Hattiesburg, Miss. - The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference announced today the results of the 2008-2009 Men's and Women’s Basketball Pre-Season Poll as selected by the league's coaches.
Coming off of their best season in school history, the LSUS men’s basketball team has been picked again to repeat as Gulf Coast Athletic Conference champions, receiving nine of the ten possible first-place votes. LSUS finished the 2007-08 season with a 31-3 overall record, and their third GCAC regular season title in five years. The Pilots also captured their third straight GCAC tournament championship in 2008, while advancing to the NAIA National Tournament for the fourth consecutive year.
LSUS returns just one starter off of last year’s team, but several other players who logged significant minutes from off the bench also return, in addition to a six-man recruiting class headlined by Centenary College transfer Tyrone Hamilton.
The LSUS Lady Pilots have been selected to finish fifth in the ten-team league, following their fourth-straight season with 13 wins. The Lady Pilots finished the 2007-2008 season tied for fifth place in the GCAC standings with a 9-9 overall conference mark.
The Lady Pilots return eight letter winners off of last year’s squad, including senior posts Janai Sells and Quan Joseph. Sells was the team’s second leading scorer and rebounder last season with 9.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, while Joseph averaged 7.2 points and 5.6 rebounds for the Lady Pilots. Sophomore Whitney Hollins, who led the Lady Pilots in three-point shooting last season, also returns for her second season in a Lady Pilots uniform.
The Pilots and Lady Pilots will both open the regular season at home on November 6 versus Paul Quinn College.
Men's Basketball Pre-season Poll Results
| 1. |
LSUS (9) |
81 |
| 2. |
Xavier University (1) |
71 |
| 3. |
Tougaloo College |
54 |
| 4. |
University of Mobile |
52 |
| 5. |
Spring Hill College |
46 |
| 6. |
William Carey University |
41 |
| 7. |
Loyola University |
33 |
| 8. |
Belhaven College |
30 |
| 9. |
Dillard University |
27 |
| 10. |
SUNO |
15 |
Women's Basketball Pre-season Poll Results
| 1. |
Xavier University (8) |
80 |
| 2. |
Loyola University |
69 |
| 3. |
William Carey University (2) |
66 |
| 4. |
University of Mobile |
48 |
| 5. |
LSUS |
41 |
| 6. |
SUNO |
40 |
| 7. |
Dillard University |
37 |
| 8. |
Belhaven College |
32 |
| 9. |
Spring Hill College |
23 |
| 10. |
Tougaloo College |
14 |
First place votes in parenthesis.
