RSC Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Poll & Preseason All-Conference Team Released
The 2022-23 River States Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll was released on Thursday with IU Southeast picked 6th overall and third in the RSC West Division.
The preseason favorite selected by the coaches this year is WVU Tech. The Golden Bears received 151 total votes and seven first-place votes in the overall polling of all 13 schools. The overall poll is close at the top with three different schools getting first-place votes.
Indiana University Kokomo is picked second in the poll with 145 total votes and five first-place votes. Alice Lloyd (Ky.) College is predicted third with 134 total votes and the remaining first-place vote.
Indiana University East (116 votes), University of Rio Grande (Ohio) (111 votes), Indiana University Southeast (105 votes) and Oakland City (Ind.) University (92 votes) round out the top half of the conference poll of 13 schools.
WVU Tech is coming off a season of 26-6 overall and 15-2 RSC. The Golden Bears have two players returning who were selected to the RSC Preseason All-Conference Team with Thomas Hailey and Andrew Work. That puts WVU Tech in the top spot after an RSC Championship finals appearance last year and another NAIA national tournament bid.
IU Kokomo won the RSC Championship last year and advanced to the NAIA National Championship Sweet 16. The Cougars were 32-4 overall and 17-1 RSC and ended the year ranked No. 22 in the NAIA Top 25. IU Kokomo will have to replace all-conference players Desean Hampton and Trequan Spivey.
Alice Lloyd was 24-5 overall, 15-3 RSC last year and made it to the RSC semifinals where they lost to WVU Tech. The Eagles have Will Philpot ad Damon Tobler returning as a preseason all-conference selections. IU East was also an RSC semifinalist last year and ended at 16-15, 10-7 RSC.
Rio Grande is fifth in the preseason poll and joins WVU Tech and Alice Lloyd as the only schools with two players on the preseason all-conference team. Miki Tadic and Shiloah Blevins lead the RedStorm, which was 16-14 last year.
IU Southeast was an RSC playoff qualifier last year and came in sixth in the poll. The Grenadiers are mourning the loss of Ahmad Price, who posthumously is a member of the preseason all-conference team.
Oakland City and Ohio Christian were both postseason qualifiers, and they round out the selections of the top four teams in each division. New this year is that the top five teams in each of the RSC East and West Divisions will make the playoffs. Other changes are IU East moving to the RSC West and Alice Lloyd moving to the RSC East.
For the complete listing of the RSC Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Polls and the RSC Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team, see below.
River States Conference Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Poll
(First-Place Votes in Parenthesis)
| School | Votes |
| 1. WVU Tech (7) | 151 |
| 2. IU Kokomo (5) | 145 |
| 3. Alice Lloyd (Ky.) (1) | 134 |
| 4. IU East | 116 |
| 5. Rio Grande (Ohio) | 111 |
| 6. IU Southeast | 105 |
| 7. Oakland City (Ind.) | 92 |
| 8. Ohio Christian | 69 |
| 9. Midway (Ky.) | 68 |
| 10. Point Park (Pa.) | 67 |
| 11. Brescia (Ky.) | 52 |
| 12. St. Mary-of-the-Woods (Ind.) | 33 |
| 13. Carlow (Pa.) | 27 |
RSC East Division
(First-Place Votes in Parenthesis)
| School | Votes |
| 71 |
| 60 |
| 52 |
| 34 |
| 33 |
| 17 |
RSC West Division
(First-Place Votes in Parenthesis)
| School | Votes |
| 84 |
| 67 |
| 64 |
| 54 |
| 38 |
| 31 |
| 19 |
RSC Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
| Name | Pos. | Cl. | School |
| Will Philpot | F | Sr. | Alice Lloyd |
| Miki Tadic | G | Jr. | Rio Grande |
| Thomas Hailey | F | So. | WVU Tech |
| Shiloah Blevins | F | Jr. | Rio Grande |
| Tay Smith | G | So. | Brescia |
| Andrew Work | F | Jr. | WVU Tech |
| Damon Tobler | F | Jr. | Alice Lloyd |
| *Ahmad Price | G | Jr. | IU Southeast |
| Donnie Miller | G | Jr. | Midway |
| Sherron Schifino | G | Sr. | Point Park |
Original source can be found here.
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