Oct. 18, 2016 LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – The Siena Men's Basketball team has been predicted to finish second while the women were projected third, according to the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll which was revealed during the conference's preseason awards show Tuesday night on ESPN3. A combined five Saints were heralded with Preseason All-MAAC honors, highlighted by First Team selections Brett Bisping and Javion Ogunyemi from the men's squad and Kollyns Scarbrough from the women's team. Men's senior Marquis Wright and women's sophomore Jackie Benitez each earned Preseason Third Team acclaim.
Defending MAAC Regular Season Champion Monmouth is the preseason favorite on the men's side, after receiving nine of 11 first-place votes and 119 points in the poll. Additionally, 2015-16 MAAC Player of the Year Justin Robinson of the Hawks was unanimously named the Preseason Player of the Year.
Siena received the remaining two first-place votes, while totaling 109 points. The Saints were the only team with multiple Preseason First Team All-MAAC selections, as Bisping and Ogunyemi were joined on the top squad by Robinson, Iona's Jordan Washington and Marist's Khallid Hart.
Reigning MAAC Tournament Champion Iona was slotted third in the poll with 99 points, with Saint Peter's (86) and Fairfield (76) completing the top-five. Manhattan (71) was projected sixth, followed by Rider (50), Marist (37), Canisius (35), Quinnipiac (28) and Niagara (16) to round out the poll.
Named to the College Sports Madness Preseason All-Mid Major Second Team earlier this month, Bisping was selected as Siena College's 2015-16 Male Student Athlete of the Year and was tabbed the team's Doc Marcelle co-MVP along with Ogunyemi. Additionally, he was named a unanimous First Team All-MAAC, NABC District I First Team and MAAC All-Tournament Team honoree and was a three-time MAAC Player of the week during a highly decorated 2015-16 campaign. The red-shirt senior forward from Peoria, Illinois led the MAAC and ranked 19th nationally with 10.4 rebounds per game last season in averaging a double-double, as he added 15.9 points which ranked eighth in the conference. Bisping posted 13 double-doubles and 15 double digit rebound games, including a career-high five 18-rebound performances.
A senior forward from nearby Troy, New York, Ogunyemi was heralded as the program's first-ever MAAC Defensive Player of the Year last season after leading the league and ranking 38th nationally averaging 2.09 blocks. A Second Team All-MAAC selection in 2015-16, he also paced the conference with 113 offensive rebounds and his 71 blocks were the third highest single-season total in program history. Ogunyemi averaged 14.9 points per game last season, and also finished second in the MAAC in field goal percentage (.543) and 10th in rebounding (6.1).
Wright led the Saints in scoring (17.3), assists (4.6), steals (2.1) and three-point field goal percentage (.548), prior to missing 15 games in the middle of last season with a stress fracture in his right foot. The Waldorf, Maryland native was named the MAAC Player of the Week on Dec. 28 after posting a double-double with 20 points and 10 assists in Siena's Franciscan Cup victory over St. Bonaventure, and recorded five 20-point performances in all. In 19 total games (17 starts) last season, Wright averaged 14.5 points and a team-best 4.9 assists.
Bisping, Ogunyemi and Wright headline a men's basketball team which welcomes back its top-five scorers, including 2015-16 MAAC Sixth Player of the Year Nico Clareth who broke the program's freshman scoring record with 447 points last year. Siena returns both 82% of its scoring and rebounding from last year's team which posted a 21-13 overall record and finished third in the MAAC at 13-7. The Saints' 21 victories marked the program's most in six seasons as Siena orchestrated a 10-win improvement which was tied for the 12th best turnaround nationally, and earned a postseason berth to the College Basketball Invitational.
On the women's side, defending regular season champion Quinnipiac was picked first with 117 points and seven first-place votes to edge out reigning tournament champion Iona which received 114 points and the remaining four first-place votes. The Gaels' Marina Lizarazu was unanimously tabbed the 2016-17 MAAC Preseason Player of the Year.
Siena received 90 points in being chosen third, and was followed by Fairfield (82) and Marist (72) to finish out the top-five. Canisius (58) was predicted sixth, followed by Manhattan and Monmouth which were tied for seventh with 53 points, while Niagara (42), Rider (24) and Saint Peter's (21) rounded out the polling.
Scarbrough was joined on the First Team by Lizarazu, Manhattan's Amani Tatum, Niagara's Victoria Rampado, and Quinnipiac's Aryn McClure.
A 2015-16 Second Team All-MAAC selection, Scarbrough led the Saints in scoring averaging 11.4 points and ranked second in the league in steals (2.3) and fifth in free-throw percentage (.797). A junior guard from Jamaica, New York, she scored in double figures 23 times last season highlighted by a pair of 19-point efforts. Scarbrough added her first two collegiate double-doubles in 2015-16 and was named to the Navy Classic All-Tournament Team.
A three-time MAAC Rookie of the Week, Benitez was a unanimous All-Rookie Team selection after pacing all conference freshmen in scoring (10.7), steals (1.7) and threes (58). Overall, she led the MAAC in free-throw percentage (.821) and ranked sixth in the conference in steals and seventh in threes. The sophomore guard and Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania product scored in double figures 14 times last season which included a pair of 20-point performances, despite coming off the bench for all but two of Siena's 32 games.
The women's top two returning scorers, Scarbrough and Benitez fuel a Siena team which welcomes back four starters, 10 letterwinners and 88% of its scoring output. The Saints posted a 14-18 overall record last season, and finished seventh in the MAAC with an even 10-10 league mark.
Season and individual game tickets for both programs are on-sale now. The men tip off their season on Sunday, Nov. 13 against Cornell at the Times Union Center, while the women open up at 2015-16 National Runner-Up Syracuse the next night. The women's home opener at the new-look ARC is slated for Saturday, Nov. 19 vs. Hartford in the new-look ARC. For more information and to purchase tickets, contact the Siena Fan Relations Management Center at (518) 487-2202, online at sienasaints.com/tickets, by e-mail at sienatickets2@siena.edu, or by stopping by the fan relations office located on the second floor atrium at the Times Union Center Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
