| 2008-09 Men's Basketball Coaches Pre-Season
Poll:
|
| School
| (1st)
| Pts.
| 2007-08 All
| 2007-08 NWC
|
| Puget Sound (Wash.)
| (5)
| 80
| 19-7
| 11-5
|
| Whitworth (Wash.)
| (3)
| 74
| 21-7
| 12-4
|
| Willamette (Ore.)
|
| 55
| 11-15
| 9-7
|
| Pacific (Ore.)
|
| 50
| 11-14
| 9-7
|
| Lewis & Clark (Ore.)
|
| 46
| 15-9
| 9-7
|
| Linfield (Ore.)
|
| 41
| 14-11
| 9-7
|
| Whitman (Wash.)
| (1)
| 29
| 5-19
| 1-15
|
| Pacific Lutheran (Wash.)
|
| 26
| 11-13
| 7-9
|
| George Fox (Ore.)
|
| 13
| 9-16
| 5-11
|
(First-place votes in parenthesis. Points awarded on
10-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis).
Puget Sound Edges Whitworth in 2008-09 NWC Poll
Spokane, Wash. - Two returning First Team All-Northwest
Conference honorees are expected to lead Puget Sound to the 2008-09
men's basketball championship, knocking off two-time defending
champion Whitworth in the process.
The Loggers picked up five first place votes and 80 points in
the poll. UPS returns four starters, including First Team
All-NWC guard Antwan Williams and First Team all-conference
forward Jason Foster, from a squad that finished 19-7 last season
and 11-5 in the NWC.
Whitworth is second in the poll with three first place votes and
74 points. The Pirates must move forward without 2008 NWC
Player of the Year Ryan Symes and First Team All-NWC honoree Colin
Willemsen, but will look to Cousy Award nominee Ross Nakamura for
leadership.
The next four spots in the poll are filled by teams that shared
third place in the final 2008 NWC standings. Willamette,
which enjoyed the advantage of the tiebreakers to advance to the
NWC playoffs last season, is third in the poll with 55
points. The Bearcats return Second Team All-NWC post Kyler
McClary.
Pacific (Ore.) (50 points) is fourth in the poll, just ahead of
Lewis & Clark (46). The Boxers welcome back First Team All-NWC
guard Gerold Howe, and 2007 All-NWC forward Ross Bartlett, who was
injured last season. Lewis & Clark returns senior
starters David Berggren (guard) and Tyson Pappenfus (post).
Linfield is sixth in the poll with 41 points. The
Wildcats return sophomore center K.C. Wiser, who was the only
underclassman to earn either First or Second Team All-NWC honors
last season, as part of the Second Team.
Whitman is seventh in the poll (29) points, and picked up the
final first place vote. Senior guard Chris Faidley was a
Second Team All-NWC choice last season after leading the conference
in scoring (22.2 ppg).
Pacific Lutheran is eighth in the poll (26 points). Senior
wing Josh Dressler was the second leading scorer in the NWC last
season and returns to lead the Lutes.
Ninth place in the poll went to George Fox with 13
points. The Bruins will have to overcome the graduation of
First Team All-NWC point guard Brent Satern.
The Northwest Conference will use a conference tournament to
decide the automatic (Pool A) bid to the NCAA tournament.
The season officially gets underway on Saturday, November
15th.