Hartwick Edges Ithaca in Empire 8 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
ROCHESTER, NY – Hartwick College picked up five first place votes towards 61 total points as the Hawks return to the top of the Empire 8 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll for the second straight year. Defending champion Ithaca College sits second with 59 points and four top nods. Stevens Institute of Technology (48) finished third in the annual survey of the league’s head coaches.
The 2011-12 season saw four teams post winning records, including a pair of 20-plus game winners. Two programs made a trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament, marking the fourth straight year the Empire 8 has had multiple representation.
Ithaca earned the automatic qualifier after knocking out top seeded Hartwick and then defeating Nazareth in the Empire 8 title game for the Bombers’ first conference championship. Hartwick joined the Bombers as an at-large selection for its second consecutive trip to the big dance.
Who’s Back?
Though some of the conference’s teams will have to replace some scoring, veteran savvy and leadership due to graduation, there is a ton of talent back this year in the form of eight all-conference selections; three first-team honorees, two second-team honorees and three honorable mention picks. With so much returning talent and a new member in the league, could the conference be even more competitive from top to bottom?
Headlining the returner list is the reigning Empire 8 Player of the Year, Hartwick’s Jared Suderley. Suderley finished the season with 17.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game and was recently named to the D3hoops.com preseason All-America First Team. The Hawks tied the program record for wins (23-4) and won the Empire 8 regular season title (12-2).
The strength of Ithaca’s (14-14, 9-5) squad begins with preseason honorable mention All-America, Sean Rossi. Rossi, who averaged 9.3 assists per game in 2011-12, led the nation in assists for the third consecutive season. He added 9.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Second team all-conference Frank Mitchell also returns for the Bombers after posting team-bests of 16.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
Stevens (20-8, 10-5) guard Sheldon Jones returns to the hardwood after an all-conference first team campaign in which he led the Ducks in scoring at 18.6 points. He scored started all 28 contests, scoring 20 or more 14 times and notching double figures in every game but two.
Nazareth (18-9, 10-4) comes into the new campaign looking to make some noise at the top of the standings following an 18-9 season that ended in a 71-55 loss to Ithaca in the E8 tournament finals. The Golden Flyers return three of their four top scorers from last season in Tyshun Stephens (13.6 ppg), Brad Ford (12.8 ppg) and Phil Scaffidi (12.0 ppg).
St. John Fisher (10-15, 3-11), who suffered its first losing season since 1987 last year, will look to start a new winning streak this year, relying on a solid mix of veteran leadership and incoming talent. Seniors Jason Norsen and Justin Plata should lead the way. Norsen leads all returners in scoring and rebounding, averaging 14.6 points and 9.1 boards per game. Plata averaged 10.2 points per game and shot 36.8% (21-for-57) from beyond the arc.
Aaron Nevins, the 2011-2012 Rookie of the Year, returns to the Utica (9-16, 5-9) roster after starting 24 of 25 games. He finished with 9.0 ppg, 91 assists and 1.3 steals per contest. The Pioneers also return honorable mention forward Jeff Ward who averaged 14.7 points and 8.3 rebounds.
Alfred (15-11, 6-8) has several key components return for the 2012-13 season including a trio of starters. Mike Branche averaged 8.1 points and 5.1 boards while Sean Curran chipped in with 10.0 points off the bench.
Elmira College (1-24, 1-13) will look to make its way up the competitive Empire 8 standings after winning just one contest last year. The Soaring Eagles return 14 players from a year ago including three players who averaged double digits in points in Josh Keys (13.6 ppg), Chris Cassidy (12.3 ppg) and Dan O’Brien (12.3 ppg).
What’s New?
The 2012-23 season marks the inclusion of Houghton College as a competing Empire 8 program. The Highlanders are an NCAA provisional member and are not eligible for post-season play but will complete a full league schedule. However, games against the Highlanders will not impact conference records/standings for post-tournament seeding.
Houghton (9-17 overall) returns Chris Confair who was named the American Mideast newcomer of the year after averaging 14.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Guard Mark O’Brien finished the season with 8.3 points per game and 60 assists.
Dates to remember
All nine schools take the court for non-conference contests this weekend as the 2012-13 season officially begins. Conference play starts Tuesday, Dec. 4, and this year's playoff schedule features two semifinal matches on Friday, Feb. 22, and the championship on Saturday, Feb. 23 with the high seed hosting the tournament.
Follow Online
If you can’t make it out to the game be sure to check if Live Stats are available or better yet the game may be web streamed courtesy of EzStream. Be sure to check out the schedule of streamed events by visiting
empire8.tv.
A closer look
For more information, visit any of the participating schools' websites or go to the Empire 8 home on the Internet at
www.empire8.com. Don't forget to become a fan of the Empire 8 on
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@Empire8 on Twitter.
2012-13 Empire 8 Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
|
1. Hartwick (5 first place votes) |
61 pts |
|
2. Ithaca (4) |
59 |
|
3. Stevens |
48 |
|
4. Nazareth |
44 |
|
5. St. John Fisher |
32 |
|
6. Utica |
27 |
|
7. Alfred |
25 |
|
8. Elmira |
19 |
|
9. Houghton |
9 |