SAN RAMON – With seven letterwinners returning from last year's squad and as many joining for 2017-18, the Cal State Dominguez Hills men's basketball team was picked by the 13 head coaches in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) to finish seventh in their annual preseason poll, the conference announced Monday.
Coach
Steve Becker's fourth edition of the Toros received 74 points in the voting, just edging Cal State San Bernardino's 72.
Chico State is voted the preseason favorite after receiving 11 of 13 first-place votes for 137 points. The Wildcats will start the season ranked seventh in the National Basketball Coaches Association preseason poll. UC San Diego received one first-place vote and with 118 points, the Tritons are picked to finish second. Cal State San Marcos, in its first year of postseason eligibility, received 112 points for third place and Cal Poly Pomona, which received the 13
th first-place vote, tallied for 110 points for fourth place.
San Francisco State (95 points) and Cal State LA (81) finish in front of the Toros at fifth and sixth, respectively. Rounding out the rest of the conference are Sonoma State (68), Stanislaus State (58), Cal State East Bay (39), Humboldt State (31) and Cal State Monterey Bay (19).
The Toros are coming off a 15-12 overall record in 2016-17 and a 11-9 record in the CCAA which was good enough for sixth place and the program's first conference tournament appearance since 2012. Among key returners are senior guards
Khalil Bedart-Ghani and
Jonathan Nichols. Bedart-Ghani averaged 8.8 points and five rebounds per game while Nichols averaged 6.8 points and 6.2 rebounds.
CSUDH opens the campaign against No. 14 Cal Baptist in the Lancers brand new Events Center Friday at 7 p.m.
| 2017-18 CCAA Coaches' Preseason Poll |
|
Institution |
Points (1st-Place Votes) |
| 1. |
Chico State |
137 (11) |
| 2. |
UC San Diego |
118 (1) |
| 3. |
Cal State San Marcos |
112 |
| 4. |
Cal Poly Pomona |
110 (1) |
| 5. |
San Francisco State |
95 |
| 6. |
Cal State LA |
81 |
| 7. |
Cal State Dominguez Hills |
74 |
| 8. |
Cal State San Bernardino |
72 |
| 9. |
Sonoma State |
68 |
| 10. |
Stanislaus State |
58 |
| 11. |
Cal State East Bay |
39 |
| 12. |
Humboldt State |
31 |
| 13. |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
19 |
