The Great Lakes Valley Conference released their 2023-24 Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll on Thursday and Upper Iowa was chosen to finish eighth after amassing 78 points. The poll is determined by the league's 14 head coaches, who are not permitted to vote for their own team.
The University of Indianapolis was picked to win this year's GLVC men's basketball title. They totaled 169 total points with 13 first-place votes. The Greyhounds earned the regular season title and were the top seed in the Championship Tournament this past year.
UIndy men's basketball is led by the reigning GLVC Coach of the Year Paul Corsaro, who enters his fourth campaign after a 26-5 overall and 17-3 GLVC record in 2022-23. They return Player of the Year Kendrick Tchoua and fellow unanimous First Team All-GLVC selection Jesse Bingham, who was also a member of the All-Defensive team.
Upper Iowa collected their first-ever conference championship last season as they tied for a share of the NSIC South title after going 13-9 in conference play. They look to piggyback on their success as they head into their debut season with the GLVC in 2023-24.
Brooks McKowen enters his eleventh season as the head coach of Peacock men's basketball. He holds an overall record of 166-129 and a 120-90 mark in the NSIC.
While the Peacocks graduated NSIC Defensive Player of the Year
Lucas Duax and starting center
Dylan Jones, they return a plethora of talent alongside a group of newcomers consisting of transfers and freshmen.
At the head of the helm is senior guard
Jake Hilmer, who finished last season with a collection of awards. The Walker, Iowa product became the first Upper Iowa men's basketball player to be named as the NSIC South Division Player of the Year following the 2022-23 season and garnered an All-NSIC First Team selection. Hilmer was also named to both the D2 Conference Commissioners Association's All-Central Region First Team and the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-Central District First Team.
Upper Iowa also welcomes back senior forward
Nick Reid, who was awarded Second Team All-NSIC last season after stringing together 14.3 points per game (41 percent from the floor) and 8.9 boards per contest (tied for first in NSIC). Reid was effective from downtown as he shot 38.2 percent from behind the arc, knocking down a team-high 68-178.
The program can expect to see immediate impact from several newcomers, two of them being junior transfer
Noah King and graduate transfer
Christian Haffner. King comes to the program from Kirkwood Community College where he earned Second Team All-American honors, as well as a two-time All-Region selection. He averaged 16.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.
Haffner comes to Upper Iowa after several successful seasons as a collegiate athlete. He was a walk-on at Marquette University in 2015-16 before transitioning to Utah State Eastern in 2019-20. He then played for Des Moines Area Community College in 2020-21, notching a Second Team All-Conference nod and helping the Bears reach their JUCO National Championship title. At Saint Martin's, Haffner registered 7.6 points per game in two seasons behind 282 career-made three-pointers and a 41 percent shooting performance from the field.
The Peacocks will open their 2023-24 slate on Nov. 11-12 at the JustAgame crossover, matching up against Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech.
Conference play for UIU begins on Dec. 2 as the squad travels to Kirksville, Mo. to take on Truman State. Their first home game is penciled in for Dec. 5 as they host North Central University (MN) in a non-conference matchup.
Full details on the preseason poll are listed below.
| Place |
School |
Points (1st-Place Votes) |
| 1. |
Indianapolis |
169 (13) |
| 2. |
Illinois Springfield |
155 (1) |
| 3. |
Missouri-St. Louis |
128 |
| 4. |
William Jewell |
118 |
| 5. |
McKendree |
117 |
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14. |
Missouri S&T
Southwest Baptist
Upper Iowa
Quincy
Lewis
Rockhurst
Drury
Maryville
Truman State |
97
84
78
69
63
61
51
46
38 |
