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DENVER - Grand Canyon is the preseason favorite to win the Western Athletic Conference men's basketball title in 2017-18, while Lope redshirt senior
Joshua Braun was selected as the WAC Preseason Player of the Year in a vote of the league's eight head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players.
The Lopes received 46 points and six first-place votes to earn the top spot. NM State captured second place with 40 points and one first-place vote, followed by CSU Bakersfield in third with 38 points and Utah Valley in fourth place with 36 points and the final first-place vote. Seattle U was picked to finish fifth with 25 points, while UT Rio Grande Valley was selected sixth with 16 points, just ahead of Kansas City in seventh place with 14 points. Chicago State rounded out the poll with nine points.
Braun leads the list of Preseason All-WAC honorees. Joining him on the first team are NM State's
Eli Chuha, UT Rio Grande Valley's
Nick Dixon, CSU Bakersfield's
Damiyne Durham and Chicago State's
Fred Sims Jr.
Second team selections include CSU Bakersfield's
Shon Briggs and
Brent Wrapp, Seattle U's
Matej Kavas,
Sidy N'Dir of NM State and Utah Valley's
Isaac Neilson.
2017-18 Preseason Men's Basketball Coaches' Poll
| Rank |
Teams (1st-Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1 |
Grand Canyon (6) |
46 |
| 2 |
NM State (1) |
40 |
| 3 |
CSU Bakersfield |
38 |
| 4 |
Utah Valley (1) |
36 |
| 5 |
Seattle U |
25 |
| 6 |
UT Rio Grande Valley |
16 |
| 7 |
Kansas City |
14 |
| 8 |
Chicago State |
9 |
2017-18 Preseason Men's Basketball Coaches' All-WAC Teams
First Team
Joshua Braun, Grand Canyon
Eli Chuha, NM State
Nick Dixon, UT Rio Grande Valley
Damiyne Durham, CSU Bakersfield
Fred Sims Jr., Chicago State
Second Team
Shon Briggs, CSU Bakersfield
Matej Kavas, Seattle U
Sidy N'Dir, NM State
Isaac Neilson, Utah Valley
Brent Wrapp, CSU Bakersfield
Preseason Player of the Year: Joshua Braun, Grand Canyon