RedStorm men 5th in preseason coaches' poll

RSC Sports Information
     MIDDLETOWN, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande has been picked to finish fifth in the 2024-25 River States Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll.
     The RedStorm received 80 points in the balloting of the league's 12 head coaches.
     Head coach Ryan Arrowood's squad is coming off a 12-17 finish last season.
     The team's top returnee is junior guard Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH), a second team All-RSC selection last season, after averaging 16.4 points and 3.3 assists per game.
     Rio Grande opens its season against Bethel (Ind.) as part of Grace University's Lancer Tipoff Classic on Friday, Nov. 1.
     The Pomeroys of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College were picked as the favorite in the poll after receiving nine of the 12 first-place votes and 119 points in the balloting.
     SMWC had a historic season in 2023-24, going 17-1 in conference play and winning the West Division title. The Pomeroys earned a bid to the NAIA National Basketball Tournament for the first time in school history, earning a 12 seed and a trip to the Orange City region.
     Shawnee State, which went 13-4 in RSC play last season and earned a national tournament bid of their own, was selected to finish second after tallying 106 points.
     The other three first place votes were earned by the Indiana University Kokomo Cougars, who finished third in the poll with 101 points.
     WVU Tech (89 pts.) edged out Rio Grande for fourth place.
     The remainder of the poll saw IU Southeast (71 pts.) in sixth place to finish out the top half of the ranking, with IU East (63 pts.), Oakland City (50 pts.), Midway (41 pts.) and Brescia (31 pts.) completing the top 10.
     Alice Lloyd (26 pts.) and first-year program IU Columbus (12 pts.) rounded out the poll.
     The preseason favorites will play the first RSC conference game of the season, when the Pomeroys head to Owensboro for a meeting with Brescia on November 26.
     Every team in the conference will play one conference game before calendar year 2025, with the first day of full conference play scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 4.