For the third straight year, Washington University in St. Louis has been selected as the front-runner to capture the University Athletic Association men’s basketball title according to the annual head coaches’ poll. The Bears enter the 2009-10 season coming off back-to-back national titles and UAA titles and three consecutive trips to the “Final Four.” Washington finished the 2008-09 season with a 13-1 UAA record and a 29-2 overall record. Washington also enters the season as the favorite in the nation according to the D3hoops.com preseason poll.

Washington received seven first-place votes to lead the 2009-10 coaches poll. Brandeis University finished second and received the remaining first-place vote. The Judges are coming off an 18-9 season after falling to Franklin & Marshall College in the “Second Round” of the NCAA Division III championship. Rounding out the remaining teams in the poll, in order, are the University of Rochester, New York University, the University of Chicago, Case Western Reserve University, Carnegie Mellon University, and Emory University.

The Bears, who graduated one member from last year’s national championship team, will turn to graduate student Sean Wallis and senior Aaron Thompson. Thompson, who was named the 2008-09 UAA Player of the Year, was second in the Association in points per game with 18.0 and led the UAA with 96 three-pointers made. The senior has also been named the 2009 DIII News Preseason Player of the Year. Wallis, who received All-Association First Team honors, averaged 11.1 points per game and was first in the UAA in assists with 123 in Association play, averaging 8.8 assists per game last season.

Brandeis seeks to return to the NCAA tournament for a fourth consecutive season and returns five players who made at least eight starts. The Judges will look to All-Association Second Team seniors Andre Roberson and Kenny Small. Roberson, who led the team in assists (4.9 apg) and steals (1.5 spg), was second in assists and fourth in steals in Association play. Small averaged 11.5 points per game, with 13.8 points per game as a starter including the last seven games of the season, and also led the UAA in free throw percentage (.849).

Rochester will return 11 letterwinners and three starters from a team that finished 16-9 overall and 7-7 in the UAA. The Yellowjackets will look to junior Matt Murphy, junior Mike Labanowski, and sophomore Nate Novosel, last year’s UAA Rookie of the Year. Murphy, who played in 23 games last season, tallied 18 assists and seven steals, playing less than 10 minutes a night. Before suffering a season-ending knee injury, Labanowski averaged 11.6 ppg while making 34 three-pointers last season. Also watch for sophomore Nate Novosel, who recorded 23 blocks, 10.6 ppg, and 5.9 rpg while leading the UAA in field goal percentage with a .590 in 25 games played.

NYU will return four starters, including junior guard D.J. Glavan (9.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.3 apg) who received UAA honorable mention recognition. The junior will be joined by seniors Omar Meziab (5.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 82.6 FT%), Keith Jensen (11.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg), and Richie Polan (11.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg), who have started together for the previous two seasons, with Glavan joining the starting five last winter.

Chicago looks to build on the momentum it gained last year as it won five of its last nine games. The Maroons finished with a 6-19 overall mark and a 6-8 Association record, following the 2007-08 season where they won the UAA championship. Two key returning players to watch are senior forward John Kinsella (10.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg) and senior guard Jake Pancratz (10.8 ppg, 3.0 apg). Kinsella who named to the All-Association Second Team last year, while Pancratz received UAA honorable mention recognition.

Case, a team that won more UAA games than any other Spartans team since 1999, returns five of its top seven scorers and three leading rebounders. Three key players to watch are senior guard Brian Erce, junior forward Eric Duerr, and junior Reid Anderson. Erce led all guards in field goal percentage (.455), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3), and free throw attempts (83) while scoring nine points per game. Duerr finished second in the Association in blocks (37) and offensive rebounds (55). Anderson finished seventh in the UAA with 14.3 ppg last year. Anderson also finished in the top-10 in the UAA in three-point field goal percentage (.387), free throw percentage (.747), and three-pointers made (46).

Carnegie Mellon, which fell in the second round of the NCAA Division III championship last year, looks to return eight letterwinners including two starters, senior guard Jack Anderson and junior forward Shane Rife. Anderson was the second leading scorer last season, averaging 14.1 points per game and scoring double figures in 22 of 27 games. The junior played in 25 games and was the team’s third leading scorer, averaging 9.2 points per game, while grabbing 3.6 rebounds per game and was second on the team with 21 blocks.

Emory looks to return 11 letterwinners from last year’s squad under the guidance of third season Head Coach Jason Zimmerman. The Eagles will look to three seniors to help guide them in the 2009-2010 in Anthony Fernandez, Chad Hixon, both of whom received UAA honorable mentions, and Daniel Curtin. The 6-foot-4 Fernandez ranked in the top-10 among UAA players in point production as he averaged 14.0 ppg. Senior forward Hixon was second on the team in points (9.9 ppg) and second in the conference in rebounding (6.2 rpg). Senior Daniel Curtin is back for his fourth season after averaging 9.4 points per game while converting a team-high 36 three pointers made.

The 2009-10 season opens on Sunday November 15, and Association play begins on December 5 with the University of Rochester traveling to Atlanta to face Emory University.