Possibly the tightest race in conference history could be shaping up for the 2024-25 season according to the SCIAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll, as voted by the league’s head coaches.
Reigning regular season champion California Lutheran University and SCIAC Tournament champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges tied atop the poll with 73 votes apiece, though the Kingsmen received two more first-place votes. Pomona-Pitzer Colleges also received two top votes and the University of Redlands also was tabbed as the top team on one ballot.
Hosts of the first-ever four-team NCAA Division III Championship pod in Los Angeles after claiming their first solo title since 2001, Cal Lutheran will benefit from the return of All-Conference fifth-years
Devon Lewis and
Timmy Griffitts. Coaching Staff of the Year recipient
Russell White also welcomes back the SCIAC Defensive Athlete of the Year,
Desi Burrage, whose on-ball defense was a key component in the Kingsmen leading the conference in scoring defense at a meager 63.9 points per game in conference play which helped lift them to a high of a No. 8 national ranking and 15-1 mark in the SCIAC.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges also reached the NCAA Championship after winning the SCIAC Tournament and advanced to the Sectionals Round of 16 for the first time in program history. The Stags also look to benefit from fifth-year familiar faces sticking in the SCIAC between their second-leading scorer from last season,
Caelan Jones, and former Redlands standouts
Neil Owens, who made the All-SCIAC Second Team in 2024, and
Robert Power.
Dethroned only last season after four consecutive SCIAC titles and three Tournament championships, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges welcome a back pair of First Team All-Conference selections from last year in
Ty Bergman and
Joe Cookson in addition to the last two Newcomers of the Year,
Pete Boyle and
Jasper Hedin. Cookson has also been selected to the D3hoops.com Preseason All-America Fifth Team after ranking second in the conference with 18.5 points, third with 7.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.
The conference’s highest-scoring team in 2023-24, Redlands picked up the remaining first-place vote after tying for fifth place following a SCIAC Tournament final appearance in 2022-23. Second Team All-SCIAC guard
Kendrick Currey is the top returning scorer after appearing among the top 20 players in the conference in each of points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals per game. Five Bulldogs ranked among the top 15 in steals as part of their frenetic defensive scheme.
Chapman University welcomes back a pair of All-Conference selections from last season in
Jake Heberle (First Team) and
Blakeley Stoughton (Second Team) after averaging a combined 33.4 points per game. Assistant coach
Dan Krikorian has been elevated to head the program that made the SCIAC Tournament as the #4 seed by just a game last season.
Micah Breaux,
Nicky Clotfelter and
Henry Wilson will form the core of Occidental College’s squad, with Clotfelter leading the team in rebounding while posting a .503 field goal percentage.
Whittier College’s
Aamari Smith claimed the conference scoring crown by nearly four points per game at a 22.2 average and efficiently, ranking sixth in field goal percentage (.508). That came in addition to ranking first in free throw percentage (.870) and steals (2.1), seventh in blocks (0.9) and 10
th in assists (3.0). That all-around performance netted Second Team All-SCIAC recognition for the junior college transfer.
Dahmaj Warren is the top returning scorer for the University of La Verne alongside fellow starters
Darien Guyton and Logen Howard. Caltech’s
Noah Hicks led the Beavers in scoring with 18.1 points per game, including a 29-point outburst against No. 9 New York University over Thanksgiving Break.
The season begins on November 8 with Caltech, Cal Lutheran, Chapman, CMS and La Verne in action before Oxy and Whittier open on Saturday, Nov. 9, with Pomona-Pitzer and Redlands joining the following Friday, Nov. 15.
2024-25 SCIAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
1. California Lutheran, 73 points (four first-place votes)
1. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 73 pts (2)
3. Pomona-Pitzer, 63 pts (2)
4. Redlands, 55 pts (1)
5. Chapman, 51 pts
6. Occidental, 31 pts
7. Whittier, 30 pts
8. La Verne, 19 pts
9. Caltech, 10 pts
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