Mustangs Ranked No. 53 by Basketball News
Sep 22 | Men's Basketball
The SMU men's basketball team continues to receive pre-season recognition as Basketball News ranks the Mustangs No. 53 in their 2000-01 College Basketball Preview.
The magazine also ranks senior G Jeryl Sasser a preseason third-team All-American, first-team All-Western Athletic Conference and WAC Player of the Year. Senior G/F Willie Davis is also touted as a second-team All-WAC selection according to Basketball News.
Sasser and Davis each earned NABC District 9 honors a year ago and led the team in scoring with 17.3 and 16.5 points per game respectively. Davis led the Mustangs with 9.3 rebounds and Sasser was second with 8.3 boards per game.
SMU and Tulsa (No. 47) are the only two Western Athletic Conference members to crack the magazine's preseason top-64 poll, and are expected to finish second and first respectively in the WAC race.
The Mustangs are coming off their best season under sixth-year head coach Mike Dement, the NABC District 9 Coach of the Year. SMU posted a 21-9 mark, including a 9-5 WAC record in 1999-2000, and advanced to the postseason NIT for the second time in school history (last in 1986) - their 12th overall appearance in the postseason (10 NCAA, two NIT). SMU returns a total of 10 letterwinners and four starters in 2000-01, and have added two All-State recruits from Georgia - Voc Atkins (6-3, 190, G) and Kris Lowe (6-6, 208, G/F).
