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Following is the Men's Basketball Preview from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Make sure to check out the Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook for in-depth previews as well.





RELEASED:  Monday, November 9, 2009



UW-Stevens Point Picked To Win Men s Basketball Title



MADISON, Wis.--Defending conference champion, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is picked to win the 2010 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) men s basketball championship, based on a preseason poll conducted by the league s sports information directors.



UW-Stevens Point claimed seven first-place votes in WIAC poll and enters the year ranked No. 10 nationally by D3hoops.com.  This marks the 47th straight release of the poll that the Pointers have been ranked in the top 25.



UW-Stevens Point owns a conference-best 25 regular-season titles and returns 50 percent of the scoring from last year s title winner.  The 2008-09 squad ranked third in the NCAA Division III in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.52), while senior Matt Moses set a school record with 35 consecutive free throws made.  The Pointers have achieved 23-plus wins three consecutive years and six of the last seven seasons.  Head coach Bob Semling needs 10 wins to reach 100 in his career.



UW-Whitewater and UW-Oshkosh claimed the remaining first-place selections and are slotted to finish second and third, respectively.  The Warhawks, ranked No. 13 nationally, have won 12 conference crowns and made a WIAC-high 15 appearances in the NCAA Division III championship.  The 47 wins accumulated by the squad the last two years is the most since 1988-89 when they registered 51 victories.  UW-Whitewater has achieved double-digit win totals against WIAC adversaries in seven of eight years under head coach Pat Miller.  The Warhawks start the season with five of their first seven games on the road, but finish with five of their last seven in Kachel Gymnasium.



UW-Oshkosh possesses 12 conference championships and is ranked No. 24 in the country.  The Titans return senior D.J. Marsh, the 2009 WIAC Co-Player of the Year, who led the league in scoring, rebounding and double-doubles.  UW-Oshkosh has won at least 16 games in 12 of the last 14 seasons, including 21-plus victories in 1996, 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2007.  Head coach Ted Van Dellen is the longest tenured head coach in the conference with his 19 seasons resulting in 332 victories, the sixth-highest total in WIAC history.



UW-Platteville first-year head coach Jeff Gard inherits a squad that enters the year ranked No. 17 nationally.  He spent the last six years as an assistant with the team.  In 2008-09, the Pioneers made their first NCAA Division III championship appearance since claiming their fourth national title in 1999.  Gone is 2009 WIAC Co-Player of the Year Jeff Skemp, but the trio of senior Curt Hanson, senior Mike Shaw and junior Nick Allen return after shooting above 40 percent from beyond the three-point arc a season ago.



UW-La Crosse returns all five starters and 90 percent of its scoring and rebounding from last year s squad that set a school-single season record with 99 blocked shots and posted a free throw percentage of 76.2, the second-highest in school history.  The Eagles dropped seven games by just six points or less in 2008-09.  The 2009-10 campaign features six of the first nine games on the road, along with four of the final six.



UW-River Falls welcomes back 97 percent of its scoring and 90 percent of its rebounding from the 2008-09 squad that lost eight games by just seven points or less.  The 11 wins compiled by last year s team were the most since the 2003-04 group had 20.



Logan Flora, who was a head assistant for UW-Superior a year ago, begins his first season in charge of the Yellowjackets with four returning starters.  Senior guard Dwight Hill is the school s all-time leader with 303 assists, while junior Jake Smith has topped the team in scoring and rebounding the last two years.



UW-Eau Claire is coming off its best season since the 2002-03 campaign and returns 60 percent of its scoring.  The eight wins compiled against WIAC adversaries last year matched the previous two seasons combined.  The Blugolds 2009-10 schedule begins with sixth consecutive games away from Zorn Arena and five of seven to finish the slate.



UW-Stout has 10 newcomers on its 2009-10 roster and returns 82 percent of its three-pointers made.  The Blue Devils, despite not having a player over 6-5, had the highest rebounding average in the WIAC (37.4) and ranked third in rebounding margin (+4.2) last season.  Senior Jerrel Enerson-Matthews set a school single-game record with eight steals against Bethany Lutheran College (Minn.) on Nov. 21, 2008.



2009-10 Preseason Predictions (Voted on by WIAC Sports Information Directors)



                                                                2008-09 Record



1. UW-Stevens Point (7)                  14-2, 24-5

2. UW-Whitewater (1)                   13-3, 23-6

3. UW-Oshkosh (1)                          9-7, 16-11

4. UW-Platteville                              13-3, 23-6

5. UW-La Crosse                               4-12, 10-15

6. UW-River Falls                              5-11, 11-15

7. UW-Superior                                 4-12, 11-14

8. UW-Eau Claire                              8-8, 15-11

9. UW-Stout                                       2-14, 8-17

(  )--First-Place Votes



Team Tidbits



UW-Eau Claire

Head Coach:  Terry Gibbons; 19th season (15th at UWEC); 260-225 (overall) / 212-158 (UWEC)

Letterwinners Returning/Lost:  12/4

Starters Returning/Lost:  3/2

Returning All-WIAC:  None



UW-La Crosse

Head Coach:  Ken Koelbl; 7th season at UWL; 78-78

Letterwinners Returning/Lost:  13/4

Starters Returning/Lost:  5/0

Returning All-WIAC:  Tony Mane, Jr., G (2008-First); Trevor Stratton, Sr., G (2009-Honorable)



UW-Oshkosh

Head Coach:  Ted Van Dellen; 20th season at UWO; 332-176

Letterwinners Returning/Lost:  8/3

Starters Returning/Lost:  3/2

Returning All-WIAC:  D.J. Marsh, Sr., F (2008-First, 2009-Co-Player of the Year)



UW-Platteville

Head Coach:  Jeff Gard; 1st season at UWP

Letterwinners Returning/Lost:  12/4

Starters Returning/Lost:  2/3

Returning All-WIAC:  Curt Hanson, Sr., G (2008-First, 2009-First)



UW-River Falls

Head Coach:  Jeff Berkhof; 4th season at UWRF; 30-47

Letterwinners Returning/Lost:  9/1 

Starters Returning/Lost:  5/0

Returning All-WIAC:  Jontae Koonkaew, Jr., G (2007-Honorable, 2009-Honorable); Jake Voeltz, Jr., F (2009-Honorable); Aaron Anderson, So., G (2009-Honorable)



UW-Stevens Point

Head Coach:  Bob Semling; 5th season at UWSP; 90-25

Letterwinners Returning/Lost:  9/6

Starters Returning/Lost:  2/3

Returning All-WIAC:  Matt Moses, Sr., G (2009-First)



UW-Stout

Head Coach:  Ed Andrist; 20th season (10th at UWS); 366-305 (overall) / 116-114 (UWS)

Letterwinners Returning/Lost:  8/2 

Starters Returning/Lost:  4/1

Returning All-WIAC:  Jerrel Enerson-Matthews, Sr., G (2007-Honorable)



UW-Superior

Head Coach:  Logan Flora; 1st season at UWS

Letterwinners Returning/Lost:  7/4

Starters Returning/Lost:  4/1

Returning All-WIAC:  Jake Smith, Jr., F (2008-First, 2009-Honorable); Dwight Hill, Sr., G (2008-Honorable, 2009-Honorable)



UW-Whitewater

Head Coach:  Pat Miller; 9th season at UWW; 169-55

Letterwinners Returning/Lost:  9/5

Starters Returning/Lost:  2/3

Returning All-WIAC:  Dustin Mitchell, Sr., C (2009-Honorable)



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