Ponies Place Two On Preseason All-WAC List
Oct 16 | Men's Basketball
DENVER -- The Western Athletic Conference announced its men?s basketball preseason poll and All-WAC teams as voted on by the 10 head coaches in the league on Tuesday, Oct. 16, and the SMU Mustangs placed two players on the preseason list.
Senior guard Damon Hancock was a first-team All-WAC selection and junior swingman Quinton Ross was tabbed for second-team honors.
Fresno State senior center Melvin Ely was named preseason Player of the Year and joins Hancock on the first team along with FSU junior forward Chris Jefferies, Hawaii senior guard Predrag Savovic and Tulsa junior forward Kevin Johnson.
Hancock, a Lancaster, Texas, native, was tabbed to another preseason All-WAC first team earlier this year when Basketball Times afforded him the honor. The 6-4 guard is the conference's second-leading returning scorer, having netted 16.7 ppg last year while dishing out 3.3 apg.
Joining SMU's Ross as second-team selections are UTEP's Brian Stewart and Eugene Costello, Abe Jackson of Boise State and Tulsa's Dante Swanson.
The 6-6 Ross, from Dallas, returns after averaging 14.2 points and 5.1 boards a year ago and is the WAC's sixth-leading returning scorer.
The duo of Hancock and Ross combine to form the conference's top returning scoring tandem.
As a team, the Ponies were picked to repeat their fifth-place finish in the WAC, with 2001 league champion Fresno State tabbed to return to the top.
Fresno State, the defending regular season champions, received nine first place votes and 81 points. Defending tournament champion Hawaii was second with 66 points and the other first place vote. Tulsa was third with 63 points followed closely by UTEP with 62. In fifth was SMU with 47 points followed by Louisiana Tech (40), San Jose State (30), Nevada (22), Rice (21) and Boise State (18).
Fans can check out the 2001-02 SMU Mustangs on Wednesday, Oct. 17, when the Ponies hold "Fan Jam" at 7 p.m. at Moody Coliseum.
2001-02 Preseason Men?s Basketball Coaches Poll Rank Teams (1st Place Votes) Points 1. Fresno State (9) 81 2. Hawaii (1) 66 3. Tulsa 63 4. UTEP 62 5. SMU 47 6. Louisiana Tech 40 7. San Jose State 30 8. Nevada 22 9. Rice 21 10. Boise State 18 Preseason All-WAC Teams First Team Melvin Ely, Sr., C, Fresno St. Predrag Savovic, Sr., G/F, UH Chris Jefferies, Jr., F, Fresno St. Damon Hancock, Sr., G, SMU Kevin Johnson, Jr., F, Tulsa Second Team Brian Stewart, Sr., C, UTEP Abe Jackson, Sr., F, Boise St. Quinton Ross, Jr., G/F, SMU Eugene Costello, Sr., G, UTEP Dante Swanson, Jr., G, Tulsa Player of the Year: Melvin Ely, Fresno State
