BELLEVILLE, Ill. - Webster University collected one first place vote and was tabbed to finish third in the Preseason St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Coaches' Poll that was released Thursday afternoon.
The Gorloks, who went 14-13 overall and tied for third in the SLIAC standing with a 10-8 league record, earned 62 points in the preseason poll voted on by the league's 10 head coaches and the head coaches couldn't vote for their own teams.
Webster comes into the 2018-19 season with three returning starters and nine lettermen back from last season's squad that just missed qualifying for the SLIAC Tournament as they tied for third in the league standings with both Blackburn and Westminster, but lost out on a tiebreaker for a spot in the league tournament.
Three-time defending SLIAC regular season champion Greenville was tabbed to repeat as the conference champion in 2018-19 as the Panthers earned five of 10 first place votes and a total of 75 points. Westminster, who tied for third in the league standing a season ago, was selected second in the poll as the Blue Jays earned three first place votes and 74 points. Webster was just 12 points behind Westminster and was tabbed third.
Behind Greenville, Westminster and Webster in the preseason poll, the league's coaches tabbed Blackburn fourth as the Beavers earned the final first place vote and received 51 points, while Eureka earned 45 points and was tabbed fifth and Spalding was selected sixth as the Golden Eagles earned 41 points.
Principia was selected seventh as they received 37 points and the Panthers were followed by Fontbonne, who was tabbed eighth with 28 points, while MacMurray (22 points) and Iowa Wesleyan (15 points) were selected to finish ninth and 10th respectively.
Chris Bunch, who is entering his 17th season at the helm of the Gorloks men's basketball program, welcomes back an experienced team in 2018-19 as among the top returners for the Gorloks is sophomore forward
Nigel Wilcox (Alpharetta, Ga./Centennial), who was named the SLIAC Newcomer of the Year and a Second-Team All-SLIAC selection in 20-17-18 after averaging 13.9 points and 8.3 rebounds per game and leading the league in blocked shots with 58. The 58 blocks were tied for seventh most in Webster's single season history.
In addition to Wilcox, who was also named to the SLIAC All-Defensive Team, the other returning starters for the Gorloks are junior guard
Josh Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton) and junior forward
Enrique Tankins (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland). Johnson averaged 13.5 points and 4.0 assists per game and shot 36 percent from the 3-point line and was eighth in the league in free throw shooting at 80.2 percent, while Tankins, who missed the final six games of last season due to injury, averaged 9.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game and shot 45 percent from the field and had a 2.1 assist/turnover ratio.
"We have much more experience coming into this season, so hopefully, that will translate into improvements in our success this year," said Bunch about his 2018-19 team.
Along with welcoming back nine lettermen from last season's team, Bunch has brought in nine newcomers, including three transfers and six freshmen. The transfers this season are junior guard/forward
Jordan Clay (St. Louis, Mo../Vashon), who comes to Webster from Blackburn College, where he averaged 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game last season, junior guard
Aron Hopp (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln Community), who is a transfer from Lincoln College and sophomore forward
Ethan Hughes (Union, Mo./Union), who is a transfer from Park University.
The SLIAC Men's Basketball season ends with the SLIAC Tournament on Feb. 22-23 at the home site of the regular season champion. The Gorloks, who opened practice for the 2018-19 season on Oct. 15, begins its 34th season of men's hoops on Nov. 8 with a 7 p.m. game in Jacksonville, Ill., against Illinois College and Webster will open the home portion of its schedule on Wednesday, Nov. 15 against Washington University in St. Louis at 7 p.m. inside Grant Gymnasium.
