Rio men picked fifth in RSC preseason poll; Tadic, Blevins named to all-conference team

Rio Grande/RSC Sports Information
     MIDDLETOWN, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande has been picked fifth overall and third in the East Division following the release of the 2022-23 River States Conference Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Poll by league officials on Thursday.
     The poll - and the release of the preseason all-conference team - were part of the RSC's Media Day activities.
     The RedStorm, who open their season on Oct. 27 at Shawnee State University, garnered 111 points in the overall balloting of the 13 head coaches in the conference.
     Third-year head coach Ryan Arrowood's club also picked up 52 points in the East Division voting.
     West Virginia University Tech is both the overall and East Division favorite. The Golden Bears received 151 total points and seven first-place votes in the overall polling.
Indiana University Kokomo was picked second in the poll with five first-place votes and 145 total points, while Alice Lloyd (Ky.) College is predicted third after collecting the remaining first-place vote and 134 total points.
     Indiana University East (116 pts.), Rio Grande, Indiana University Southeast (105 pts.) and Oakland City (Ind.) University (92 pts.) round out the top half of the conference poll.
     WVU Tech is coming off a season of 26-6 overall and 15-2 inside the RSC. The Golden Bears have two players returning who were selected to the preseason all-conference team in Thomas Hailey and Andrew Work.
     WVU Tech made another appearance in the RSC Championship finals appearance last year and earned another NAIA national tournament bid.
     IU Kokomo won the RSC Championship last year and advanced to the NAIA National Championship Sweet 16. The Cougars were 32-4 overall and 17-1 RSC and ended the year ranked No. 22 in the NAIA Top 25, but will have to replace all-conference players Desean Hampton and Trequan Spivey.
     Alice Lloyd was 24-5 overall and 15-3 in the RSC last year, making it to the RSC semifinals where they lost to WVU Tech. The Eagles have Will Philpot and Damon Tobler returning as a preseason all-conference selections.
     IU East was also an RSC semifinalist last year and ended at 16-15 overall, 10-7 RSC.
     Rio Grande joins WVU Tech and Alice Lloyd as the only schools with two players on the preseason all-conference team.
     Miki Tadic and Shiloah Blevins lead the RedStorm, which was 16-14 last year, with seven of its losses coming by seven points or less and four of those seven by three points or fewer, including a season-ending triple-overtime loss to Alice Lloyd in the quarterfinals of the RSC Tournament.
     IU Southeast was an RSC playoff qualifier last year and came in sixth in the poll. The Grenadiers, however, are mourning the loss of Ahmad Price, who posthumously is a member of the preseason all-conference team.
     Oakland City and Ohio Christian (69 pts.) were both postseason qualifiers and they round out the selections of the top four teams in each division.
     The remainder of the overall poll included Midway in ninth place (68 pts.) and Point Park in 10th (67 pts.), with Brescia (52 pts.), St. Mary-of-the-Woods (33 pts.) and Carlow (27 pts.) in the final three positions.
     The remainder of the preseason all-conference team included sophomore guard Tay Smith of Brescia, Midway junior guard Donnie Miller and senior guard Sherron Schifino of Point Park University.
     New this year is that the top five teams in each of the RSC East and West Divisions will make the playoffs. Other changes include IU East moving to the RSC West and Alice Lloyd moving to the RSC East.
     For the complete listing of the RSC Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Polls and the RSC Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team, go to www.riverstatesconference.com.