MAVERICKS PICKED TO WIN SLC
10/23/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 23, 2003
The Southland Conference's men's basketball coaches think this may be the year of the Mavericks.
The University of Texas at Arlington edged out Stephen F. Austin in balloting by the league's coaches to be the pick in the annual preseason poll, released Tuesday. SFA received more first-place votes (4) than UT-Arlington (2), but the Mavericks won the consensus. In the poll conducted by the sports information directors, UTA and SFA tied for the top spot with 105 total points. If anything, the polls proved this year's SLC race would be balanced. Five different teams received first-place votes in the coaches poll and four in the SIDs.
"I think it is a great honor to be picked by your peers and the SIDs. It is nice to be recognized and makes you feel all the hard work is worthwhile," said UTA men's basketball coach Eddie McCarter, the winningest coach in UTA who enters his 12th season. "That said, we still have to perform and hopefully make those predictions come true."
UTA has never won a men's basketball title since entering the league in 1964, but a 16-13 record in 2002-03 and a third-place finish in the conference with a 13-7 mark has carried over to the upcoming season.
Four seniors return, including three double-digit scorers and the league's second-best assist man. Derrick Obasohan (Houston, Texas) and Keith Howell (Arlington, Texas) lead the charge, bringing back their 11.3 point scoring averages. In addition, Roy Johnson (Houston, Texas) returns his 11.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. The Mavs garner two first-place votes from the head coaches and accumulated 86 points.
UTA opens the season Nov. 22 at TCU. The home opener is Dec. 3 against Texas Wesleyan at Texas Hall and the SLC opener is Jan. 8 against Louisiana-Monroe.
-utamavs.com-
