues with its eight-team format with first round contests played at campus sites. The semifinal and final contests will stay return to the north after four iterations in the south. Cal State East Bay’s Pioneer Gymnasium will play host to the final two rounds of action. Tournament play is scheduled to begin Tuesday, March 5, with the semifinal and championship rounds set for March 8-9 in Hayward.
| 2018-19 CCAA Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll |
| Rank |
Institution |
Points (First-place votes) |
| 1. |
UC San Diego |
141 (9) |
| 2. |
Cal Poly Pomona |
136 (4) |
| 3. |
Chico State |
116 |
| 4. |
Stanislaus State |
114 |
| 5. |
Cal State San Bernardino |
84 |
| 6. |
Cal State LA |
80 |
| 7. |
Cal State San Marcos |
76 |
| 8. |
Cal State Dominguez Hills |
68 |
| 9. |
San Francisco State |
54 |
| 10. |
Sonoma State |
50 |
| 11. |
Cal State East Bay |
42 |
| 12. |
Humboldt State |
36 |
| 13 |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
17 |