HUDSONVILLE, Mich. -- In a preseason poll of eight Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) men's basketball coaches, Calvin University is predicted to win the 2023-24 league title after garnering a total of seven points with all-possible first-place votes.

Trine University was tabbed-for-second in receiving the remaining first-place vote and a total of thirteen points, followed by Hope College in third with nineteen points.  Alma College (34 points) edged Kalamazoo College (35 points) by a point for fourth place.  Albion College claimed fifth place with 37 points, while The University of Olivet (38 points) and Adrian College (41 points) finished in seventh and eighth, respectively.

The Knights concluded the 2022-23 campaign as the regular-season champion.  Calvin recorded a 13-1 mark in league play and went 22-5 overall.  The Knight roster will be headlined by 2023 MIAA Most Valuable Player Jalen Overway, who is returning for his sophomore year, and two-time MIAA Most Valuable Defensive Player Uchenna Egekeze in his senior season.  In starting all 14 league contests, Overway concluded the season as the MIAA's leader with an .887 field-goal percentage, 45 offensive rebounds, 103 defensive boards, 148 total rebounds, and 10.6 rebounds per game.  Overway racked up numerous accolades in his inaugural year including USBWA National Player of the Week, D3hoops.com Region 7 Rookie of the Year and National Rookie of the Year, NABC All-District First Team and NABC All-America.  Recently, Overway was announced as a D3hoops.com Preseason All-American.  Egekeze finished the 2023 regular-season campaign in the MIAA's top 10 with 28 steals, 68 field goals, 449 minutes played, a .479 field-goal percentage, and 21 offensive rebounds.  He is a two-time All-MIAA honoree.

The Thunder wrapped up the 2022-23 regular season with a league record of 12-2 (22-4 overall).  Trine's roster will feature a duo of 2023 First Team All-MIAA forwards in their senior season: Emmanuel Megnanglo and two-time All-MIAA honoree Brent Cox.  Megnanglo, previously named MIAA Defensive Player of the Year in 2021, was the conference leader with 27 blocks during league play last season.  He also finished top ten in the conference with a field-goal percentage of .474, 22 offensive rebounds, 76 total boards, and 21 steals.  Cox was the league's runner-up with 248 points, 17.7 points per game, and 96 field goals.  He also landed in the top ten with 411 minutes played and 40 made free throws.  The Thunder also welcomes 2023 Second Team All-MIAA honoree Fred Garland who previously played at Albion.  The junior guard was the conference leader last season with 34.1 minutes per contest and 59 assists.

Hope won the 2023 MIAA Men's Basketball Tournament as the third seed and concluded the year with a 10-4 conference record (20-10 overall).  The Flying Dutchmen will look to 2023 Second Team All-MIAA honorees Clayton Dykhouse and Gabe Quillan.  Dykhouse, who is returning for a fifth year, is a two-time All-MIAA guard.  He was the league leader with 29 steals and finished in the top five with 457 minutes, 32.6 minutes per game, 54 free throws, a .794 free-throw percentage, and 51 assists.  Quillan was the runner-up in several categories including field-goal percentage (.556), offensive rebounds (40), total boards (112), and rebounds per contest (8.6).

Both the Scots and the Hornets finished the 2023 campaign with a 3-11 league record and an overall record of 6-19.  Alma will return senior guards Connor Riley (13.0 PPG), Tyshaun Walker (12.3 PPG), and Landen Moore-Pierce (10.4 PPG) who all averaged double-digits last year.  Riley also led the squad in average rebounds (6.4) and assists (2.6), while Walker led with 1.5 steals per contest.  Kalamazoo wrapped up the 2022-23 campaign with a conference record of 3-11 (5-20 overall).  Returning for the Hornets is senior Ty Horky who averaged 11.4 points per game, along with junior forward Lukas Broadsword who led Kalamazoo in both average rebounds (6.3) and assists (2.4).

Albion wrapped up 2022-23 with an overall record of 7-19 and a 4-10 mark in conference play.  Olivet earned a 7-7 split in league competition (12-15 overall), while Adrian finished the season with a 4-10 conference record (7-19 overall).

The 2023-24 men's basketball season gets underway on Tuesday, November 7.  League play begins on Wednesday, January 3, with Alma hosting Adrian at 7:30 p.m.

Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams.