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BIRMINGHAM, Ala.
– The University of West Alabama men’s basketball team
earned its highest Gulf South Conference East Division
pre-season ranking since moving from the West Division
in 1995-96, as UWA was selected fourth in the 2009 GSC
Men’s Basketball Pre-Season Coaches’ Poll.
The Tigers, who
earned their first trip to the GSC Tournament since the
1997-98 campaign, garnered 17 total votes, including
four third-place votes. Valdosta State, the defending
GSC East Champion, is the favorite to win the division
for the second-straight year. VSU was also selected the
front-runner to claim the overall GSC Title. North
Alabama and UAH were picked second and third
respectively. West Georgia and West Florida round out
the pre-season coaches’ selections.
UWA’s leading
scorer and rebounder from last season’s 13-15 squad,
Jason Swanson, garnered Pre-Season All-GSC East Division
accolades. Swanson, a rising senior from Troy, Ala.,
averaged 15.5 points per contest and pulled down 8.3
rebounds per game.
Transfers Richard
Sirju and Alquan Mendenhall were listed among the top
newcomers for the 2009-10 season. Sirju joins the
Tigers after a season at Utah State University while
Mendenhall comes to Livingston after spending his
freshman season at High Point University. UWA Head
Coach Eddie McCarter returns four starters from a season
ago and welcomes eight newcomers. |
