KANSAS CITY, MO – With a little over one week to go before the tipoff of the 2014-15 season, the IUP men's basketball teams comes in at No. 15 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Preseason Poll, released on Thursday afternoon.
The Crimson Hawks are one of only two teams from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) to show up in the poll, as East Stroudsburg garnered the fourth spot and received a first place vote.
Last year's Atlantic Regional champion and national runner-up, West Liberty, sits atop the poll with eight first place votes. Southern Connecticut State is second while Metro State is third. Montevallo falls in behind ESU in fifth while Drury follows in sixth, Minnesota State in seventh, Cal Poly Pomona in eight, while Florida Southern and Bellarmine round out the top 10 in ninth and 10th, respectively.
IUP has earned national recognition by several polls this preseason, including ninth by The Sporting News and Basketball Times. Division II Bulletin ranks the Crimson Hawks No. 20 in its preseason poll.
Last week IUP was chosen to finish second in the PSAC West preseason coaches' poll, the first time since 2008 that the Crimson Hawks haven't been picked to win the division. Gannon earned the top spot this season, collecting six of nine first place votes. Senior point guard
Devante Chance (Philadelphia, Pa. /Electrical & Technology Charter) also received recognition, getting named to the preseason All-PSAC West team.
IUP returns three starters from last year's NCAA tournament squad, along with another two with starting experience. Chance is the most seasoned player on the roster, seeing action in 89 career games while starting 35. He led the Crimson Hawks in minutes (1,066) and minutes per game (36.8), while averaging 10.9 points and a team-high 4.3 assists per game. He shot 42.1 percent from the floor and 80.8 percent from the free throw line while also notching 55 steals.
Also returning is senior forward
Jeremy Jeffers (Wilson, N.C./Greenfield School), who started 27 of 28 games in his first year with IUP after transferring from Drake. He averaged 8.4 points and 4.6 rebounds and shot 44.0 percent from the floor. Both Chance and Jeffers are co-captains for this year's team.
Junior guard
Brandon Norfleet (Virginia Beach, Va. /Landstown) also enters his second year at IUP after transferring from Cheyney prior to the 2013-14 season. He started in 18 of the 22 games he played in, averaging 11.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
The Crimson Hawks opened their preseason with a competitive 72-58 loss at Division I Pitt in an exhibition game on Halloween night. They're traveling this weekend to Tampa to face South Florida in their final exhibition before the regular season begins with the Atlantic Region Conference Challenge on the weekend on Nov. 14.
NABC/Division II Preseason Rankings - Nov. 61. West Liberty, W.Va. (8)
2. Southern Connecticut St.
3. Metropolitan State, Colo. (4)
4. East Stroudsburg, Pa. (1)
5. Montevallo, Ala. (2)
6. Drury, Mo.
7. Minnesota State
8. Cal Poly Pomona (1)
9. Florida Southern
10. Bellarmine, Ky.
11. Western Washington
12. Tarleton State, Texas
13. Delta State, Miss.
14. Philadelphia, Pa.
15. Indiana, Pa.16. Findlay, Ohio
17. Lewis, Ill.
18. Colo.-Colorado Springs
19. Chico State, Calif.
20. South Carolina Aiken
21. Saint Anselm, N.H.
22. Seattle Pacific, Wash.
23. Lincoln Memorial, Tenn.
24. Cal Baptist
25. Dixie State, Utah
