IRVINE, Calif. – After finishing runner-up last year, Concordia was picked by the PacWest head coaches as the favorite to win the 2019-20 regular season title with eight of the 12 first-place votes. Azusa Pacific’s Selom Mawugbe was voted as the Preseason PacWest Player of the Year after earning Defensive Player of the Year last season.

2019-20 PACWEST PRESEASON  POLL
	TEAM	POINTS	2018-19 RECORD
1.	Concordia (8)	137	18-4
2.	Azusa Pacific (3)	131	16-6
3.	Chaminade (1)	121	16-6
4.	Point Loma	113	20-2
5.	Biola	88	11-11
6.	Fresno Pacific	72	9-13
7.	Academy of Art	64	11-11
8.	Hawai`i Hilo	63	10-12
9.	Holy Names	50	11-11
10.	Hawai`i Pacific	45	4-18
11.	Dominican	39	4-18
12.	NDNU	13	2-20
First-place votes in parenthesis

After Concordia, Azusa Pacific is second in the preseason poll followed by Chaminade. Defending PacWest champion Point Loma is picked fourth, while Biola and Fresno Pacific round out the top six teams. There will be four teams this season led by first-year head coaches.
 
Concordia returns three players from its starting lineup last season and added four transfers to this year’s roster. Robert McCoy is on the Preseason All-PacWest team as a transfer from Portland State, and he is one of three transfers from NCAA Division I schools, joining Jalen Sanders and Zach Buscher. McCoy averaged 7.4 points and 5.8 rebounds as a starter for Portland State, while Sanders broke Northern Colorado’s single-season blocks record as a freshman with 52. Andre Green also transferred to Concordia from Holy Names, where he helped the Hawks reach their first PacWest tournament in program history.
 
The Eagles went 18-4 in conference play last year and return the PacWest Freshman of the Year Kayle Knuckles, who averaged 8.3 points per game last year. Jamel White also returns after recording 83 assists and 38 steals as well as Robert Taylor, who was the team’s second leading scorer with 9.2 points and 4.1 rebounds. Concordia is going for its first PacWest title, while the team has tied for first place once in the past.
 
Azusa Pacific received three first-place votes as the Cougars begin a new era under head coach Peter Bond. The Cougars return three starters for the 2019-20 season after going 16-6 last year and finishing in the PacWest semifinals. Mawugbe is coming off a record-breaking season as the most accomplished shot-blocker in PacWest history. He also averaged 11.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. Azusa Pacific added Brennan Rymer to the roster as a transfer from Alaska Anchorage, where he recorded 9.6 points and 4.8 assists per game.
 
Chaminade is picked third in the PacWest poll and received one first-place vote. The Silverswords return Tyler Cartaino, who was voted onto the Preseason All-PacWest team after earning selection as the PacWest Male Student-Athlete of the Year across all sports. Chaminade also added two NCAA Division I transfers with Kendall Small from University of the Pacific and Kevin Kremer, who is a redshirt-freshman from Utah.
 
Point Loma will have a new look in 2019-20 after the Sea Lions reached the national championship game last year. Matt Logie was named the new head coach, and the Sea Lions will have an entirely starting lineup as they try to defend their conference title. Sterling Somers was Point Loma’s sixth man during the memorable postseason run and he is on this year’s Preseason All-PacWest team.
 
Biola is eligible to advance to the postseason for the first time after completing the transition to NCAA Division II this summer. The Eagles finished in a tie for fifth place in the PacWest standings last year and are picked to take fifth place this year. Biola returns Preseason All-PacWest selection Michael Bagatourian, who had 12.1 points and 4.0 rebounds per game last season. Dave Holmquist, in his 40^th season as a coach, added transfers Solomon Ruddell from UC Irvine and Marquise Mosley from California Baptist to the Eagles’ lineup.
 
Fresno Pacific is looking to reach its first PacWest Tournament this season. What was the youngest team in the PacWest two years ago has matured into a team that is ready to make a move up the conference standings with four juniors returning to the starting lineup that now have two years playing together under their belts. Aamondae Coleman was named to the Preseason All-PacWest team after being an all-conference honorable mention last season.
 
Academy of Art reached the PacWest Tournament last year as the No. 5 seed and is picked seventh in the preseason poll with Victor Ruiz de Carranza and Stefan Milivojevic both back in the starting lineup. Hawai`i Hilo was voted eighth in the poll and is followed by Holy Names and Hawai`i Pacific. Dominican and Notre Dame de Namur round out the poll.
 
The 2019-20 season will get an early start for Concordia on November 1 as the Eagles compete in the D2CCA Division II Top Off Classic in Orange, California, against three out-of-region opponents. The season starts for the rest of the PacWest on Friday, November 8. That day, Azusa Pacific will play in Seattle against Cal Poly Pomona, which is picked second in the CCAA preseason poll. On November 19, Point Loma will face CCAA preseason favorite UC San Diego. Concordia and Azusa Pacific will both play against GNAC preseason favorite Western Washington in Irvine on the weekend of November 15 and 16.
 
The conference season begins on Monday, December 2 with Azusa Pacific visiting Hawai`i Hilo. Concordia and Point Loma will meet each other for the first time in San Diego on January 18. The 2020 PacWest Championships will be held at Azusa Pacific University’s Felix Event Center for the first time since 2013. The top six teams will qualify for the tournament that will be played on March 5-7.
 

2019-20 PRESEASON ALL-PACWEST MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM
Name	School	Pos.	Yr.	Hometown/Previous School
Michael Bagatourian	Biola	G	Jr.	Irvine, Calif./Crean Lutheran
Tyler Cartaino	Chaminade	G	Sr.	Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury
Aamondae Coleman	Fresno Pacific	F	Jr.	Las Vegas/Desert Oasis
Selom Mawugbe	Azusa Pacific	F	Sr.	Canyon County, Calif./Canyon
Robert McCoy	Concordia	F	Sr.	Chicago/Portland State
Sterling Somers	Point Loma	F	Sr.	Lynden, Wash./Lynden