The graduation of key starters and off-season coaching changes both contributed to the Tabor College basketball teams losing ground in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference pre-season media and coaches polls Oct. 17 at Friends University in Wichita.
For the women, the Bluejays were rated sixth overall after finishing second a season ago.
The Bluejays lost Donya Anderson, Nicole Ellis and Emily Vogts to graduation, and will be in their first season under coach Shawn Winter.
“It’s not surprising, being picked sixth—we lost some good players,” Winter said. “But I think not everybody is aware of the personnel we do have.”
Southwestern climbed from fourth in the spring standings to first in the polls.
“There’s a lot more balance in the conference this year than there has been the last several years,” Winter said.
“In my mind, there’s not one team that really rises to the top.
“The polls are good for a lot of people, but it doesn’t really mean a lot for coaches—it matters a whole lot more where you finish than where you start,” he added.
After six years at the top of the conference under Rusty Allen, the 2007 Bluejays continue to set the bar high.
“I think we have the players we need to compete at the top of our conference,” Winter said. “If we remain healthy and have a couple players come back full-force from injury, I think we have a team that can compete for a conference championship.
“But a lot of things have to go your way, and you have to stay healthy and come together at the right time down the stretch to make that happen,” he added.
Entering Micah Ratzlaff’s first season at the helm, the Tabor men were picked ninth by both coaches and media.
The Bluejays graduated Greg Munroe, Andy Brubacher and Tyler Weinbrenner from last year’s squad that finished fourth at 9-9.
“We kind of expected to drop, to a certain degree, because we lost all-conference players with Andy and Tyler, and Greg was ‘Newcomer of the Year’—and that adds up to about 50 points a game,” Ratzlaff said.
“A lot of the guys we brought in...not a lot of people really know who they are, so they’ve got some stuff to prove.
“I think our rank is motivation for us to go out and play hard and do the best we can,” he added.
Kansas Wesleyan, the 2007 KCAC champion, slid four places and was picked fifth.
Southwestern moved up from its third-place finish and sits in the top spot.
Don Brubacher, whose name remains synonymous with Tabor basketball after 25 years with the team, passed the baton to Ratzlaff during the off-season.
KCAC Men’s Basketball
Coaches Poll
1. Southwestern (9) 99
2. Friends (1) 78
3. Ottawa 77
4. Bethany 63
5. Kansas Wesleyan 59
6. Sterling 55
7. McPherson 44
8. Bethel 36
9. Tabor 25
10. Saint Mary 14
Media Poll
1. Southwestern (10) 103
2. Friends 89
3. Ottawa 79
4. Sterling 72
5. Kansas Wesleyan (1) 71
6. Bethel 55
7t. Bethany 43
7t. McPherson 43
9. Tabor 35
10. Saint Mary 15
KCAC Women’s Basketball
Coaches Poll
1. Southwestern (6) 96
2. Sterling (2) 83
3. Friends 71
4. McPherson 62
5. Ottawa 53
6. Tabor (1) 49
7. Bethel 40
8. Kansas Wesleyan (1) 59
9. Bethany 63
10. Saint Mary 14
Media Poll
1. Southwestern (9) 90
5. Ottawa 70
2. Sterling 68
3. Friends 59
4. McPherson 54
6. Tabor 48
8. Kansas Wesleyan 45
9. Bethany 26
7. Bethel 22
10. Saint Mary
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