FULLERTON, Calif. - Cal State Fullerton men's basketball was selected fifth in the Big West Conference Preseason Media Poll. The league announced the poll and the all-conference team on Thursday.
UC Irvine, the defending regular season and tournament champions, were narrowly picked ahead of UC Santa Barbara in the poll. Both squads received 15 first-place votes. CSUN was picked third while Hawai'i was tabbed fourth, just ahead of the Titans. Long Beach State, UC Riverside, UC Davis and Cal Poly round out the poll. The Aggies of UC Davis did receive a first-place vote.
The Titans finished in third place in the 2018-19 regular season standings and made it to the final of the Big West Conference Tournament for the second straight year. However, the 2019-20 squad will look quite different as the team lost its top two scorers in Kyle Allman, Jr. and Khalil Ahmad and welcomes nine newcomers to the team, but only one, senior guard Brandon Kamga, has NCAA game experience. The Titans do return three starters in senior Jackson Rowe, a two-time Big West honorable mention honoree, senior guard Austen Awosika and junior Johnny Wang. Letterwinners Daniel Venzant (redshirt sophomore guard), Wayne Arnold (sophomore guard) and Davon Clare (senior forward) will be relied upon heavily as well.
Your first chance to see the squad in action is when they face Cal State Dominguez Hills on Oct. 31 at 6 p.m. PT in an exhibition game in Titan Gym.
MEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON MEDIA POLL
|
1. |
UC Irvine (15) |
258 |
|
2. |
UC Santa Barbara (15) |
256 |
|
3. |
CSUN |
202 |
|
4. |
Hawai'i |
155 |
|
5. |
Cal State Fullerton |
152 |
|
6. |
Long Beach State |
118 |
|
7. |
UC Riverside |
107 |
|
8. |
UC Davis (1) |
104 |
|
9. |
Cal Poly |
43 |
() first-place votes
MEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON MEDIA ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
|
Player |
School |
Year |
Pos. |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Hometown |
|
Lamine Diane |
CSUN |
Sophomore |
Forward |
6-7 |
205 |
Dakar, Senegal |
|
Terrell Gomez |
CSUN |
Junior |
Guard |
5-8 |
160 |
Los Angeles, Calif. |
|
Max Heidegger |
UC Santa Barbara |
Senior |
Guard |
6-3 |
180 |
Malibu, Calif. |
|
Evan Leonard |
UC Irvine |
Senior |
Guard |
6-1 |
185 |
Cerritos, Calif. |
|
Dikymbe Martin |
UC Riverside |
Senior |
Guard |
6-1 |
170 |
Riverside, Calif. |
|
Amadou Sow |
UC Santa Barbara |
Sophomore |
Forward |
6-9 |
235 |
Bamako, Mali |
SUPPORT THE TITANS!
Fans can purchase tickets for various Cal State Fullerton athletic events by visiting FullertonTitans.com/Tickets. The Athletic Ticket Office can also be contacted by phone at 657-278-2783 or by email at athletictixs@fullerton.edu. The Ticket Office is located at the Titan House off of Gymnasium Drive at the eastern end of the Intramural Fields and is open from 10 am – 4 pm PT, Monday – Friday.
FOLLOW THE TITANS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) Instagram (@FullertonTitans) and Snapchat (FullertonTitans). In addition, the basketball team has established its own Twitter (@FullertonMBB) and Instagram accounts (@FullertonMBB).