Men's Basketball Team Picked 2nd in G-MAC Preseason Poll

2018-19 G-MAC Preseason Men's Basketball Poll

A new basketball season is upon us, and coaches in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference think highly of the Hillsdale College Chargers.

This morning, the 2018-19 preseason coach's poll - presented by Under Armour - was released, and the Chargers were picked to finish second while securing three first-place votes. Findlay, last year's regular season champion, was picked to finish first with seven first-place votes. Walsh came in third in the poll while defending G-MAC Tournament champion Ohio Dominican came in fourth.

Head coach John Tharp, the all-time leader in coaching wins in program history, brings an experienced team into the 2018-19 campaign, having lost just two players to graduation off last year's NCAA Midwest Regional-qualifying squad. But those two players - Ryan Badowski and Stedman Lowry - were the team's two leading scorers, leaving plenty of opportunity for different players to step up in a scoring role this year.

Senior center Nick Czarnowski is the leading returning scorer on the Chargers and enters his third season as a starter. He's a traditional back-to-the-basket center who can finish with either hand, and typically finds his offense early in the game so the team can establish a low-post presence.

Senior guard Nate Neveau is the team's point guard and most experienced player in terms of career minutes played. He'll be the lead guard on both offense and defense. Few teams in Division II will have as experienced of a guard-big man combination as Hillsdale will, thanks to Neveau and Czarnowski.

Neveau leads a deep group of guards, a group that includes juniors Mike Travlos and Dylan Lowry, senior Harrison Niego and sophomore Connor Hill. Sophomore Davis Larson figures to have a bigger role in the offense, and is capable of playing at the guard and forward positions. 

Seniors Gordon Behr and Jack Cordes have been mainstays at the forward position and can rebound and play defense at a high level. Sophomore Trenton Richardson figures to see his minutes expand in the front court and sophomore Austen Yarian had a promising freshman year last year, one he hopes to improve upon this year.

Hillsdale opens the season against a pair of tough regional opponents (Southern Indiana, Illinois-Springfield) before hosting defending national champion Ferris State for the home opener Thursday, Nov. 15.

POLL RESULTS