The University of Maine men’s basketball team was ranked fifth out of nine teams in the America East conference preseason poll released Wednesday.
It’s the highest selection UMaine has earned since the 2010-11 preseason.
“We don’t put a ton of weight in the poll,” second-year head coach Chris Markwood said. “We set high expectations for ourselves, and now it’s time to live up to them.”
The team is coming off its best season in 12 years, finishing with a 7-9 record against America East opposition and a 13-17 record overall. UMaine was eliminated in the first round of the conference tournament.
It’s a big jump for the Black Bears, who were ranked ninth in the 2022-23 preseason poll after a 6-23 record the year prior.
Last year’s advancement was keyed by Markwood, NCAA steals leader Kellen Tynes and the team’s leading scorer Gedi Juozapaitis.
Markwood, a South Portland native and UMaine basketball alumnus, will be without the graduated Juozapaitis this season, but has a much deeper roster otherwise.
In addition to returning Tynes, America East All-Rookie Team Member Jaden Clayton, Sixth Man of the Year finalist Peter Filipovity and two other members of last year’s starting five, the Black Bears have recruited several key pieces this offseason, including sharpshooter Okay Djamgouz and big man Adam Cisse.
“We have a really talented team,” Tynes, the reigning NCAA Division I steals champ, said. “The freshmen are smart, and the transfers have experience and are hungry to play. It’s going to be tough this year for coach — we have a lot of guys that can play.”
The increased depth on UMaine’s roster has made practices much more competitive, with players trying to separate themselves from the pack before the season starts in late November. It’s still unclear who this year’s starting five will be.
“It’s a good thing we don’t know yet,” Markwood said about his prospective starting five. “We brought in a lot of talented pieces that are going to fight for those spots. You can’t compete for championships until you can compete in the locker room; that healthy competition will drive everything.”
Ranked ahead of UMaine in the poll are No. 1 Vermont, which swept the season series against UMaine last year, and No. 2 UMass-Lowell, which bounced UMaine from the America East tournament.
UVM had a 14-2 record against conference opposition, and ended up winning the tournament en route to qualifying for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
UMaine has never qualified for the NCAA tournament.
“We’re really excited about this group,” Markwood said. “We have a really high ceiling, if it all starts to click.”
