From IUP Sports Information
The IUP men’s basketball team sits at No. 3 in the preseason rankings of the recently released 2018-19 Street & Smith’s Basketball Yearbook.
In addition, senior forward Jacobo Diaz was tabbed a preseason first team All-American by the publication.
IUP’s Atlantic Region rival West Liberty was ranked No. 1 with Bellarmine at No. 2. Lincoln Memorial and West Texas A&M round out the top five. Other teams in Street & Smith’s top 10 includes Saint Anselm at No. 6, Virginia State at No. 7, Southern Nazarene at No. 8, St. Cloud State at No. 9, and Cal Poly Pomona at No. 10.
The Crimson Hawks return three starters from last year’s Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West regular season title team. Among those is Diaz, who has scored 1,153 in three seasons at IUP. He’s a two-time All-PSAC West pick, and was the division’s player of the year and an All-American as a sophomore in 2016-17.
Senior guard Dante Lombardi also returns for his third year as the Crimson Hawks’ starting point. He’s a three-time PSAC honoree who ranks sixth in school history with 397 assists.
Senior forward Willem Brandwijk returns in the post after starting 29 games in his first year at IUP last season. Junior guard Malik Miller averaged 10.3 points per game off the bench last year and has been a top reserve each of his two years on campus.
