MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University men's basketball team has been selected to finish fifth in the Sunshine State Conference preseason poll, as voted on by the league's coaches and announced by the conference office on Thursday afternoon.
 
The Sharks collected 73 points with one first-place vote in the poll, trailing Lynn by a single poll point. The Florida Southern Moccasins earn the top spot following 95 total votes and six first-place votes in the preseason poll, after reaching the NCAA Regional semifinal in last year's tournament. Reaching the NCAA elite eight last year before falling to eventual national champion Farris State, 2017-18 SSC regular season champion Barry was picked second in the poll voting with 84 total votes and two first-place votes. The defending SSC tournament champion, Eckerd lands third in the ranking after receiving 78 total votes and a first-place vote.
 
Nova Southeastern finished 2017-18 with an overall record of 17-10 and an 11-9 mark against Sunshine State Conference opposition in the first year under head coach Jim Crutchfield. The Sharks created the most-winning performance since joining the NCAA and also found their way into the top 25 for the first time in program history.
 
Picked at No. 8 in the DII Bulletin national preseason top 25, the Sharks return eight players from a year ago, led by D2CCA All-South Region point guard and SSC Newcomer of the Year David Dennis. In addition, starters Nick Smith and Dwayne Gibson are back for the Sharks. The trio amounted to 43.2 points, 16.0 rebounds, 11.3 assists and 6.3 steals per game last season.
 
Last year, the Sharks ranked fifth in the NCAA in scoring offense (90.1 PPG) and fourth in steals (10.2 SPG), while engineering the fifth-largest turnaround in the nation. Now in year two under Crutchfield, the Sharks welcome seven newcomers – including four transfers.

The Sharks open up their 2018-19 slate on Nov. 9 in the "Shark Tank" at Rick Case Arena, starting up in a key matchup against defending Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion Claflin (now in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) in a 7:00 p.m. matchup.
 
Below are the full results of the 2018-19 SSC preseason coaches' poll. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their teams (points: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, first-place votes in parentheses). 
 
2018 - 19 SSC MEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON POLL

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 T8 T8 10 11

School (FPV) Florida Southern (6) Barry (2) Eckerd (1) Lynn (1) Nova Southeastern (1) Palm Beach Atlantic Rollins Embry-Riddle Saint Leo Tampa Florida Tech

Total Votes 95 84 78 74 73 50 41 36 36 26 12