Cowboys picked sixth, Cowgirls 12th
Raymond Partsch III
The McNeese State men’s basketball team was picked to finish sixth in the Southland Conference preseason basketball poll, while record-breaking 3-point shooter senior Dru Kuxhausen was voted to the first team.
The Cowgirls were picked to finish 12th in the 13-team field and had no preseason selections.
Stephen F. Austin was the overwhelming favorite to repeat as the men’s and women’s champions. The Lumberjacks received 17 of the 24 first-place votes after finishing 28-3 last season.
The Cowboys are coming off a 15-17 season in which they broke or tied 14 school and SLC records, led by Kuxhausen who set five records. They finished 10-10 in the SLC to qualify for the conference tournament for the first time in four seasons.
Kuxhausen set records for 3-pointers in a season (125), 3-pointers made per game (3.9), 3-pointers made (10) and attempts (18) in a game, and 3-point shooting percentage in season (45.8).
Kuxhausen, who averaged 14.7 points per game, also led all Division I in made 3-pointers, ranked second in 3-pointers made per game and was third in 3-point percentage.
Fellow senior A.J. Lawson earned second-team honors from the SLC. Lawson is McNeese’s top returning scorer after he averaged 15.2 points per game.
“I really don’t take a lot of credence in preseason polls,” said Heath Schroyer, who enters this third season as Cowboys head coach. “I really like our team. We have more depth than we have ever had since I have been here. I have not been that excited since I have been here.”
In a school news release, Kacie Cryer said she wasn’t concerned where her team was in the preseason polls.
“It’s not about where you start, but where you finish,”she said.
The Cowgirls, who were 5-24 last season and finished last in the SLC, enter their fifth season under Cryer.
Rick Hickman