WACO, Texas (Oct. 7, 2015) – Oklahoma Christian was picked 10th in the Heartland Conference preseason men's basketball poll, released earlier this week.
In the voting by the NCAA Division II league's coaches and sports information directors, OC received 55 points, mirroring the Eagles' finish in the 2014-15 season, when they placed 10th in Heartland play and finished 6-20 overall.
OC has four starters (
John Moon,
Elijah Strickland,
Jordan Box and
Jordan Rutherford) back from last season, along with three players (
Deric Shelton,
Zach Norris and
Chiza Ntirata) who would have played significant minutes, but sat out all or most of the 2014-15 campaign for various reasons.
Arkansas-Fort Smith topped the Heartland preseason poll with 218 points and 14 first-place votes, followed by St. Mary's (Texas) with 194 points and three first-place votes, Lubbock Christian (Texas) with 181 points and one first-place vote, St. Edward's (Texas) with 180 points and one first-place vote and Rogers State with 154 points and two first-place votes.
Texas-Permian Basin was sixth with 138 points, followed by Newman (Kan.) with 136 points and one first-place vote, Dallas Baptist (Texas) with 99 points, Texas A&M International with 75 points, OC and Oklahoma Panhandle State with 22 points.
OC will be eligible this season to compete for a spot in the eight-team Heartland postseason tournament, which will be played in Tulsa.
The Eagles will host Central Christian (Kan.) in an exhibition game on Nov. 7 before starting the regular season Nov. 13 at home against Texas A&M-Commerce.
