Arkansas Tech will begin the 2011-12 men’s basketball season ranked No. 24 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches NCAA Division II top 25 poll.
The preseason rankings were released by the NABC on Tuesday, Nov. 1. The Wonder Boys are in the preseason top 25 for a second consecutive year. Arkansas Tech began last season ranked 13th, and it ended the 2010-11 campaign ranked 14th.
Arkansas Tech finished with an overall record of 25-6 last season. The Wonder Boys won the Gulf South Conference West Division regular season title, finished as GSC Tournament runner-up and reached the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament for a third consecutive year.
Head coach Doug Karleskint welcomed back one starter — senior guard Johnie Davis (photographed) — from last year’s squad. Davis was Arkansas Tech’s leading scorer a year ago (16.3 points per game).
A total of six returning lettermen and 11 newcomers make up Karleskint’s second roster as Tech head men’s basketball coach. The new faces include NCAA Division I transfers Will Paul (Stanford University), Paul Cooper (Texas Tech), Mykel Cleveland (Southern Illinois) and Jeff Reese (Murray State).
Defending NCAA Division II champion Bellarmine University (Ky.) is No. 1 in the NABC preseason top 25.
The poll also includes Central Oklahoma, which is ranked 11th and will play a non-conference home-and-home series with Arkansas Tech on Dec. 3 in Edmond, Okla., and Dec. 10 in Russellville.
Click here to view the complete NABC NCAA Division II preseason top 25.
Click here to learn more about Wonder Boys basketball.
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