The Men’s Other Top 25: Saint Louis starts at the top

We are just days away from the start of the new college basketball season, and the Men’s Other Top 25 preseason poll is here. Four different teams received at least one first-place vote.

Saint Louis owns the top spot with two of those first-place votes. Fellow A-10 member VCU came second with one vote also. Grand Canyon placed third with a pair of first-place votes. New Mexico and Saint Mary’s rounded out the top five. Utah State finished sixth and had the final first-place vote.

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The Billikens’ returning core is led by Trey Green, who shot an Atlantic 10-best 44.2% from 3 and scored 10.7 points per game. Amari McCottry is also a double-digit returner with 10.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists a night. Kellen Thames followed with 9.7 points and 4.7 boards. Ishan Sharma was also dangerous from deep at 41.7% on his way to 9.1 points. Quentin Jones also averaged 9.1 points per game. Robbie Avila’s eligibility remains an x-factor, despite a recent favorable court ruling.

Get your calendar ready because Josh Schertz’s group plays Missouri, High Point, Saint Mary’s, Grand Canyon, South Florida, and DePaul in the non-conference.

VCU was second, just four points behind its conference rival. The Rams have been to 14 of the last 20 NCAA Tournaments, including the last two. Phil Martelli Jr. led VCU to the second round with a massive comeback against North Carolina in his first season last March.

Lazar Djokovic is the top returner with 13.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Nyk Lewis had a breakout first season and won A-10 Rookie of the Year with 8.7 points and 4.5 rebounds a night. Brandon Jennings had a similar stat line with 8.5 points and 3.6 rebounds.

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Grand Canyon faces the highest expectations the program has ever experienced. Year two in the Mountain West sees Bryce Drew try to return to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time this decade.

The Lopes have a trio of big returners in Jaden Henley (17.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg), Makaih Williams (14 ppg, 2.5 apg) and…

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Publish date : 2026-10-27 18:45:00

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