GUILFORD WOMEN RANKED FIRST IN ODAC BASKETBALL POLL;
QUAKERS' MEN TABBED SIXTH
Greensboro, NC (11/08/01) -- The Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) women's basketball coaches picked Guilford College first in their annual preseason poll, the league announced Thursday at its annual Media Day in Salem, VA. Guilford, the defending ODAC Tournament champions, received seven first-place votes.
Guilford's men, fresh off their first ODAC Tournament berth since 1995, took sixth in the coaches' poll, their highest preseason ranking since 1994-95. Defending league champion Hampden-Sydney unanimously earned the top spot in the men's poll.
Under
the direction of ninth-year head coach Barb Bausch, Guilford's women
return 10 letter winners from last season's 22-7 squad (16-4 ODAC), which
captured the school's first ODAC basketball crown and the league's automatic
NCAA Division III playoff berth. The Quakers reached the second round of the
NCAA Tournament before falling to Hardin-Simmons (TX). Senior guard Erin
Beacham (Atlanta, GA/Lovett School) (pictured), a second team
All-ODAC selection last season, is Guilford's top returning scorer (11.0 ppg).
Classmate Amy Evans (New Bern, NC/New Bern), an honorable mention
all-league guard a year ago, averaged 7.6 points per game as a junior and ranked
among the league leaders in assists (3.7) and steals (2.5) per game. Guilford
opens its season November 16 against Oglethorpe in a tournament hosted by Toccoa
Falls.
Guilford's
men's team welcomes 10 letter winners, including two starters, from last year's
10-15 unit that set a school record with a 9-9 ODAC mark. The Quakers earned the
sixth seed in the ODAC Tournament and fell to Randolph-Macon in the league
quarterfinals. Senior shooting guard Paul Kindem (Chapel Hill, NC/East Chapel
Hill) is Guilford's top returning scorer after averaging 11.0 points per
game last year. The Quakers look forward to a full season from 6-9 senior center
Aron McMillian (Greensboro, NC/Greensboro Day), who averaged 8.0 points
and 5.1 rebounds in 15 games after transferring to Guilford last January from
Division I Old Dominion. Head coach Butch Estes starts his third season
at the Quakers' helm at Division I East Tennessee State November 16.
2001 ODAC Basketball Coaches’ Polls (first-place votes in parentheses)
Men
1. Hampden-Sydney (10)
2. Randolph-Macon
3. Roanoke
4. Bridgewater
5. Virginia Wesleyan
6. Guilford
7. Emory & Henry
8. Lynchburg
9. Eastern Mennonite
10. Washington and Lee
Women
1. Guilford (7)
2. Roanoke (2)
3. Emory & Henry (2)
4. Bridgewater
5. Randolph-Macon
t6. Lynchburg
t6. Virginia Wesleyan
8. Washington and Lee
9. Eastern Mennonite
10. Hollins
11. Randolph-Macon Woman's
