INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team has been picked to finish 12th in the Horizon League according to the league's preseason polls, released on Tuesday (Oct. 19). Reigning champion Cleveland State earned 30 of the 44 possible first-place votes to be voted atop the poll while Wright State earned nine first-place votes and was second overall. Northern Kentucky, Milwaukee and Detroit Mercy all earned first-place votes and were third, fourth and fifth, respectively. 

IUPUI, under first-year head coach Matt Crenshaw, brings back seven letterwinners from a season ago, but lost its top three scorers from 2020-2021. Senior swingmen Azariah Seay (5.7 ppg) and Bobby Harvey (5.6 ppg) are the team's top returning scorers while Mike DePersia (5.0 ppg, 3.9 apg) and Nathan McClure (4.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg) are the team's two returning starters. 

Other returning letterwinners include sophomore guard Bakari LaStrap (2.8 ppg) and senior forwards Dimitar Pandev (1.6 ppg, 1.9 rpg) and Jonah Carrasco (0.4 rpg). 

Crenshaw retooled the roster in short order with the additions of transfers B.J. Maxwell (St. Edward's) and Zach Gunn (Ball State) and three true freshmen in Chuks Isitua, KJ Pruitt and Boston Stanton III. Maxwell, a 6-foot-5 guard, averaged 18.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game while shooting 47.5 percent from the floor at Division II St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas. Gunn appeared in 69 games over three seasons at Ball State, averaging 4.7 points per contest while shooting 35.1 percent from three. 

Pruitt, a 6-foot-4 guard, and Stanton, a 6-foot-5 guard, give Crenshaw intriguing options in the backcourt from day one. Isitua is an athletic 6-foot-11 forward/center who will be relied upon to fortify the frontcourt from day one. 

The Jaguars will open their exhibition slate on Nov. 3 when they host Anderson at 11:00 a.m. at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. The regular season will begin with a road game at Butler on Nov. 9 on FS1 and the home opener will be on Tuesday, Nov. 23 when the Jaguars host Spalding University at the Coliseum at 7:00 p.m.. 

The full poll results and preseason teams are listed below. 

2021-22 #HLMBB Preseason Poll Results
Pl.           School (1st place) – Votes
1.            Cleveland State (30) – 502
2.            Wright State (9) – 463
3.            Northern Kentucky (1) – 406
4.            Milwaukee (2) – 396
5.            Detroit Mercy (2) – 350
6.            Oakland – 340
7.            Youngstown State – 214
8.            UIC – 204
9.            Purdue Fort Wayne – 169
10.         RMU – 157
11.         Green Bay – 146
12.         IUPUI - 85
 
Preseason Player of the Year
Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy
 
Preseason All-League First Team (alphabetical order by school)
Torrey Patton, Cleveland State
Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy
Patrick Baldwin Jr., Milwaukee
Jalen Moore, Oakland
Grant Basile, Wright State
 
Preseason All-League Second Team (alphabetical order by school)
DeAndre Gholston, Milwaukee
Trevon Faulkner, Northern Kentucky
Marques Warrick, Northern Kentucky
Jarred Godfrey, Purdue Fort Wayne
Tanner Holden, Wright State