Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Picked as Preseason Favorite in Patriot League, McNaughton Named Preseason Player of the Year
10/19/2006 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 19, 2006
Bucknell quotes from Patriot League Media Day
AP Story from Patriot League Media Day
Patriot League Preseason Poll Release
LEWISBURG, Pa. - For the third straight year, the Bucknell men's basketball team has been picked as the preseason favorite in the Patriot League, the league office announced at Thursday's annual media day event held at the ESPN Zone in Baltimore. In each of the last two seasons, the Bison have proven the pundits correct, winning Patriot League titles as well as NCAA Tournament first-round games. In 2006-07, they will try to make it three in a row.
Also on Thursday it was announced that senior center Chris McNaughton (Leutershausen, Germany/Dientzenhofer Gymnasium) has been named the Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year. The preseason poll, player of the year and all-league voting was done by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
Bucknell received 12 of a possible 14 first-place votes (team representatives may not vote for their own team or players in the polls) and topped the poll with 96 points. Holy Cross received three first-place votes and 86 points, while American was awarded the final first-place vote and was third in the poll with 70 points. Lehigh (64) was fourth, followed by Colgate (48), Lafayette (35), Navy (31) and Army (18).
Joining McNaughton on the Patriot League Preseason Team are Keith Simmons and Torey Thomas of Holy Cross, Jose Olivero of Lehigh and Andre Ingram of American.
McNaughton, a two-time First Team All-Patriot League selection, was also named the preseason player of the year prior to the 2005-06 campaign, but teammate Charles Lee ended up claiming league MVP honors at season's end.
McNaughton is one of the area's premier big men. The 6'11" center is a team captain this winter, when he will look to solidify his standing as one of Bucknell's all-time great post players. He has played in 94 straight games entering the 2005-06 season and has a career 12.3 scoring average while shooting 60.8 percent from the field, the second-best career mark in school history. McNaughton also ranks 20th on the career scoring list with 1,158 points.
In addition to his prowess on the floor, McNaughton is an outstanding student in Bucknell's difficult electrical engineering program. He was named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District Team last season, and he has been the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year in both 2005 and 2006.
Last season the Bison won a school-record 27 games against only five losses and became the first team in league and program history to be ranked in the top 25. Bucknell's 2005 NCAA Tournament victory over Kansas and its 2006 NCAA win over Arkansas are the only two NCAA victories in school and league annals.
The Bison began preseason practice last Friday and will host Mansfield in an exhibition game at Sojka Pavilion on Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. The season opener is Nov. 11 at Albany, with the home opener to follow on Nov. 14 against Wake Forest.
