The IUS men’s and women’s basketball teams were recently ranked No. 1 in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference coaches’ polls.
Both teams finished the 2010-11 season with winning records of 26-7 and 21-11. Each team has a history of success in conference and regular season victories, and Joe Glover, athletic director, said he predicts this season will be no different.
“I was really thrilled to see the rank of both teams as preseason No. 1,” Glover said. “It was no surprise. They work really hard, and it’s really a testament to the coaching staff and the players for all their hard work.”
Robin Farris, IUS women’s basketball head coach, said one of the initial concerns was the loss of senior talent at the end of last season, but the team has adjusted to their new roster.
“I was actually a little surprised [with the rank] simply because we had so many seniors that graduated,” Farris said. “I think we are capable of that, but I was surprised that the raters put us in the top 20 because we did lose a lot of key players.”
The coaches’ poll put the women’s team in the top rank with five first place votes and a total of 44 points.
The women’s team opened their season with a one-point loss against Saint Francis University but picked up victories against Goshen College and Mid-Continent University.
Farris is in his 23rd season at IU Southeast and said he would like to see another end of season victory for the team.
He said there is work that needs to be done to help the team improve, but he believes the team will rise to the occasion.
“It’s hard to improve on [last season’s] record, but one area we are looking to improve on is defense, because we lost two very good defensive guards,” Farris said.
Farris said the team has six new players who are ready to step up and play ball at the college level.
“I think the new players have an ability to make an impact right away — they already have,” he said.
Farris said he sees great potential in the team’s veteran players.
The team is returning their leading scorer and point guard, Ashmere Woods, general studies junior.
Woods said, as a leader of the team, she is happy with the preseason rank and believes it was earned from how hard they have worked in previous seasons.
“I figured we would be No. 1,” Woods said. “We’ve been the best — we are the best — for the last three years in [our] conference.”
For the men’s team, the KIAC had no hesitation with putting them at the top of the preseason poll.
The Grenadiers, as defending conference champions, took five first place votes and totaled 61 points in the poll.
Beginning this season, the men’s team lost their first game against Georgetown College but won against Mid-Continent University and Miami University.
Glover said the loss of key players from last season is not detrimental to the team.
“If you would have asked me two weeks ago if losing players from last season would affect the team, I would have said ‘yes’,” Glover said. “Both teams have already been in action this year, and they have just beyond wowed me.”
These are the third IUS teams this year that have been named No. 1 in the KIAC coaches’ poll.
“This brings a lot of great exposure to our Athletics Department within the region,” Glover said. “Our conference has schools from multiple states, so to have that kind of notoriety in our area is great. It does a lot for our programs, and it does a lot for our university pride.”
By HANNA WOODS
Staff
hrwoods@umail.iu.edu