Coyote Men's Basketball Ranked 14th In Division II Bulletin Preseason Poll
10/12/2006
Junior guard Dustin Little and the rest of the Coyotes are ranked #14 in the 2006-07 Division II Bulletin Preseason Top 25 Poll.
|
BEAVERTON, ORE. --- The South Dakota men’s basketball team is ranked #14 in the 2006-07 Division II Bulletin Preseason Top 25 Poll. The Coyotes are one of just three teams from the North Central Region to appear in the rankings, joining defending national champion Winona State, who is listed at #1, and #16 Nebraska-Kearney.
USD returns three starters from last year’s 20-10 team that qualified for the NCAA Division II national tournament for a school-record third consecutive season, and the 11th time in school history. The 20-victory season was the 13th time in school history that total had been reached, with 12 of those occasions coming under head coach Dave Boots. South Dakota will take a streak of 18-straight winning seasons into the 2006-07 season.
Junior forward Eric Hall (Huron, S.D.) is the top returning scorer for the Coyotes after averaging 13.6 ppg last season and was an All-North Central Conference honorable mention selection. Junior guard Dustin Little (Castlewood, S.D.) averaged 10.1 ppg last year and is USD’s top returning rebounder after going for 5.0 rpg in 2005-06. The third returning starter is sophomore guard Jesse Becker (Plymouth, Minn.), who was named the NCC Freshman of the Year as well as being selected to the DII Bulletin All-Freshman Team last season.
The Coyotes open the 2006-07 season at the Disney Division II Tip-Off Classic in Orlando, Fla., on Friday, Nov. 10 through Sunday, Nov. 12. USD has three games scheduled at the event, beginning with a 11 a.m. (CST) start against Shippensburg on the 10th. The Coyotes then have a pair of 1 p.m. (CST) opening tips against Wisconsin-Parkside and South Carolina-Aiken on the 11th and 12th, respectively.
2006-07 Division II Bulletin Preseason Top 25 Poll
# School
1. Winona State
2. Montevallo
3. Tarleton State
4. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville
5. Seattle Pacific
6. Findlay
7. Northwest Missouri State
8. Rollins
9. Barton
10. Southern Indiana
11. Stonehill
12. Clayton State
13. Southwest Baptist
14. South Dakota
15. Sonoma State
16. Nebraska-Kearney
17. Lenoir-Rhyne
18. Adelphi
19. Mount Olive
20. Alderson-Broaddus
21. Bowie State
22. West Texas A&M
23. Catawba
24. Grand Valley State
25. Bloomfield
