The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is a basketball conference, and the season is about to tip-off.
Preseason polls were released Tuesday. Fort Lewis College has been a conference championship contender in men’s basketball under fourth-year head coach Bob Pietrack and associate head coach Daniel Steffensen the last three years, as coaches around the RMAC expect the Skyhawks to contend once again.
Under head coach Jason Flores, now in his sixth year on the FLC women’s bench, the Skyhawks have also been a perennial RMAC Tournament threat, and this year’s team is again expected to fight hard for a spot in the eight-team conference tournament in a conference race several teams have a chance to claim.
Here’s a closer look at the RMAC preseason polls:
FLC lost 64 percent of its scoring and 70 percent of its minutes played from last year’s team with six seniors departing the program. After the Skyhawks underwent a big facelift through recruiting, the conference coaches picked FLC third in the preseason poll.
The Skyhawks, who won the RMAC regular-season championship last year after they went 24-7 overall and 18-4 in RMAC play, earned two first-place votes and 199 points in the poll. Regis, last year’s conference tournament winner, received eight first-place votes and 216 points to come in first. Colorado School of Mines was picked second with four first-place votes and 203 points. FLC came in front of RMAC newcomer Dixie State, which earned two first-place votes and 185 points. Metro State University-Denver was fifth with 156 points.
“We don’t put much stock in the preseason poll,” Pietrack said. “We lost six seniors off last year’s championship team. Right now, we are just focused on getting a little better each day.”
FLC senior forward Marquel Beasley was selected as the conference’s preseason defensive player of the year. The transfer from Iowa Western gave FLC a big boost last year. He started all 31 games and averaged 14.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He also had 42 blocked shots and 38 steals.
“Marquel is a special talent on both ends of the floor,” Pietrack said. “Marquel has really blossomed into an exceptional all-around player. Everybody sees the big plays and thunderous dunks, but what they don’t see is how hard he works in practice and the leadership he brings our program on a daily basis.”
Regis guard Jarrett Brodbeck was named the preseason player of the year. Last year, he set a Regis record with 99 made 3-pointers in a season. He averaged 15.4 points and 2.7 rebounds per game last year and had 42 assists and 27 steals in 33 games.
Beasley was the only FLC player named to the preseason All-RMAC team.
“Our challenge this preseason is to incorporate all of our new players into our system of play,” Pietrack said. “We have an extremely unselfish group that understands just how good RMAC basketball is. Though we have a lot of new faces this season, our standard of play and expectations remains the same. We look forward to the competition.”
The FLC men will open the season Nov. 9 against Eastern New Mexico in Albuquerque at the University of New Mexico’s Dreamstyle Arena, more commonly known as “The Pit.”
Kayla Herrera was the lone FLC women’s player selected to the All-RMAC team, but Flores expects the Skyhawks to outperform the preseason poll’s predictions.
This year’s women’s team also has a different look, with last year’s freshman superstar Vivian Gray gone to Oklahoma State. The team went 20-9 overall a year ago and 14-8 in RMAC play and faded down the stretch to be eliminated in the first round of the RMAC Tournament.
FLC earned 137 points in the preseason poll. Black Hills State, which beat FLC in the RMAC Shootout last year before falling to Colorado State University-Pueblo in the tournament championship, was picked first. The Yellow Jackets reached last year’s regional tournament, and the coaches expect that again this year, as Black Hills received eight first-place votes and 209 points.
But the conference race could be wide open, evident in the preseason poll in which four teams earned first-place votes. Metro State was picked second with one first-place vote and 187 points. Regis also had one first-palce vote and 187 points to come in third, and Mines and CSU-Pueblo tied for fourth with 177 points, though Mines didn’t get a first-place vote while the ThunderWolves had six.
Westminster was picked sixth with 174 points, Colorado Mesa seventh with 144 and FLC eighth with the 137. South Dakota Mines was ninth with 109 points.
“Picking the order of finish this year was by far the hardest it’s been in years,” Flores said. “There are literally 12 teams that can finish in the top four of the league this year. Black Hills should have been picked first with 14 returners coming back from an NCAA regional team. Every night will be heavily contested, and we will have to be at our best. It should be fun for the fans night in and night out.”
Westminster senior Denise Gonzalez was named the conference’s preseason player of the year as well as defensive player of the year. She led her team last year in all the major categories and averaged 14.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.5 steals per game.
Herrera will look to lead an FLC women’s team that also has a new look with plenty of new faces. The junior from Santa Fe has averaged 11.2 points per game in her career along with 5.2 rebounds per contest.
“Kayla is deserving of preseason recognition, as she will be an upperclassmen this year and has had a couple good years already,” Flores said.
The FLC women will open the season at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 9 against Western New Mexico on the campus of Eastern New Mexico.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
