Ponies Picked Fifth By WAC Coaches
Nov 5 | Men's Basketball
DENVER (WAC) - 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 today, picking SMU to finish fifth and tabbing senior Quinton Ross as a first-team All-WAC performer.
Tulsa, last year?s regular season co-champions, received seven first place votes and 79 points to edge out Hawaii. Hawaii earned two first place votes and 71 points. The Rainbow Warriors won the Williams WAC Tournament last year and tied Tulsa in the regular season with a 15-3 record. Both Tulsa and Hawaii competed in the NCAA Tournament last season. Louisiana Tech, an NIT participant with a 22-10 record last year, was third with 63 points followed by Nevada with 56. Tying for fifth place with 42 points were Fresno State and SMU. In seventh was Rice with 38 points followed by UTEP (22), San Jose State (21) and Boise State (16)
The coaches also voted on a first and second All-WAC team. Hawaii junior guard/forward Carl English was voted the preseason Player of the Year. He is joined on the first team by Ross, Tulsa teammates Kevin Johnson and Dante Swanson, and Louisiana Tech?s Antonio Meeking. Everyone on the team except for Meeking was a second-team all-WAC selection at the end of last season. English averaged 15.5 points and 5.1 rebounds for the Rainbow Warriors (27-6) last year. Ross is the WAC?s leading returning scorer after putting up 17.4 points per game to go along with 6.5 rebounds per contest last year. Johnson led the Hurricane (27-7) in scoring with 14.5 points while Swanson averaged 11.1 per contest and led the nation in three-point shooting (.490). Meeking averaged 11.2 points and 6.8 rebounds as the Bulldogs finished third in the WAC in their first season in the league.
The second team is comprised of Terrance Green and Kirk Snyder (Nevada), Michael Harris (Rice), Antonio Reed (Tulsa), and Brandon Hawkins (San Jose State).
The 2002-03 season begins Nov. 18 when Boise State hosts Eastern Illinois in the Preseason NIT. Louisiana Tech is also competing in the preseason NIT and travels to Florida on Nov. 19. SMU opens its preseason slate on Saturday, Nov. 9, when they host Sport Tours.
2002-03 Preseason Men?s Basketball Coaches Poll Rank Teams (1st Place Votes) Points 1. Tulsa (7) 79 2. Hawaii (2) 71 3. Louisiana Tech 63 4. Nevada 56 5. Fresno State (1) 42 SMU 42 7. Rice 38 8. UTEP 22 9. San Jose State 21 10. Boise State 16 Preseason All-WAC Teams First Team Carl English, Jr., G/F, Hawaii Kevin Johnson, Sr., F, Tulsa Quinton Ross, Sr., G/F, SMU Dante Swanson, Sr., G, Tulsa Antonio Meeking, Sr., F, Louisiana Tech Second Team Terrance Green, Sr., G, Nevada Michael Harris, So., F, Rice Antonio Reed, Sr., G, Tulsa Brandon Hawkins, Sr., G, San Jose State Kirk Snyder, So., F, Nevada Player of the Year: Carl English, Hawaii
