Matador Men’s Basketball ranked 17th in NJCAA Preseason Poll
Jim Howell
Nov. 5th, 2009
Lady Matadors named in ‘Also Receving Votes’ category in Women’s Preseason Poll
Yuma, Arizona – November 5, 2009 – Arizona Western College is proud to announce that both the AWC Men’s Basketball and AWC Women’s Basketball teams have been mentioned in their respective NJCAA Division I Basketball Preseason Polls. The men’s team comes in at #17 while the Lady Matadors are in the ‘Also Receiving Votes’ category of their poll. The announcements come just over 24 hours before both squads kick off their 2009-10 regular season schedules.
For Kelly Green’s Matador Men’s Basketball team, it’s the fifth time in the last 6 seasons that their team has appeared in the NJCAA’s inaugural poll of the season. It’s also the 23rd consecutive NJCAA Poll that the Matadors have been listed in, since they have earned consistent national respect since early in the 2007-08 season, and were ranked as high as 10th in the nation each of the last 2 years. The Matadors come off a 26-win season in 2008-09 that saw them win their second straight ACCAC Regular Season title (and 3rd in four seasons) and earn their 4th Region I Championship in the last 5 years. The Matadors are one of only four teams from the ACCAC to gain national recognition in the NJCAA Preseason Poll, with Cochise College coming in at 26th in the DI Poll, and both Phoenix College (16th) and Chandler-Gilbert Community College (20th) landing in the NJCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Poll. The Matador Men’s Basketball team officially kicks off its 2009-10 regular season against the College of the Desert tomorrow night, Friday, November 6th, at ‘The House’ on the AWC campus. The single game tips off at 7:30PM.
Meanwhile, the naming of the Lady Matadors’ squad to the national poll shows respect for a team that reached their first Region I Finals in six years last March. Patrick Cunningham’s Lady Matadors won 22 games in 2008-09, the final win coming in an overtime battle with Yavapai in the Region I DI Semifinals. They also gave eventual national champion Central Arizona a major tussle, leading at halftime of the Region I Finals in Coolidge before falling. It’s the second straight year that the Lady Matadors are mentioned in the Preseason Poll after earning a #29 ranking last October. Speaking of Central Arizona and Yavapai, the national champions are the preseason #1 pick in the DI Preseason Poll while the Roughriders join the Lady Matadors in the ‘Also Receiving Votes’ category. In the NJCAA Women’s DII Preseason Poll, defending Region I DII Champ Pima is ranked 3rd while Mesa Community College comes in at #10. The Lady Matadors’ 2009-10 regular season opens tomorrow morning, Friday, November 6th, in Cedar City, Utah-site of the Southern Utah Tournament-against another team in the ‘Also Receiving Votes’ category: Salt Lake Community College.
Both Matador teams will host the eight-team Desert Classic ’09-presented by Chicago Title and National Bank of Arizona-Thursday and Friday, November 12th and 13th at ‘The House’ on the AWC campus in Yuma. The tournament will feature men’s and women’s teams from Arizona, Minnesota, Utah, Illinois and Texas, and the Matadors’ teams will host games each night at 5:30PM (women) and 7:30PM (men).
