Tarleton men picked first, women fifth in LSC preseason poll

Tarleton feature — The Tarleton State Texans, shown having fun during recent Midnight Madness festivities at Wisdom Gym, are picked first in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll. || TheFlashToday.com photo by BRAD KEITH

By BRAD KEITH

TheFlashToday.com NEWS & SPORTS – FREE & LOCAL

(October 28, 2015) — Tarleton State is the top pick in the upcoming Lone Star Conference men’s basketball race, according the official league preseason poll released Tuesday.

The Texans won the LSC regular season championship last season on their way a third South Central Region championship and a second appearance in the national semifinals.

Tarleton returns three starters in point guard Michael Hardge and forwards Nosa Ebomwonyi and EJ Reed. The Texans also have a slew of reserves returning and welcomed a recruiting class includes a pair of Division I transfers and a junior college All-American.

Tarleton was picked first on 19 of 22 ballots after going 12-2 in league play last season. The Texans finished with a senior college era school record 31 wins, pushing the victory total to 589 at Tarleton for veteran Lonn Reisman, the winningest active college coach in Texas.

Tarleton is No. 1 nationally in preseason polls conducted by The Sporting News and Hero Sports, No. 2 according to the National Association of Basketball Coaches and No. 3 says the Division II Bulletin.

Midwestern State claimed the remaining three first place votes and is picked second in the LSC poll. Angelo State is third, Texas A&M-Commerce fourth and West Texas A&M fifth. Rounding out the eight-team poll are Cameron, Texas A&M-Kingsville and Eastern New Mexico.

Bretson McNeil received 15 of the 22 votes to earn presesaon player of the year prestige in the LSC. Tarleton point guard Michael Hardge also received votes.

Tarleton is tabbed fifth in the LSC women’s poll, following top pick West Texas A&M, Texas Woman’s, Midwestern State and Cameron. Behind the TexAnns are Texas A&M-Commerce, Angelo State, Eastern New Mexico and Texas A&M-Kingsville.

West Texas A&M received 23 of 25 first-place nods, with the other top votes going to Texas Woman’s and Cameron. WTAMU star Sasha Watson is the preseason player of the year, receiving 19 votes.

The TexAnns were 17-10 last season including 9-7 in LSC play, finishing fourth. Tarleton shook up its lineup several times this season, but the returning starters from the end of the year are guards Raven McGrath and Bailey Wipff and forward Ikpeaku Iwobi.