West Texas A&M is the unanimous pick to top the league in the 2020-21 Lone Star Conference men’s basketball preseason poll announced on Tuesday.
The preseason poll reflects the opinions of LSC head coaches, sports information directors and various media representatives throughout the region.
WT obtained 600 total points and received all 40 first-place votes in the poll. The Buffs are out to make it four-straight LSC Championships after claiming the title last season and finishing with a 32-1 record. WT was in line to host the Division II South Central Regional before the postseason was halted due to COVID-19.
Angelo State earned the No. 2 spot in the preseason poll with 482 total points. ASU finished the 2019-20 season 20-8 and reached the semifinals of the LSC tournament following a thrilling double-overtime win in the quarterfinals en route to a regional berth.
Lubbock Christian was picked to finish third this season with 473 total points. The Chaps were 19-10 last season and advanced to the quarterfinals of the LSC tournament.
St. Edward’s was tabbed fourth in the poll earning 463 points. The Hilltoppers were the runners-up at the 2020 LSC Men’s Basketball Championship and ended the season at 27-4 with a postseason berth for the second consecutive year.
DBU landed in fifth in the preseason poll with 458 points. The Patriots finished last season with a 21-9 record and picked up a place in the South Central Regional for the third-straight year.
Texas A&M-Kingsville received 425 points in the preseason poll to place sixth. The Javelinas are coming off of their first 20-win season in 20 years with a 21-9 record. TAMUK also advanced to the semifinals of the LSC tournament and captured a regional bid.
Texas A&M-Commerce (410), UT Permian Basin (286), UAFS (251) and Midwestern State (218) rounded out the top ten in the preseason poll.
WT’s Qua Grant, a junior from WT, was named the LSC Preseason Player of the Year after earning 31 of 40 votes.
Grant, who earned the league’s top accolade last season, guides a multi-headed scoring attack for a Buffs team that led the conference in scoring and finished eighth among DII programs. The Waxahachie native averaged 20.7 points per game and 7.5 rebounds, which ranked third and sixth in the LSC. The junior collected all-American honors from the Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) in 2019-20.
This year, 15 men’s teams will compete in three divisions (North, South and West) consisting of five institutions each. Each team is scheduled to play 20 conference games with divisional and crossover competition throughout the year. During weeks in which a team plays a divisional opponent, each institution will have one contest at home and one on the road. When a team faces an opponent from outside its division, both crossover games will be played at the same site on back-to-back days.
The conference tournament will consist of the top eight men’s with first-round games on-campus on Tuesday, March 2 followed by the four winning teams advancing to the final site at the highest remaining seed on Friday, March 5 and Saturday, March 6.
All 15 men’s basketball programs competing in the league this season will be featured during the LSC Basketball Online Preseason Media Day on Wednesday, Dec. 2. Interviews with each of the LSC’s head coaches taking part in the conference schedule will be available on the conference’s YouTube page (
www.youtube.com/lscmedia31), social media and the LSC website. The league’s women’s basketball online media day will occur on Tuesday, Dec. 1.
2020-21 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
| Rank |
School |
1st |
Total Points |
| 1. |
West Texas A&M |
40 |
600 |
| 2. |
Angelo State |
|
482 |
| 3. |
Lubbock Christian |
|
473 |
| 4. |
St. Edward's |
|
463 |
| 5. |
DBU |
|
458 |
| 6. |
Texas A&M-Kingsville |
|
425 |
| 7. |
Texas A&M-Commerce |
|
410 |
| 8. |
UT Permian Basin |
|
286 |
| 9. |
UAFS |
|
251 |
| 10. |
Midwestern State |
|
218 |
| 11. |
St. Mary's |
|
199 |
| 12. |
Oklahoma Christian |
|
173 |
| 13. |
Cameron |
|
162 |
| 14. |
UT Tyler |
|
133 |
| 15. |
Texas A&M International |
|
67 |