Ohio Athletic Conference coaches picked the Wilmington College women’s basketball team to finish fifth and the men to finish eighth in the annual preseason coaches polls.
On the women’s side, Capital earned seven of 10 first-place votes and received 79 votes to be the preseason favorite. Baldwin Wallace (one first-place vote) and Ohio Northern (two first-place votes) were picked to be tied for second with 68 points. John Carroll (56 points), Wilmington (45 points), Heidelberg (42 points), Mount Union (37 points), Marietta (27 points), Otterbein (16 points) and Muskingum (12 points) rounded out the preseason poll.
“I think the polls are great for generating some interest, but they really mean nothing to me,” said Wilmington head coach Jerry Scheve. “Coaches predict which teams they think have the most talent and I guess that means they think we have the fifth most talent. But talent is only one small part of what it takes to have a successful season. We have very high goals and we will continue to work very hard every day to get better. And in March we will see how we did.”
Junior Brittaney Jefferson (Dayton, OH/Chaminade Julienne) is the team’s top returning scorer despite coming off the bench in all 27 games. The guard averaged more than 20 minutes per game, while scoring 9.5 points per game. Not only will be counted on to score, she will be asked to continue her defensive presence. She finished ninth in the league with 1.8 steals per game.
Junior Ja’Cole Tabor (Dayton, OH/Chaminade Julienne) will be an option to replace Ashley Andracki (Columbus, OH/Bishop Watterson), who suffered a preseason injury that will cost her the season, at point guard.
Sophomores Ellie Kivell (West Chester, OH/Lakota West) and Savannah Hooper (Wilmington, OH/Wilmington) will play a huge part in the backcourt.
Juniors Mary Moyer (Martinsville, OH/Clinton Massie) and Hannah Haeseker (Germantown, OH/Valley View), along with sophomore Emily Smith (Bellbrook, OH/Bellbrook) and senior Alexandria Kingsbery (Lima, OH/Central Catholic) return in the post.
Wilmington opens the season Saturday, Nov. 14 at Denison.
On the men’s side, No. 7 Mount Union earned five first-place votes and is picked to win the league with 76 points. Marietta, ranked 11th nationally, picked up three first-place votes, and was picked second with 70 points.
John Carroll was third with 69 points, followed by Ohio Northern (47 points), Heidelberg (46 points), Baldwin Wallace (43 points), Capital (40 points), Wilmington (33 points), Muskingum (14 points) and Otterbein (12 points).
“This a great league with great coaches and players,” said Wilmington head coach K.C. Hunt. “Although I appreciate polls for fan interest, we have designs on competing to win a championship. That will always be our approach.”
Wilmington returns just two of its top 10 scorers from last season and just 21 percent of its total scoring.
Sophomore Christian Jones (Hamilton, OH/Hamilton), the club’s lone returning starter, was the league’s top three-point shooter, making 49.3 percent (37-of-75) of his shots. He is also the top returning scorer with 10.5 points per game.
Seniors Zach McCorkle (Cincinnati, OH/Winton Woods) and Chris Jackson (Ostrander, OH/Buckeye Valley) are the only other players that have played significant minutes for Wilmington.
The Fightin’ Quakers open the 2015-16 season 3 p.m. Nov. 15 at Mount St. Joseph University.
