Just two seasons removed from a 6-25 record, the Long Beach State men’s basketball team now sits on top of the Big West Conference media rankings.
The Beach received 17 of 24 first-place votes from members of the press to take the top spot in the Big West Media Poll, which was released today.
LBSU also had one selection to the Big West Preseason All-Conference team in sophomore Larry Anderson.
The 6-foot-6 guard averaged 10.8 points per game last season and was named to the all-Conference first-team, only the second freshman to do so in conference history.
Fellow sophomore T.J. Robinson, who earned an honorable mention in 2008-09 by averaging 11.4 ppg, was not included among the six-member collection. Robinson returns to The Beach as the team’s leading scorer and leading rebounder with 6.2 rebounds per game.
LBSU is followed in the rankings by UC Santa Barbara who returns 10 players — including three starters — to a team that finished 16-15 overall last year. UCSB received six first-place votes.
The Gauchos will receive an added boost from highly touted first-team select Orlando Johnson, who transferred from Loyola Marymount University. The 6-foot-5 guard/forward led the Lions in scoring and rebounding with 12.4 ppg and 5.4 rebounds per game in his freshman campaign.
Cal State Northridge — last season’s conference champion — was selected to place third, followed by UC Riverside, Pacific, UC Davis, Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine and Cal Poly.
Pacific received the only other first-place vote.
The rest of the all-conference team included Kyle Austin (UCR), Joe Harden (UCD), Mark Payne (UCD) and Eric Wise (UCI).
On the national scene, the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 poll was also released today and the 49ers face at least four of the top 10 teams. Dan Monson’s squad will take trips to No. 3 Texas, No. 5 Kentucky and No. 8 Duke in the nonconference portion of the season.
LBSU will also face No. 9 West Virginia in the first round of the 76 Classic on Thanksgiving Day. The 49ers also have an opportunity to play No. 10 Butler, and The Beach will also face either No. 18 Minnesota or No. 24 Clemson in the tournament.
The coaches decided against conducting a coaches’ poll this season.
| Rank | School | Votes (1st place) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Long Beach State | 209 (17) |
| 2 | UC Santa Barbara | 178 (6) |
| 3 | Cal State Northridge | 130 |
| 4 | UC Riverside | 127 |
| 5 | Pacific | 126 (1) |
| 6 | UC Davis | 114 |
| 7 | Cal State Fullerton | 90 |
| 8 | UC Irvine | 76 |
| 9 | Cal Poly | 30 |
| Name | School | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Larry Anderon | Long Beach State | Guard |
| Kyle Austin | UC Riverside | Forward |
| Joe Harden | UC Davis | Guard |
| Orlando Johnson | UC Santa Barbara | Guard |
| Mark Payne | UC Davis | Guard |
| Eirc Wise | UC Irvine | Forward |