The Midwest Conference released its 2022-23 Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll on Friday and Lake Forest College was listed six in the rankings.
Voting is done by the MWC head men's basketball coaches. Each coach votes for the other eight schools in the league in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (eight points for first, seven for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
Defensive league champion Ripon College was atop the poll with 64 points and garnered all but one of the first place votes. Illinois College was ranked second with 56 points, followed by Cornell College with 47 and Grinnell College with 43. With 32 points, Lake Forest was just one behind fifth-place Lawrence University.
The Foresters return nine players from last year's team that posted a 9-7 record in MWC play and tied for fifth place in the conference standings. Among the returners is Johnny Roeser, the league's leading rebounder, a Second Team All-MWC selection and the MWC Newcomer of the Year last season.
Ryan Davis will begin his second season as the Foresters head coach at Lakeland University on Tuesday, November 8. Lake Forest will play its home opener against Benedictine University a week later and will start conference play against Grinnell College on Saturday, November 19. The top four teams in the conference will qualify for the MWC Tournament, which will be hosted by the league champion February 24-25.
The Foresters have advanced to five of the last six MWC Tournaments.
PLACE | TEAM (First Place Votes) | POINTS |
1 | Ripon College (8) | 64 |
2 | Illinois College | 56 |
3 | Cornell College | 47 |
4 | Grinnell College (1) | 43 |
5 | Lawrence University | 33 |
6 | Lake Forest College | 32 |
7 | Knox College | 19 |
8t | Monmouth College | 15 |
8t | Beloit College | 15 |