ST. LOUIS – The Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team has been selected ninth in The Sporting News' NCAA Division II Preview top 10 men's basketball poll.

The Broncos, who finished last season 25-8 and played for the national title in Springfield, Mass., earned their first preseason ranking since opening the 2005-06 season No. 15 (NABC) and 13th (Division II Bulletin).

“You can never go wrong when you're nationally recognized to begin a season,'' Broncos coach Greg Kamansky said. “We were fortunate to play well last spring and play for the national championship and this ranking is a carryover from the year before.

“It speaks well of our program to have that recognition, but as you can see, the teams that are ahead of us are quite formidable, especially when you see West Region teams like BYU Hawaii and Humboldt State in front of you.''

Bellarmine is ranked No. 1. It lost to eventual national champion Findlay in the Great Lakes Regional final.

BYU Hawaii, led by national player of the year Lucas Alves, is ranked second. Humboldt State is ranked eighth.

The Broncos open the 2009-10 season at Westmont College on Nov. 21.

The Sporting News

Division II Men's Top 10 preseason

1) Bellarmine
2) BYU Hawaii
3) Central Missouri
4) Valdosta State
5) Bentley
6) Indiana (Pa.)
7) Grand Valley State
8) Humboldt State
9) Cal Poly Pomona
10) St. Cloud State

Possible Breakthroughs

Adelphia, Arkansas Tech, Augusta State, Barton, Bridgeport, Cal State-San Bernardino, Central Oklahoma, Central Washington, Christian Brothers, Dallas Baptist, Findlay, Florida Southern, Johnson C. Smith, Kutztown, LeMoyne, Massachusetts-Lowell, Merrimack, Metropolitan State, Minnesota State-Mankato, Northern Kentucky, Philadelphia, Saint Anselm, Seattle Pacific, Southern Indiana, Southwest Baptist, Southwest Minnesota State, Tarleton State, Tusculum, Virginia Union, West Liberty State, Western Washington and Winona State.



The Sporting News Preseason All-America Team

First Team

Lucas Alves, BYU-Hawaii
Tyrone Curnell, Valdosta State
Darren Duncan, Merrimack
Matt Rogers, Southwest Baptist
Jason Westrol, Bentley

Second
Brandon Brown, Cal State-San Bernardino*
Kendrick Easley, Mount Olive
Laurence Ekperigin, LeMoyne
Aaron Hill, Rockhurst
Ben Madgen, Augusta State

Honorable Mention

Morris Anderson, Western Washington; Daniel Bailey, Queens; Chris Banchero, Seattle Pacific; Thomas Baudinet, Saint Anselm; Gerald Brooks, Indiana (Pa.); Brandon Byerson, Virginia Union; Richard Byrd, Adelphi; Pierce Caldwell, Incarnate Word; Rashad Callaway, Tampa; Duke Crews, Bowie State; Stephen Dennis, Kutztown; L.J. Dunn, Barton; Russell Frederick, Philadelphia;  Chris Hall, Lynn; Braydon Hobbs, Bellarmine; Malcolm Ingram, Philadelphia,;David Johnson, Winona State; Justin Keenan, Ferris State; Dustin Maguire, Northern Kentucky; Darin Mency, Merrimack; Kyle Moore, Tusculum; Travis Nelson, Minnesota State-Mankato,;Marcus Parker, Findlay; Matt Schneck, St. Cloud State; Jamar Smith, Southern Indiana; John Thompson, Florida Southern; Zac Tiedeman, Humboldt State; Sanjay Watts, Central Missouri; Darryl Webb, Indiana (Pa.); Marques Whippy, BYU-Hawaii; Taylor Witt, St. Cloud State; Nick Wolf, Rollins.

*-Brown signed European professional contract before TSN announcement