Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges are favored to reclaim their first SCIAC title since 2018 as clear favorites in the 2023-24 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league’s head coaches.
The Stags benefit tremendously from the fifth-year returns of d3hoops.com Third Team All-American Josh Angle, the conference’s leading scorer at 21.5 points per game, and fellow SCIAC First Team pick Rhett Carter. That duo is expected to be joined by a pair of graduate transfers in First Team All-NESCAC Will King from Colby College and Division I Boston University’s Caelan Jones, a former No. 1 recruit from the state of Vermont.
Nevertheless, Coaching staff of the Year winner Charlie Katsiaficas will attempt to lead Pomona-Pitzer Colleges to a fifth consecutive title behind four returning All-Conference performers. Joe Cookson was the only non-senior to crack the First Team last season as the seventh-leading scorer in the SCIAC, while classmate Ty Bergman was the only other sophomore to earn All-Conference recognition on the Second Team. The Sagehens also bring back 2022 Newcomer of the Year Pete Boyle and welcome Occidental College graduate transfer Anthony Hollerich, who was a Second Team choice in 2022.
Last season’s SCIAC Tournament runner-up, the University of Redlands came in just two points behind the Sagehens. The Bulldogs return their top five scorers led by Second Team All-Conference wing Khyree Armstead, as well as the combined 28.7 scoring average between Neil Owens and Chozen Amadi after both endured significant injuries last year. Amani’s younger brother Pharaoh will also join the Redlands squad in 2023-24.
Defending tournament champion California Lutheran University is expected to remain well in the mix after the Kinsmen became the first #4 seed in conference history to run the table. Amazingly, the champion Kingsmen bring back their top nine scorers, led by Devon Lewis (13.4ppg, 2.9apg, 1.9spg) and Tommy Griffitts (12.7ppg, 6.5rpg, 60.0 field-goal percentage). Brock Susko and Desi Burrage provide additional difference-making threats on the wing, having combined for 19.8 points and 9.6 rebounds per game with Susko knocking down 44 percent of his three-point attempts.
Chapman University ranked fifth after finishing just one game out of the SCIAC Tournament last year. The Panthers welcome back their second- through fourth-leading scorers in Blakeley Stoughton, Jake Heberle and Cruz Billings, who combined for 42.9 points per game with the sharp-shooting Heberle and Billings knocking down 42 and 47 percent, respectively, from beyond the arc. Another younger sibling of a star veteran appears on the Chapman roster in Carlo Billings.
The Oxy Tigers slotted in sixth place once again with Aiden Williams and Andrew Waldman boasting 22.2 points per game between them, with Williams hitting 43 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. Nick Manor-Hall will lead a new-look Whittier College team as the only returning double-digit scorer, having average 12.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. La Verne’s Kyler Harvey and Jonas Holt are the top two scoring Leopards back in The Tents with a combined 18.5 points per game and Harvey’s 8.0 boards, Brad Yasukochi and 2021-2022 Second Team All-SCIAC Paul Antonis are also back for a fifth year. Finally, an overhauled Caltech roster that includes nine first-years joining Noah Hicks (8.9ppg, 2.3apg, 37 percent on three-pointers) and Riley Wood (4.6ppg, 8.3rpg) will be looking to shake up the standings.
The men’s basketball season gets underway with a series of exhibition games until the traditional 110 Rivalry opener between Occidental College and Caltech in Pasadena, with everyone in action by Saturday, Nov. 11 with several teams welcoming strong out-of-region opposition.
2023-24 SCIAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
1. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 79 points (7 first-place votes)
2. Pomona-Pitzer, 67 pts (2)
3. Redlands, 65 pts
4. California Lutheran, 57 pts
5. Chapman, 46 pts
6. Occidental, 34 pts
7. Whittier, 28 pts
8. La Verne, 19 pts
9. Caltech, 10 pts
Follow the SCIAC on Threads (@theSCIAC), X - formerly Twitter (@theSCIAC) and Instagram (@thesciac) with hashtags #SCIACtion and #SoCalSoGood. Watch most SCIAC games, matches, and meets online via mobile devices and on OTT apps - Roku, AppleTV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android - search for 'SCIAC' and download the channel.