Last Year's Co-Champion UC San Diego Tabbed as Preseason Favorite in Men's Basketball Race

Last Year's Co-Champion UC San Diego Tabbed as Preseason Favorite in Men's Basketball Race

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CALIFORNIA – The 2019-20 CCAA Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll has been released, and the league’s 13 head coaches predict that 2018-19 co-champion UC San Diego will finish the race in first in their final season in the conference.
 
UC San Diego is the preseason favorite for the second year in a row, earning 11 of 13 first-place votes for 143 total points. The Tritons had shared the 2018-19 regular-season crown with Cal Poly Pomona, with the rivals splitting the last three banners between them. UC San Diego was the first-time champion in 2016-17, with the Broncos alone atop the standings in 2017-18, prior to last season’s joint championship.
 
Cal Poly Pomona is again picked to place second, garnering the remaining two first-place nods and 134 points. Just five points separated the Tritons and Broncos in last year’s preseason prognostication, and the gap has narrowly widened to nine in the latest poll version. Cal Poly Pomona  is followed by Cal State East Bay with 110 points, as the top three teams remain in in place from the final 2018-19 standings. 

The Tritons are loaded behind 2018-19 CCAA Player of the Year and All-American Chris Hansen, the Division II Bulletin Preseason Player of the Year. Eric Olen’s squad welcomes back fellow fifth-year senior Christian Oshita, who will be in his fourth season in La Jolla after spending his freshman campaign across town at the University of San Diego. Oshita was shut down after playing the first four games last November, redshirting with a shoulder injury. Also back are starting guards Mikey Howell and 2018-19 CCAA Newcomer of the Year Tyrell Roberts, alongside Scott Everman, with a trio of Division I transfers new to the program in Hugh Baxter (Colgate), John Diener (DePaul) and Trace Ramsey (Maryland).
 
For his milestone 20th season in charge at Cal Poly Pomona, record five-time CCAA Coach of the Year Greg Kamansky returns veteran standouts William Christmas, Riley Schaefer and Phoenix Schackelford. All three have been recognized with postseason honors by the league, with Christmas a two-time All-CCAA First Team pick. He and Shackelford each have CCAA Freshman in the Year acclaim to their past credit. The Broncos have brought in a pair of transfers from last year’s West Region runner-up, Saint Martin’s, in juniors Tavian Henderson and BJ Standley.
 
Bryan Rooney, the 2018-19 CCAA Coach of the Year, has All-CCAA honorees Evan Wardlow (first team), Ant Navarrete (second) and Nai Carlisle (second) back in the fold. Those three Pioneers are joined by junior newcomer Zafir Williams as Cal State East Bay looks to continue its recent successes including a historic 22-win season a season ago. The Pioneers finished the regular season just one game back of the co-champion Tritons and Broncos.

Cal State San Bernardino (97 points) and Cal State LA (96) are fourth and fifth, respectively, with Chico State (89), Cal State Dominguez Hills (82) and San Francisco State (64) completing the expected postseason spots.
 
Cal State San Bernardino is geared up for year two of the Andy Newman era. Daytone Jennings, a second-team All-CCAA choice, and senior big Andres Villa look to lead the Coyotes. Cal State LA brings back its senior trio of Shacquille Dawkins, All-CCAA second-teamer Ja’Sean Lewis, and Fard Muhammad, who like Villa picked up an All-CCAA honorable mention.
 
Chico State will be intent on bouncing back after missing the postseason altogether last March to snap a string of five consecutive 20-win campaigns. The Wildcats still have their junior All-CCAA tandem of Malik Duffy and Isaiah Brooks.
 
Cal State Dominguez Hills can rely on first-team All-CCAA selection Colten Kresl, All-CCAA honorable mention Wonder Smith and CCAA Freshman of the Year Alex Garcia, while San Francisco State faces the tall task of replacing All-CCAA seniors Jiday Ugbaja, Chiefy Ugbaja and Ryne Williams.

Humboldt State (61), Stanislaus State (59), Cal State San Marcos (41), Sonoma State (24) and Cal State Monterey Bay (14) round out the remainder of the poll.
 
All 13 teams open the new season with games in mini-tournaments across four cities in California and three in Washington on both Friday, Nov. 8, and Saturday, Nov. 9, and in fact all of them away from home except for Cal State LA. League action begins on Thursday night, Nov. 21, with a full slate of six contests, and only Cal State Monterey Bay idle.
 
For one last time, the top eight teams in the final league standings qualify for the CCAA Tournament, with first-round contests taking place on the campuses of the four highest seeds on Tuesday night, March 3. UC San Diego will host the semifinals and finals of both the men’s and women’s tourneys inside its own RIMAC Arena in La Jolla, March 6-7, with all six of those games airing live on ESPN3. 

The Tritons, heading into their 20th and final CCAA campaign before their move to Division I and the Big West Conference, have won the last three installments, and appeared in four straight finals. The victor again gains an automatic NCAA Championship berth.
 
The NABC coaches and D2SIDA preseason national polls are expected to be unveiled in the coming days.
 
2019-20 CCAA Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
Rank Institution Points (First-place votes)
1. UC San Diego 143 (11)
2. Cal Poly Pomona 134 (2)
3. Cal State East Bay 110
4. Cal State San Bernardino 97
5. Cal State LA 96
6. Chico State 89
7. Cal State Dominguez Hills 82
8. San Francisco State 64
9. Humboldt State 61
10. Stanislaus State 59
11. Cal State San Marcos 41
12. Sonoma State 24
13. Cal State Monterey Bay 14