Men's Basketball Release (2005-06) - Guilford's Tabbed Sixth in ODAC Men's Basketball Poll - Guilford College

  • GUILFORD TABBED SIXTH IN ODAC MEN'S BASKETBALL POLL

 

      Greensboro, NC (11/3/05) -- Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) men's basketball coaches picked Guilford sixth in their preseason poll, the league announced Thursday at its annual media day at the Salem (VA) Civic Center.  Defending league champion Virginia Wesleyan received six first-place votes and the top spot in the poll, just ahead of Randolph-Macon, which earned three first-place votes.

 

      Guilford's third-year head coach Tom Palombo returns nine letter winners, including three starters, from last season's 15-12 unit that equaled the Quakers' best Division III record and led the ODAC in scoring with 80.6 points per game. Guilford finished with a 9-9 league record and reached the ODAC Tournament semifinals for the first time since 1994. Sophomore center Ben Strong is Guilford's top returning player. He averaged 9.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game last year, and led the ODAC with 48 blocked shots (1.7 per game).

 

      Virginia Wesleyan returns four starters from last year's team that went 24-6 overall (13-5 ODAC) and won the Marlins' first league tournament title since 1993. The Marlins advanced to the NCAA Tournament and knocked off New Jersey City, 76-57, before falling on the road to eventual Final Four participant York, 90-80. Junior forward Brandon Adair is back in the fold after averaging a team-best 18.2 points and 7.8 boards per game a season ago. Last year's regular-season co-champion Randolph-Macon, Hampden-Sydney, Roanoke, and Eastern Mennonite round out the top five.

 

      Guilford hosts an exhibition with an Italian Junior National Team November 9 at 7:00 p.m. before officially opening the 2005-06 campaign on the road November 18 against Webber International.

 

2005 ODAC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses)
1. Virginia Wesleyan 95 (6)
2. Randolph-Macon 90 (3)
3. Hampden-Sydney 75 (1)
4. Roanoke 56
5. Eastern Mennonite 55
6. Guilford 49
7. Bridgewater 48
8. Lynchburg 36
9 Emory and Henry 30
10. Washington and Lee 11