ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Central Baptist (Ark.) is picked to win the AMC Men’s Basketball regular-season, the league announced on Friday. The poll is voted upon by the league's nine head coaches.
The Mustangs picked up 62 points and six first-place votes, just edging out Harris-Stowe (Mo.). Central Baptist (Ark.) sees leading shot-blocker, Zach Hudson come back, Hudson had 30 blocks last season, including a single-game Central Baptist record seven blocks in the second to last regular-season game last year. Tedrick Wolfe comes back after scoring 12.9 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game.
AMC Player of the Year, Deshawn Munson returns for Harris-Stowe, who is picked second with 58 points. Munson was nearly unstoppable last season, averaging 28.5 points per game, 11.4 rebounds per game and 8.0 assists per game. Munson also picked up 24 double-doubles and seven triple double-doubles. Sharp shooters, David Spell and Nick McKenzie come back. Spell drilled 47 three-pointers and McKenzie knocked down 66 shots from behind the arc.
Picked third is Lyon (Ark.) with 48 points. The Scots return leading scorer, Hunter Daily, who poured in 10.6 points per game and also grabbed a team-high 4.6 rebounds per game. Cole Anderson was the other Scot to average double-digit point totals at 10.1 points per game. The Scots return 99.3-percent of scoring from last season.
Williams Baptist comes in at No. 4, returning a trio of key players from last year’s 14-14 squad; Cortez King, lead the team in points per game (15.1) and second on the team averaging 7.8 rebounds per game), Shackeel Butters, who poured in 12.4 points per game and 10.1 rebounds per game in just 14 games and Brian Davis, who scored 6.2 points per game.
Tied for fifth is Missouri Baptist Spartans and Columbia Cougars with 33 points.
Brendon Hardy is back for the Spartans after a 2019-20 campaign saw him pour in 14.2 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game. Leading rebounder, John Yaeger, is back for his senior year. Yaeger led the team with a 7.0 rebounds per game average.
Columbia returns Jack Fritsche (8.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and Jorge Bueno (5.3 ppg and 2.0 apg) are the top returners for the Cougars. Columbia went 20-12 last season.
Coming in seventh is William Woods with 30 points. The Owls welcome back 2020 AMC Defensive Player of the Year, Darius Yohe, who averaged 8.7 rebounds per game and 2.4 blocks per game a season ago. Mackenzie Fessler comes back aver scoring 13.0 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per game.
Health Sciences and Pharmacy (Mo.) comes in at No. 8 with 12 points. The Eutectics return RJ Wright (14.6 ppg and 3.1 rpg) and Darius Dorsey (9.4 ppg and 2.3 rpg).
With 11 points, the Trojans from Hannibal-LaGrange are picked ninth by the league coaches. Hannibal-LaGrange finished 4-22 last season.
AMC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll
| Rank |
School |
Points (First-Place Votes) |
| 1 |
Central Baptist |
62 (6) |
| 2 |
Harris-Stowe |
58 (3) |
| 3 |
Lyon |
48 |
| 4 |
Williams Baptist |
37 |
| T5 |
Missouri Baptist |
33 |
| T5 |
Columbia |
33 |
| 7 |
William Woods |
30 |
| 8 |
Health Sciences & Pharmacy |
12 |
| 9 |
Hannibal-LaGrange |
11 |