Fresno State Athletics
Men's Basketball Picked Fifth in WAC Preseason Poll
11/5/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 5, 2002
DENVER - Fresno State has been picked to finish tied for fifth with SMU in the Western Athletic Conference preseason poll, selected by the league's 10 head coaches.
Tulsa was picked to win the WAC while Hawai`i's Carl English was selected the preseason player of the year.
The Golden Hurricane, last year's regular season co-champions, received seven first place votes and 79 points to edge out Hawai`i. Hawai`i earned two first place votes and 71 points. The Rainbow Warriors won the Williams WAC Tournament last year and tied Tulsa in the regular season with a 15-3 record. Both Tulsa and Hawai`i competed in the NCAA Tournament last season. Louisiana Tech, an NIT participant with a 22-10 record last year, was third with 63 points followed by Nevada with 56. Tying for fifth place with 42 points were Fresno State and SMU. In seventh was Rice with 38 points, then UTEP (22), San Jose State (21) and Boise State (16).
The coaches also voted on a first and second All-WAC team. Hawai`i junior guard/forward Carl English was voted the preseason Player of the Year. He is joined on the first team by Tulsa teammates Kevin Johnson and Dante Swanson, SMU's Quinton Ross and Louisiana Tech's Antonio Meeking. Everyone on the team except for Meeking was a second-team All-WAC selection at the end of last season.
The second team is comprised of Terrance Green and Kirk Snyder (Nevada), Michael Harris (Rice), Antonio Reed (Tulsa) and Brandon Hawkins (San Jose State).
Fresno State participates in its annual Red/White Scrimmage on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the North Gym. Two exhibition games -- Nov. 14 and 21 -- follow prior to the regular season opener Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. against Idaho State.
2002-03 Preseason Men's Basketball Coaches Poll
Teams Pts 1. Tulsa (7)___________ 79 2. Hawai`i (2)_________ 71 3. Louisiana Tech______ 63 4. Nevada______________ 56 5. Fresno State (1)____ 42 SMU_________________ 42 7. Rice________________ 38 8. UTEP________________ 22 9. San Jose State______ 21 10. Boise State_________ 16 First place votes in parenthesesPreseason All-WAC Teams
First Team Second Team Carl English, Jr., G/F, Hawai`i Terrance Green, Sr., G, Nevada Kevin Johnson, Sr., F, Tulsa Michael Harris, So., F, Rice Quinton Ross, Sr., G/F, SMU Antonio Reed, Sr., G, Tulsa Dante Swanson, Sr., G, Tulsa Brandon Hawkins, Sr., G, San Jose State Antonio Meeking, Sr., F, La Tech Kirk Snyder, So., F, NevadaPlayer of the Year: Carl English, Hawai`i
