2018-19 PRESEASON ALL-PACWEST TEAM

2018-19 PacWest Men's Basketball Poll
1.	Point Loma (10)	142
2.	Azusa Pacific (2)	122
3.	Concordia	118
4.	Chaminade	104
5.	Hawai`i Pacific	99
6.	Academy of Art	78
7.	Biola	70
8.	Dominican	53
9.	Hawai`i Hilo	51
10.	Holy Names	47
11.	Fresno Pacific	36
12.	Notre Dame de Namur	16
First-place votes in parenthesis

IRVINE, Calif. - Point Loma is the PacWest preseason favorite for 2018-19, as voted by the coaches as the Sea Lions look to win their first PacWest title. Hawai`i Pacific is picked fifth in the poll and Jonathan Janssen was picked as the PacWest Preseason Player of the Year before the race begins for the six spots in the PacWest Championships, hosted by Dominican on March 7-9.

Point Loma is coming off its first 20-win season since 2014-15 and is returning four starters from the squad that reached the NCAA West Regional. The PacWest's all-time leader in assists, Josh Rodriguez, is one of the four returning starters and is on the Preseason All-PacWest team. The Sea Lions also return Tanner Nelson, Sterling Somers and Ziggy Satterthwaite.

In his first year at Point Loma, Preston Beverly came off the bench to lead the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 15.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. He is a Preseason All-PacWest selection along with his new teammate Daulton Hommes, who is a transfer from Western Washington. In his two years with the Vikings, Hommes was named to the All-GNAC team, including first-team honors as a sophomore last year. Point Loma received 10 of the 12 first-place votes.

Azusa Pacific is picked second in the preseason poll with two first-place votes. The Cougars earned a 21-11 record in the 2017-18 season as they advanced to the NCAA West Regional semifinals. Azusa Pacific returns three of last year's starters, including Darien McClain, who is a Preseason All-PacWest selection.

McClain was the Cougars' leading scorer last year with 14.6 points per game, making a team-high 73 three-point attempts. Will Ferris and Selom Mawugbe are also back for the Cougars' starting lineup. Mawugbe registered a PacWest single-season record 89 blocks last season, including 11 blocks in the regular-season finale as part of a triple-double.

Concordia reached the PacWest semifinals last year and is picked third in the preseason poll. The Eagles had a 20-11 record last year, and they return three starters. Brian Chambers was named to the Preseason All-PacWest team after averaging 13.9 points and 1.9 steals per game. Concordia also returns Mike Mellinger and Cameron English from last year's starting lineup.

Chaminade advanced to the PacWest Tournament last year and is picked to finish fourth this year. Erik Scheive is the Silverswords' only returning starter. The 6-foot-10 senior averaged 13.0 points per game and made 42.5 percent of shots from beyond the arc. This year, the Silverswords will host the PacWest/GNAC Challenge to start the season as the two men's basketball programs from Alaska travel to Honolulu.

Hawai`i Pacific won its first PacWest men's basketball title in the 2016-17 season and is picked fifth in the preseason poll. As the defending champions last year, the Sharks went 15-13. This year, they are led by PacWest Preseason Player of the Year Jonathan Janssen, who averaged 13.6 points and 7.0 rebounds last year. The 6-foot-9 senior led the Sharks in both blocks and three-point percentage last year.

After narrowly missing qualification for the PacWest Championships last year, Academy of Art is picked to finish sixth this season. The Urban Knights return three starters as they look to qualify for the PacWest Tournament for the first time in program history. They will begin the season in the SF State Tipoff Classic on November 9.

Biola is picked to finish seventh in its last year of transition to NCAA Division II. Dominican will host the PacWest Championships and is picked eighth in the preseason poll. The Penguins return two starters and added Ryan Hiepler, who is a transfer from NCAA Division I Liberty. Hawai`i Hilo is picked to finish ninth ahead of Holy Names, Fresno Pacific and Notre Dame de Namur.

Azusa Pacific will get an early start to the 2018-19 season with the Division II Tip Off Classic in Orange, Calif. beginning on November 2. The rest of the PacWest will begin the season on November 9 with 11 teams in action. That afternoon, Fresno Pacific will take on the GNAC preseason favorite Saint Martin's in San Diego. Then on Saturday, Point Loma will get its chance to take on the Saints.

The 2018-19 PacWest season will begin on November 29 with six games taking place, including Point Loma making a trip to Academy of Art. The PacWest Championships will be in San Rafael, Calif. as the tournament moves to the Bay Area for the first time. The top six teams in the conference will compete for the automatic bid into the NCAA West Regional with the conference tournament starting on March 7.

2018-19 PRESEASON ALL-PACWEST MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM
Name	School	Pos.	Yr.	Hometown/Previous School
Preston Beverly	Point Loma	F	Sr.	Wildomar, Calif. / Elsinore
Brian Chambers	Concordia	G	Sr.	Long Beach, Calif. / Citrus College
Daulton Hommes	Point Loma	F	Jr.	Lynden, Wash. / Western Washington
Jonathan Janssen	Hawai'i Pacific	F	Sr.	Noosa Heads, Aus. / Mountain Creek St.
Darien McClain	Azusa Pacific	G	Sr.	O'Fallon, Ill. / San Diego CC
Josh Rodriguez	Point Loma	G	Sr.	La Habra, Calif. / Sonora