Wildcats Ranked No. 19 in NAIA Preseason Top-25 Poll

BALDWIN CITY - With the season opener less than a week away, Baker men's basketball came in at No. 19 in the NAIA Men's Basketball Coaches' Top-25 Preseason Poll that was released on Wednesday.

The Wildcats, who never appeared in the top-25 last year, are the lone Heart of America team to sit in the national rankings this year with Peru State being the only other team to even receive votes for the poll.

Baker was picked as the conference frontrunner after receiving 12 of the 13 first-place votes in the Heart Coaches' Preseason Poll that was announced earlier this month. The Bobcats garnered the other first-place vote and were projected to finish second.

Beginning their 13th year under head coach Sean Dooley, the Wildcats are coming off an incredible 2023-24 season that saw them post their second straight 20-win season (23-10) and secure back-to-back trips to the NAIA Tournament for the first time in program history. The Wildcats also earned their first-ever victory in the national tournament with a 74-71 win over No. 7 SAGU in the first round.

Baker marked the program's most conference wins in a season after going 18-6 in Heart play to finish as the regular-season runner-up, the Wildcats' highest finish in the conference standings since 1989. BU played in and hosted a Heart Championship game as another first-time milestone for the program.

The Wildcats roster features four returning All-Heart players in Quentin Harvey, Ty Henry, Korey Jones and Noah Rigatuso with both Harvey (17.3 ppg) and Rigatuso (16.7 ppg) earning first-team honors after leading the team in scoring last year. Henry was named to the All-Heart Second Team, while Jones picked up an honorable-mention nod.

Baker opens up the 2024-25 season with a road matchup at Ottawa on Monday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m.

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