Spalding Golden Eagles Top Men's Basketball Pre-Season Poll

ST. LOUIS - The Spalding University men's basketball team received four first place votes and 59 points overall to top the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Men's Basketball Coaches' Pre-Season Poll.

Spalding will be looking for its second regular season conference championship, after the Golden Eagles shared the title with Webster University and Westminster College (Mo.) in 2010-11. This season also marks the first year that Spalding will be eligible for post-season tournament play. The Golden Eagles went 10-6 in SLIAC play last season and finished 13-12 overall. Head coach Kevin Gray will be looking to three of his seniors, all whom have earned First Team All-SLIAC honors, to provide the leadership for this year's squad. Center Jametrius Brasher returns as the Golden Eagles' leading scorer from a year ago with 13.3 points per game. He also had a team best .573 field goal percentage, 7.6 rebounds per game and 1.2 rebounds per game. DeWhon McAfee was the 2010-11 SLIAC Player of the Year and returns at guard after sitting out last season. Johnell Hardin also returns at guard and brings back 5.7 points per game and 2.2 assists per game. Gray is also hoping his backcourt will be strengthened with the addition of freshmen Brandon Goeing and Kerry Smith, both of whom were All-Region players during their respective high school careers.

Eureka College went 15-11 overall and 11-5 in the SLIAC last season. They were chosen to finish second by the league coaches, tallying 50 points in the pre-season poll and receiving one first place vote. The Red Devils return two First Team All-SLIAC players in the frontcourt in seniors Dustin Fritsch and Mark Lessen. Fritsch, a forward, led the SLIAC overall with an average of 17.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game last season. Lessen, a center, averaged 14.8 points per game and had a conference-best 2.2 blocks per game and a .607 field goal percentage. He also ranked second with 8.3 rebounds per game. Honorable Mention All-SLIAC honoree, Jordan Kindred, also returns for Eureka. Kindred rounded out the top three scorers for the Red Devils last season with 12.2 points per game, while also dishing out a team and conference-best 5.2 assists per game.

Defending SLIAC Tournament Champion, Westminster, received two first place votes and was ranked third in the coaches' poll with a total of 49 points. The Blue Jays, who went 17-11 overall and 11-5 in the SLIAC last season, return two All-Conference players in senior Joe Prophet and sophomore Verdis Lee Jr. Prophet, a forward, was named Second Team All-Conference in 2011-12 and led Westminster with 14.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, despite playing in only 15 games last season. Lee, a guard, averaged 13.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game. Head coach Matt Mitchell will also look to junior transfers Jordan Jones and Robbie Burroughs to provide depth in the backcourt.

MacMurray College and Webster University were separated by just one point in fourth and fifth respectively in the pre-season coaches' poll. The Highlanders, who posted a 10-6 conference record and 14-13 overall, received 46 total points. Head coach Todd Creal returns eight players that saw significant minutes last season and helped lead MacMurray to a runner-up finish in the 2012 SLIAC Men's Basketball Tournament. Clayton Whitlock, the 2012 SLIAC Newcomer of the Year, is the leading returner and had 12.1 points per game, while also posting a .563 field goal percentage, 4.4 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game. Junior forward Brady Slagle, who was Honorable Mention All-SLIAC last year, also returns and was the Highlanders second-leading scorer with 11.4 points per game. Slagle also posted a team-high 7.4 rebounds per game and had 2.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game as well.

Webster captured the regular season conference title last season with a 13-3 record in SLIAC play. Seniors Roman Robinson (12.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and Cody Bradfisch (11.3 ppg, .390 3-pt%) return for the Gorloks and will look to lead them to another conference title in 2012-13. Robinson earned First Team All-SLIAC last season, while Bradfisch was named Honorable Mention All-SLIAC. Also returning is junior Hollis Edwards, who posted a .400 three-point field goal percentage and was named to the SLIAC All-Defensive Team.

Greenville College and Fontbonne University received 38 and 28 points respectively to place sixth and seventh in the pre-season poll. Greenville graduated a majority of their scoring from last year's squad and will look to seniors Jordan Smith and Ben Giertz to pick up the slack. Smith scored 9.4 points per game and averaged 19.8 minutes in ony 13 games played. Giertz averaged 23.0 minutes in 24 games played, including 23 starts, and brings back 7.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. Fontbonne will have a strong backcourt with the return of sophomore point guard Greg Gentry (9.5 ppg, 2.4 apg, 1.1 spg) and guard Andrew Chism (9.9 ppg, 2.1 apg, 1.2 spg). The Griffins are also hoping for some quality minutes from newcomer Jack Stephens (6-7, Center).

Blackburn College (23 points) and Principia College (14 points) rounded out the eighth and ninth spots in the poll respectively. Senior Brandon Adams, a forward, is the top returner for Blackburn and recorded 8.9 points per game, 6.6 rebounds per game and a .527 field goal percentage. Junior Kenny Sydness is the top returner for Principia and brings back an average of 12.8 points per game, 5.2 rebounds per game, 56 assists, 32 steals and 21 blocks.

2012-13 SLIAC Men's Basketball
Pre-Season Coaches' Poll
1 - Spalding (4)
2 - Eureka (1)
3 - Westminster (2)
4 - MacMurray
5 - Webster
6 - Greenville (1)
7 - Fontbonne
8 - Blackburn
9 - Principia