mbb preseason poll 22-23

Men's Basketball Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Golden Knights Picked Sixth in PSAC West Men's Basketball Preseason Poll

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Gannon men's basketball team has been voted sixth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference's (PSAC) Western Division Preseason Poll that was released on Thursday afternoon by the league office. Voting was conducted among the league's coaches.
 
Indiana (Pa.) garnered eight first-place votes and is the preseason favorite in the Western Division. The Crimson Hawks seek to defend their PSAC crown after defeating Millersville in last year's title game. They went on to win the Atlantic Regional and advance to the Elite Eight where they reached the Division II semifinals before losing to Augusta. IUP finished with a 33-3 record.
 
Mercyhurst received the remaining first-place vote in the West and is picked to finish second. The Lakers were 25-7 last year and also competed in the Atlantic Regional, as did California (Pa.). The Vulcans are picked to finish third after losing to IUP in the regional final and posting 23-10 record.
 
Pitt-Johnstown (21-8) and Slippery Rock (17-12) round out the top five, with Gannon sitting in the sixth spot. Edinboro (9-17) is picked to finish seventh, with Clarion (9-18) eighth and Seton Hill (3-24) ninth.
 
In the Eastern Division, the coaches chose East Stroudsburg (19-8) as the preseason favorite with seven first-place votes. Shippensburg is second in the poll, receiving one first-place vote after finishing at 21-9 a year ago. Millersville (25-7), last year's Eastern Division regular season champion, picked up the last first-place vote but is fourth in the poll. West Chester (17-12) holds down the third spot. Millersville was an NCAA tournament team last year.      
 
Gannon head coach Kelvin Jefferson enters his fourth season at the helm with plenty of new faces and hoping for good health. Last year's edition was ravaged by injuries and battled its way to a 14-13 record and the sixth seed in the PSAC Tournament with an 11-11 league record.
 
Ten different players started for the Golden Knights a year ago, Demetrius Mims (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) the lone player to start all 27 games. The 6'6" redshirt junior returns after averaging 12.7 ppg. and a team-high 6.5 rpg. A transfer from Towson, he made great strides as the year went on and scored in double figures in the final eight games. The forward was named the MVP of the Gary Miller Classic.
 
Ike Herster (Sharon, Pa./Kennedy Catholic) and Chris Clancy (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's), the team's top outside shooters, played just 17 games combined. Herster, a 6'6" redshirt sophomore, averaged 16.2 ppg. over 12 contests, making 28-of-86 3-pointers. He missed the final 11 games of the season. Clancy led Gannon in scoring in 2020-21 at 13.5 ppg. and is regarded as one of the top 3-point threats in the PSAC. The 6'2" guard appeared in just five games, none after December 19, while battling several injuries. He averaged 10.0 ppg. with 12 3-pointers.
 
The injuries did allow several players to see increased playing time which may bode well for 2022-23. That includes 6'5" redshirt sophomore Robertas Jonaitis (Pakruojis, Lithuania/Greater Beckley Christian School), who started 12 games and averaged 6.3 ppg. and 4.0 rpg., and Donovan Forte (Cleveland, Ohio/Garfield Heights), a 6'6", 235 lb. redshirt senior who averaged 5.1 ppg.
 
Jefferson added nine players to the roster over the summer. That includes a pair of Division I transfers in 6'10" redshirt senior Zach Kent (Magnolia, Del./Blair Academy (N.J.) ) (Delaware State) and 6'5" redshirt freshman Michael Lucarotti (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) (Youngstown State), a former standout at Cathedral Prep.

Gannon opens the 2022-23 campaign with a pair of difficult road games. The Golden Knights open at Ashland, a team that finished 18-10 a year ago, on Tuesday, November 15. That's followed by a trip to Saginaw Valley State (19-11) on Saturday, November 19. They will debut at home on Friday, November 25 and Saturday, November 26 hosting the 38th Annual Gary Miller Classic. Gannon plays Lake Erie in the second game on Friday after LeMoyne and Winston Salem State play in the opener.
 
PSAC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
Eastern Division (# of 1st Place Votes)
 
1. East Stroudsburg (7)
2. Shippensburg (1)
3. West Chester
4. Millersville (1)
5. Shepherd
6. Kutztown
7. Lock Haven
8. Bloomsburg
9. Mansfield
 
Western Division
1. Indiana (Pa.) (8)
2. Mercyhurst (1)
3. California (Pa.)
4. Pitt-Johnstown
5. Slippery Rock
6. GANNON
7. Clarion
8. Edinboro
9. Seton Hill
 
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Players Mentioned

Chris Clancy

#5 Chris Clancy

G
6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
Donovan Forte

#10 Donovan Forte

F
6' 6"
Redshirt Senior
Ike Herster

#3 Ike Herster

G
6' 6"
Redshirt Sophomore
Robertas Jonaitis

#24 Robertas Jonaitis

G
6' 5"
Redshirt Sophomore
Demetrius Mims

#1 Demetrius Mims

F
6' 6"
Redshirt Junior
Michael Lucarotti

#2 Michael Lucarotti

G
6' 5"
Redshirt Freshman
Zach Kent

#33 Zach Kent

F
6' 10"
Redshirt Senior

Players Mentioned

Chris Clancy

#5 Chris Clancy

6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
G
Donovan Forte

#10 Donovan Forte

6' 6"
Redshirt Senior
F
Ike Herster

#3 Ike Herster

6' 6"
Redshirt Sophomore
G
Robertas Jonaitis

#24 Robertas Jonaitis

6' 5"
Redshirt Sophomore
G
Demetrius Mims

#1 Demetrius Mims

6' 6"
Redshirt Junior
F
Michael Lucarotti

#2 Michael Lucarotti

6' 5"
Redshirt Freshman
G
Zach Kent

#33 Zach Kent

6' 10"
Redshirt Senior
F