INDIANAPOLIS – The Bellarmine University, Drury University and Maryville University men’s basketball programs have been selected to win the East, West and Central Divisions, respectively, for the upcoming 2017-18 Great Lakes Valley Conference season, it was announced by the Conference office Thursday. The annual GLVC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll was voted on by the league coaches and ranks the top five teams in each of the conference’s three divisions. Twelve of the 15 league schools earned at least one first-place vote.
The GLVC regular season will feature a newly adopted three-division format with the familiar East and West Divisions, along with the additional Central Division. The top-eight teams with the most points derived from the new GLVC Point Rating System at the end of the regular season will earn a berth to the GLVC Basketball Championship Tournament on March 1-4 at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Illinois, on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Despite earning 13 first-place votes, Bellarmine (32-4, 17-1 GLVC in 2016-17) totaled 54 points in the top spot, but is separated by three points by second-place University of Indianapolis (16-12, 12-6), five away from Lewis University (19-13, 11-7), and six markers ahead of fourth-place University of Southern Indiana (25-5, 15-3). The University of Wisconsin-Parkside was picked to finish fifth. Led by head coach Scott Davenport, Bellarmine is a consensus top-10 team in the national preseason rankings, having been listed at No. 3 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and Basketball Times, No. 4 by Street & Smith’s, and No. 6 by Division II Bulletin. Junior forward Adam Eberhard has also been recognized in the preseason as a Super 16 Selection by Division II Bulletin and a preseason All-American by Basketball Times and Street & Smith’s.
In the Central Division, Maryville (9-21, 3-15) took the top spot with 56 points and six first-place votes. The Saints, who finished last in the eight-team West Division last year, will be under the guidance of first-year head coach Marc Stricker, who spent the 2016-17 season at Oral Roberts University. Prior to his stint at Oral Roberts, Stricker worked at Eastern Illinois and was previously a two-year assistant at Maryville as well.
The University of Missouri-St. Louis (11-18, 5-13) earned a close second with 53 points and three first-place markers, while University of Illinois Springfield (9-18, 4-14) is slated third with 43 points and three first-place votes. The other two programs in the Central – Quincy University (25-7, 14-4) and McKendree University (9-17, 3-15) – picked up the remaining first-place votes. The Hawks, who are set to reload under first-year head coach Ryan Hellenthal, took home 42 points in fourth, and McKendree was fifth with 26.
Drury earned first-place honors in the West with 60 points and seven first-place votes. Last year the Panthers finished third in the eight-team West with a 10-8 mark and an 18-10 record overall. Head coach Steve Hesser, who enters his 14
th season in Springfield 19 wins shy of 300 for his career, guided eighth-seeded Drury to its eighth straight GLVC Championship Tournament appearance last year.
Truman State University (22-10, 12-6) was picked second with 56 points and five first-place markers, followed by Rockhurst University (13-13, 8-10) in third with 47 points and a pair of first-place votes. Missouri S&T (12-14, 6-12) was ranked fourth with 29 points, followed by William Jewell College (9-17, 5-13) in fifth with 28 points and the remaining first-place vote.
The 2017-18 GLVC men’s basketball season officially opens this weekend with Southern Indiana opening against Augustana on Friday and Kentucky Wesleyan on Saturday in the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. The rest of the GLVC programs will open play next weekend.
The complete 2017-18 GLVC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll follows:
| 2017-18 Men's Basketball East Division Preseason Poll |
| East |
Team |
Points (1st) |
|
| 1. |
Bellarmine |
54 (13) |
|
| 2. |
Indianapolis |
51 (1) |
|
| 3. |
Lewis |
49 |
|
| 4. |
Southern Indiana |
48 |
|
| 5. |
UW-Parkside* |
21 (1) |
|
| Central |
Team |
Points (1st) |
| 1. |
Maryville |
56 (6) |
| 2. |
Missouri-St. Louis |
53 (3) |
| 3. |
Illinois Springfield |
43 (3) |
| 4. |
Quincy |
42 (2) |
| 5. |
McKendree |
26 (1) |
| West |
Team |
Points (1st) |
| 1. |
Drury |
60 (7) |
| 2. |
Truman State |
56 (5) |
| 3. |
Rockhurst |
47 (2) |
| 4. |
Missouri S&T |
29 |
| 5. |
William Jewell |
28 (1) |
*Ineligible to win division title and appear in GLVC/NCAA postseason (GLVC sanctions)