Warriors picked fourth in preseason poll
The University of Hawai’i basketball team is picked to finish fourth in the Big West Conference Preseason Poll, which was released on Thursday.
This year’s preseason poll featured voting from 28 media members. The Big West does not conduct a preseason poll for its men’s basketball coaches.
The Rainbow Warriors finished 17-13 overall and tied for fourth place at 8-8 in the Big West last season. They return eight players from last season, including starting forward Samuta Avea and key contributors Bernardo da Silva and Justin Webster.
Eran Ganot returns for his sixth season as head coach of the Warriors. Seven newcomers have been added to the roster, including senior transfers Casdon Jardine (Utah Valley) and James Jean-Marie (San Diego).
Defending conference champion UC Irvine is picked first in the preseason poll. The Anteaters received 18 of the 28 first-place votes. UC Santa Barbara received nine first-place votes to finish second in the poll.
UC Davis received one first-place vote and is picked third in the poll. Here is the complete poll:
UC Irvine (18 first-place votes) 270 points
UC Santa Barbara (9) 254
UC Davis (1) 182
Hawai’i 165
UC Riverside 160
Long Beach State 141
CSU Bakersfield 117
CSUN 102
Cal State Fullerton 95
Cal Poly 54
Two teams have been added to the Big West for the upcoming season – CSU Bakersfield and UC San Diego. UCSD was not included in the poll because it is not eligible to win the conference championship this season due to classification rules affiliated with the transition from NCAA Division II.
The Big West Preseason All-Conference Team was also announced on Wednesday. Only the top six players were selected (see below). There was no mention of Hawai’i players receiving any votes.
Arinze Chidom (UC Riverside), 6-9, 240, Sr., F
Chance Hunter (Long Beach State), 6-6, 190, Jr., G
Ezra Manjon (UC Davis), 5-11, 170, So., G
JaQuori McLaughlin (UC Santa Barbara), 6-4, 190, Sr., G
Amadou Sow (UC Santa Barbara), 6-9, 235, Jr., G
Collin Welp (UC Irvine), 6-9, 225, Jr., F
