Illinois Wesleyan, Millikin Take Top Spots In D3Hoops.com Preseason Poll

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – For only the second time in the seven-year history of D3Hoops.com, two schools from the same conference have earned the top preseason basketball ranking, with Illinois Wesleyan’s men and Millikin’s women both earning the No. 1 spot as announced Tuesday by the website.

D3Hoops.com, a site devoted to information on Division III basketball, ranked the Titans No. 1 in its annual Top 25 poll, while also placing Millikin at the top of the women’s poll. In addition, the Wheaton women cracked the top 25 at No. 11, while the Elmhurst men were No. 15.

Only once before has a team from the same conference earned both the No. 1 rankings by D3Hoops.com. During the 2002-03 season, Washington University, a member of the University Athletic Association, earned the No. 1 spot in both the men’s and women’s poll.

Additionally, Illinois Wesleyan earned the top spot in the preseason NCAA Division III rankings released by Street & Smith’s College Basketball magazine. Street & Smith also listed Keelan Amelianovich and Adam Dauksas on its all-America first team, after both led the Titans to a 21-5 record and a CCIW title last season. Illinois Wesleyan advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament, but lost to Hanover to end the season. Millikin is the defending NCAA Champion on the women’s side.

The Titans will scrimmage NCAA Division I runner-up University of Illinois at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 3 in Champaign, Ill., before beginning their season Nov. 18 in Crawfordsville, Ind., at the Wabash College Tournament against University of Texas-Dallas. Millikin opens its season Nov. 18 at home in the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament.