Rio men’s basketball picked atop RSC preseason poll
The University of Rio Grande was picked as the favorite in the 2025 River States Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll.
The poll, announced last Tuesday by the league office, saw each of the conference's 12 head coaches rank the other member schools in order of predicted finish.
Rio Grande was one of four schools to earn a first-place vote, finishing in the top spot on six of the 12 ballots and garnering 111 points in the balloting. The RedStorm finished 10-6 in conference play last season, falling one game short of winning the East Division title.
Head coach Ryan Arrowood's squad returns three All-Conference players from last season in senior Trey Robertson (Waverly), redshirt junior Jaelin Johnson (Fairmont, W.Va.) and senior Jaylin Fox (South Haven, Mich.).
IU Kokomo, which finished 11-5 and advanced to the conference semifinals last season, picked up two first place votes and finished second with 103 points.
Shawnee State, the reigning East Division champions with an 11-5 conference record, grabbed three first place votes and finished third with 98 points, while IU East (88 pts.) and IU Southeast (87 pts.) rounding out the top five.
The remainder of the poll saw defending champions St. Mary-of-the-Woods sixth with 68 points and the final first-place vote to finish out the top half of the ranking, followed by WVU Tech (63 pts.) in seventh, Midway University (60 pts.) eighth, Brescia University (41 pts.) in ninth, Oakland City University (38 pts.) in 10th, league newcomer Kentucky Christian University (19 pts.) in 11th and Indiana University Columbus (16 pts.) 12th.
The River States Conference basketball season will begin on Thursday, Oct. 23, when Midway plays host to Union Commonwealth. Three other schools - IU Southeast, Kentucky Christian, and Brescia - will also play during the opening weekend.
The first scheduled conference game will also feature Midway, which will play host Rio Grande on Dec. 2.
The RSC Tournament is scheduled for Feb. 25, 28 and March 3, with the higher seed hosting each game of the tournament.