INDIANAPOLIS -- Oakland was picked to finish fourth in the 2019-20 Horizon League Men's Basketball Preseason Poll announced by the league office. The preseason poll was voted on by the league's 10 head coaches, media members, and men's basketball media contacts throughout the league.
The Golden Grizzlies finished the 2018-19 season in third place with a 16-17 overall record and an 11-7 league record. Wright State was picked to win the Horizon League, receiving 28 of 36 first-place votes. Defending Horizon League Tournament Champion Northern Kentucky was picked second.
Xavier Hill-Mais earned preseason accolades, being named first team all-league. The redshirt-senior forward is coming off a his 2018-19 campaign where he averaged 18.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.
Oakland will open the regular season on Nov. 5 against Goshen at the O'rena and will host two home exhibition games on Oct. 24 (Rochester University) and Oct. 30 (Saginaw Valley State).
2019-20 #HLMBB Preseason Poll Results
Pl. School (1st-place) – Votes
1. Wright State (28) – 350
2. Northern Kentucky (5) – 295
3. UIC (1) – 280
4. Oakland (1) – 229
5. Green Bay – 207
6. Youngstown State – 186
7. Milwaukee – 146
8. Detroit Mercy – 133
9. IUPUI – 92
10. Cleveland State (1) – 62
Preseason Player of the Year
Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy
First Team (alphabetical order by school)
Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy
Jalen Tate, Northern Kentucky
Xavier Hill-Mais, Oakland
Tarkus Ferguson, UIC
Loudon Love, Wright State
Second Team (alphabetical order by school)
JayQuan McCloud, Green Bay
Tyler Sharpe, Northern Kentucky
Marcus Ottey, UIC
Bill Wampler, Wright State
Darius Quisenberry, Youngstown State
#WEARtheBEAR
