NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team has been selected No. 2 nationally in the preseason Division II poll released by the
Basketball Times. In addition, senior guard
Tylon Smith (Manchester, Conn.) was tabbed as a preseason All-American by the publication.
This is the third preseason ranking (
Sporting News and
Division II Bulletin being the others) that has the Owls occupying the No. 2 spot in the country. This is also the third time that Smith has earned preseason recognition individually, as both aforementioned publications also feted him.
Southern Connecticut finished last year with a record of 30-3 and reached the Elite Eight for the second time in school history, where it lost to the eventual national champion, Central Missouri. Along the way, the Owls also won their first-ever Northeast-10 Conference regular season and tournament titles. SCSU also produced a school-record 19 game winning streak during the course of the year.
Smith had a decorated campaign both in the classroom and on the court last year. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of both the NCAA East Regional and the Northeast-10 Conference Tournaments. Smith finished second on the team in scoring with 19.0 points per game and led the Owls in assists per game (5.0). He was also selected to the NABC All-District team and the Daktronics All-East Region team in addition to First-Team All-ECAC and All-Northeast-10 Conference laurels.
Academically, Smith earned Third-Team Academic All-America honors from Capital One and the College Sports Information Directors of America in addition to his First-Team Academic All-District selection. He was also named to the Northeast-10 Conference Men's Basketball All-Academic Team, as a Division II Athletic Directors Association Academic Achievement Award recipient and as a National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors' Court honoree.
The Owls open the 2014-15 season on Nov. 4 with an exhibition against the University of Connecticut, the reigning NCAA Division I National Champions.
