RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – With just a month away from tipoff of the 2024-25 basketball season, the Southeastern Oklahoma State men's basketball program was voted third in the Great American Conference Preseason Poll, the league announced Thursday.
Last year's GAC Tournament Champions, Arkansas Tech, was selected to defend its title, garnering the most total votes and first-place nods with 114 and seven, respectively. Oklahoma Baptist received the second most points with 100 total votes and three first-place votes, while Southeastern earned 91 points in third. Northwestern Oklahoma State (4
th) and Harding (5
th) split the final two first-place tallies.
The Savage Storm captured its second regular-season title in three years last season after compiling a 23-9 record and an 18-4 conference mark. In
Kelly Green's 14
th season as SE's head coach, the program has ended the year in the top two in five of the last six seasons and has made the GAC Tournament 11 times.
Southeastern has eight players back from the 2023-24 team that made the GAC semi-finals and won the regular season. Among those returners are
Landon Condiff,
Chandler Dickinson and
Robert Briley, who all featured in 30 games last year. Briley led the Storm at the glass a year ago with 5.6 rebounds per game and is the highest scorer back after seeing 8.9 points per contest. Condiff held a 39.7 percent mark from the three-point line in 2023-24 and totaled the third most triples with 50, while Dickinson averaged 5.5 points per game, shooting 41.4 percent from the field and 32.2 percent from deep.
Additionally, the Savage Storm bring back
Elijah Hughey,
Jalen Williams,
Santiago Camacho Gomez,
Brady Brister and
Jayden Bridgeman, who all played in ten or more games last season.
The SE lineup in 2024-25 will also include many new faces, as the Southeastern coaching staff bolstered the roster in the offseason, adding nine new players after the departures of
Brennen Burns,
Kody Clouet,
Kyle Leslie, and
Jett Sternberger.
Southeastern opens the season at the GAC/NSIC Challenge against Minnesota-Duluth and Minot State on Nov. 8 and 9 in Duluth, Minn. SE will then return home for a six-game home stretch, starting on Saturday, Nov. 16, versus Dallas Christian.
2024-25 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
| Team |
Total Votes |
First-Place Votes |
| Arkansas Tech |
114 |
7 |
| Oklahoma Baptist |
100 |
3 |
| Southeastern Oklahoma State |
91 |
|
| Northwestern Oklahoma State |
80 |
1 |
| Harding |
76 |
1 |
| Southern Nazarene |
67 |
|
| Southern Arkansas |
64 |
|
| Henderson State |
59 |
|
| Arkansas-Monticello |
39 |
|
| Southwestern Oklahoma State |
29 |
|
| Ouachita Baptist |
19 |
