Dixie State was picked to finish seventh by the media and eighth by the coaches in its Western Athletic Conference debut season as the 2020-21 WAC men's basketball preseason polls were released on Tuesday.
Three-time defending WAC champion New Mexico State was tabbed as overwhelming favorite to win its third-straight conference crown. The Aggies claimed eight of nine first place votes to finish with 64 points in the coaches poll, and collected 10 more first place nods and 150 points in the media poll.
In fact, the top five spots matched in both polls as Grand Canyon (1 FPV – 52 pts coaches/125 pts media) was voted second overall, followed by UT Rio Grande Valley (45 pts coaches/114 pts media) in third, California Baptist (43 pts coaches/2 FVP – 105 pts media) in fourth, and Seattle U (33 pts coaches/84 pts media) in fifth.
WAC newcomer Tarleton State (31 pts) wound up sixth in the coaches poll, while Utah Valley (28 pts) was listed in seventh, DSU (20 pts) in eighth and Chicago State (8 pts) in ninth. Rounding out the media poll, UVU finished sixth (74 pts), followed by the Trailblazers (49 pts) in seventh, Tarleton State (46 pts) in eighth, and CSU (18 pts) in ninth.
Dixie State senior forward
Hunter Schofield was voted to the conference's preseason second team by both the coaches and media. Schofield is coming off a banner junior season that saw him break DSU's single season scoring record (491 pts) on his way to first team all-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference honors.
The senior averaged 16.4 points per game on 53.7 percent shooting, and averaged 6.0 rebounds per contest. Schofield scored in 26 of 30 games played with nine 20-plus point outings, and was the only player in the RMAC to finish the 2019-20 season ranked in the top-10 in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage.
NMSU junior guard Jabari Rice swept both the conference's coaches and media preseason Player of the Year honors.
2020-21 Preseason Men's Basketball Coaches' Poll
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. |
New Mexico State (8) |
64 |
| 2. |
Grand Canyon (1) |
52 |
| 3. |
UT Rio Grande Valley |
45 |
| 4. |
California Baptist |
43 |
| 5. |
Seattle U |
33 |
| 6. |
Tarleton State |
31 |
| 7. |
Utah Valley |
28 |
| 8. |
Dixie State |
20 |
| 9. |
Chicago State |
 8 |
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2020-21 Preseason Men's Basketball Coaches' All-WAC Teams
Preseason Player of the Year:Â Jabari Rice, New Mexico State
First Team
Alessandro Lever, Sr., C, Grand Canyon
Javon Levi, Sr., G, UT Rio Grande Valley
Johnny McCants, Sr. F, New Mexico State
Jabari Rice, Jr. G, New Mexico State
Donnie Tillman, Sr., F, New Mexico State
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Second Team
Jovan Blacksher, So., G, Grand Canyon
Oscar Frayer, Sr. F, Grand Canyon
Riley Grigsby, Jr., G/F, Seattle U
Evan Gilyard, Sr., G, New Mexico State
Hunter Schofield, Sr., F, Dixie State
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2020-21 Preseason Men's Basketball Media Poll
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. |
New Mexico State (10) |
150 |
| 2. |
Grand Canyon |
125 |
| 3. |
UT Rio Grande Valley |
114 |
| 4. |
California Baptist (2) |
105 |
| 5. |
Seattle U |
84 |
| 6. |
Utah Valley |
74 |
| 7. |
Dixie State |
49 |
| 8. |
Tarleton State |
46 |
| 9. |
Chicago State |
16 |
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2020-21 Preseason Men's Basketball Media All-WAC Teams
Preseason Player of the Year:Â Jabari Rice, New Mexico State
First Team
Jovan Blacksher, So., G, Grand Canyon
Alessandro Lever, Sr., C, Grand Canyon
Javon Levi, Sr., G, UT Rio Grande Valley
Johnny McCants, Sr. F, New Mexico State
Jabari Rice, Jr. G, New Mexico State
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Second Team
Evan Cole, Gr., F, Utah Valley
Gorjok Gak, Gr., F, California Baptist
Evan Gilyard, Sr., G, New Mexico State
Hunter Schofield, Sr., F, Dixie State
Donnie Tillman, Sr., F, New Mexico State
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