Men’s Basketball Picked Third in UAA Preseason Coaches’ Poll

St. Louis, Mo., November 3, 2011 – The Washington University in St. Louis men’s basketball team was picked third in the University Athletic Association (UAA) Preseason Coaches Poll, as announced Wednesday by the conference office.

Preseason D3hoops.com No. 7 ranked University of Rochester and No. 13 Emory University share the top spot in the men’s preseason rankings. Rochester captured the men’s title in 2010-11 with a 12-2 UAA record and advanced to Sectional Play, while Emory finished on the heels of the Yellowjackets with an 11-3 conference mark and posted its first 20-win season since 1989-90.

Rochester and Emory each received four first-place votes to tie for top preseason honors, while Washington University was third. The University of Chicago, Brandeis University, New York University, Case Western Reserve University and Carnegie Mellon University rounded out the poll.

Washington U. returns 14 letterwinners and four starters from last year’s team, which posted a 13-12 overall record and tied for third in the UAA with a 7-7 mark.

Senior guard/forward Dylan Richter averaged 15.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game and earned second-team all-UAA accolades a year ago. Richter scored in double figures in 17 of 22 games played, including seven games with over 20 points. He finished the season ranked third in the UAA in steals (1.6), fourth in three-pointers made (2.2), seventh in blocked shots (1.0) and scoring (15.3) and eighth in free-throw percentage (.790).

Junior point guard Ben Hoener picked up honorable-mention all-UAA honors after averaging 7.7 points, 4.7 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game. Hoener ranked third in the league a year ago in assists (4.7), sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9) and seventh in free-throw percentage (.814).

Washington U. also returns two starters in sophomore guard Tim Cooney (8.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and senior center Alex Toth (7.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg). Off the bench, the Bears return junior center Robert Burnett (3.8 rpg, 11.7 mpg), sophomore guard Alan Aboona (3.0 ppg, 11.9 mpg) and junior guard Max Needle (2.4 ppg, 12.7 mpg).

Head coach Mark Edwards enters his 31st season the Danforth Campus with an overall record of 542-251 (.683). The winningest coach in school history, Edwards has guided the Bears to a school-record 27-consecutive winning seasons and the 2008 and 2009 NCAA Division III National Championship.

Washington University opens the 2011-12 season at home on Tuesday, Nov. 15, against MacMurray College. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the WU Field House. The game will be streamed live at: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/wustl.portal, with a pre-game show beginning at 7:15 p.m.