CHICAGO – The Chicago State men’s basketball team was tabbed to finish third in the inaugural Great West Conference preseason poll which was released this morning by the conference office. The Cougars received 35 points and a first-place vote in the poll which was voted on by the league’s seven head coaches.
South Dakota was picked are the preseason favorite to win the conference as it captured 41 points and three first-place votes, while Utah Valley garnered 38 points and two first-place votes for second place.
Following CSU was North Dakota, who was picked fourth with 26 points and a first-place vote, and Houston Baptist was selected fifth with 23 points. NJIT was tabbed sixth with 17 points and Texas-Pan American was picked seventh with 16 points.
“There are some good teams, good players and good coaches in the Great West. I think this conference is going to be fun and exciting to watch,” CSU head coach Benjy Taylor said. “The team that wins this conference will certainly deserve it.”
Junior forward Carl Montgomery (Chicago, Ill.) and junior guard Jonathan Montgomery (Chicago, Ill.) were also honored by the conference as they earned Preseason All-Great West accolades.
Carl Montgomery captured first team honors after a breakout sophomore campaign last season that saw him average 11 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game en route to earning Honorable Mention All-Independent recognition. Montgomery also finished the season ranked first among the Independents and 54th nationally in blocked shots per game. This is the latest accolade for Montgomery as he garnered numerous honors from Lindy’s 2009-10 College Basketball Preview earlier this month, including Preseason Great West Player of the Year and Preseason First Team All-Great West honors.
Heading into his first season with the Cougars, Jonathan Montgomery was named Honorable Mention Preseason All-Great West squad. Montgomery came to CSU last spring after transferring from Northern Iowa. He was one of the top-rated Chicago prep players following his senior season at Lincoln Park High School, where he averaged 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists per game en route to guiding the Lions to a 23-6 record in 2006-07. Montgomery was rated the 20th-best recruit and forth-best guard in the State of Illinois by ChicagoHoops.com.
The Cougars welcome back eight players from last season’s 19-13 team that posted a 10-2 mark against Independent teams.
CSU opens its 2009-10 slate on Nov. 13 at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center against NCAA Division III Concordia University Chicago with a start time of 7 p.m.
~CSU~