MIAA basketball preseason polls release
Oct. 12—The MIAA preseason polls released on Tuesday with neither Missouri Western men's nor women's programs at the top.
The women's program was tabbed higher than they had been in the past. This time they were tabbed fifth in the media poll and fourth in the coaches poll.
It was a magical year for the Western women's team that graduated just one senior a year ago, they reached the Division II Elite for the first time since 1995 until falling to No. 6 Grand Valley State in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
It's been a steady incline for head coach Candi Whitaker and the program. Whitaker inherited many seniors her first year as coach and went 21-8. The program had to then hit the reset button when the COVID-19 pandemic put a damper on the following season. In her third year was when the program started to turn heads with their long playoff run. Heading into year four, Whitaker says she likes where the program is.
"Love our group. We have built strong relationships our staff has with our team. Our teammates are fantastic. One of the things I love most about this team was just how much they support one another. You can see that on the bench," Whitaker said. "I had a lot of coaches stop me in July recruiting and not ask me about the Elite Eight. They wanted to talk about our bench and how much they support one another."
The Western men were found in the middle of the pack in both preseason polls, being tabbed seventh in the coaches poll and sixth in the media poll.
2021-22 was a bit of a seesaw-type of year for head coach Will Martin and company. They at one point had a six-game win streak during their season only to follow it up with a six-game losing streak later. The Griffons return three starters including key returners in Will Eames and Taye Fields.
It's been Martin's hope to coach his team to be the best defensive team in the conference and they will seek to improve on their ninth-ranked defense a year ago.
"It's about toughness, it's about grit, it's about emotional fortitude to be able to bounce back. Maybe I didn't guard my yard one possession or maybe I wasn't in the gap but I'm gonna take the next best action and make sure that I'm scrambling like crazy and I'm communicating with my teammates so that we can get a stop," Martin said.
The Western women begin their season on Oct. 26 when they travel to Creighton for exhibition play and the men will host Benedictine on Oct. 21 and then travel to Lexington, Kentucky to face off against the University of Kentucky. Both games for the men are exhibition play.
Jacob Meikel can be reached at jacob.meikel@newspressnow.com.
Follow him on Twitter @NPNowMeikel.
