Jalen Moore named to Preseason All-Horizon League First Team

INDIANAPOLIS - After winning its first tournament title since 2009 and sharing last season’s regular season championship, Cleveland State has been voted the preseason favorite to capture the 2021-22 Horizon League men’s basketball championship, while Detroit Mercy’s Antoine Davis was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year as the Horizon League released the 2021-22 #HLMBB Preseason Poll and All-League Teams on Tuesday. Voting was done by the League’s head coaches, sports information directors and select media.

Davis has led the Horizon League in scoring in all three seasons at Detroit Mercy after finishing last season with 24.0 points, good for third in the country, while also ranking top-5 in the NCAA in 3-pointers made per game (3.8) and free-throw percentage (91.7). During Horizon League play, he finished with 24.5 points, shot over 40 percent from 3-point range and tallied 5.1 assists per game. Overall in 2020-21, Davis finished with 15 20-point games and five 30-point games including a 46-point performance during the opening round of the Horizon League Basketball Championships that set a new single-game championship record for points and made 3-pointers (10). The senior comes into this season ninth on the Horizon League’s all-time scoring list with 2,040 points and looks to become the first player in League history to be a four-time All-Horizon League First Team selection. This also marks the second time in his career Davis has been named the Preseason Player of the Year, having previously been selected in 2019.

Cleveland State captured 30 first-place votes to finish with 502 total points to claim first place in the poll for the first time since 2008. CSU ended last season 19-8 overall and 16-4 during League play. The Vikings were tabbed No. 16 in the final CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll after reaching their first NCAA Tournament since 2009.

Joining Davis on the Preseason All-Horizon League First Team are Cleveland State’s Torrey Patton, Milwaukee’s Patrick Baldwin Jr., Jalen Moore of Oakland and Grant Basile of Wright State.

Patton was the offensive spark for the Vikings last season after averaging 14.7 points per game, shooting over 46 percent from the floor and grabbing 8.0 rebounds. In addition, Patton earned All-Horizon League First Team honors and was named the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship’s Tournament MVP. Baldwin Jr. is the highest-ranked high school recruit to ever sign with a Horizon League program as the first-year player was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the highest-ranked players in the 2021 class. The McDonald’s All-American was considered the No. 4 player nationally in the class of 2021 and was named the 2020 Gatorade Wisconsin Player of the Year after averaging 24.3 points and 10.8 rebounds in his final full season in high school. Moore led the nation in assists last season with 8.4 per game and also ranked third in the HL with 17.9 points en route to being named to the All-Horizon League First Team. He ended 2020-21 totaling 13 20-point games, 12 double-digit assist efforts and 10 double-doubles. Basile was an All-Horizon League Second Team honoree last season after averaging 15.0 points on a League-best 61.7 percent shooting, which also ranked seventh nationally. He also grabbed over seven boards a game and led the HL with 1.63 blocks per contest.

The Preseason All-Horizon League Second Team is represented by four different institutions and is led by 2020-21 All-Horizon League First Team selection Tanner Holden of Wright State and last season’s Freshman of the Year Marques Warrick of Northern Kentucky. Joining the duo are Northern Kentucky’s Trevon Faulkner, an All-HL Second Team selection last season, Purdue Fort Wayne’s Jarred Godfrey, an All-League Third Team honoree in 2020-21, and Milwaukee’s DeAndre Gholston.

Coming in second in the preseason poll with 463 total points and nine first-place votes is Wright State who shared last season’s regular season title with Cleveland State, followed in third place by Northern Kentucky after a third-straight appearance in the tournament semifinals with 406 total votes and one first-place votes.

Milwaukee is fourth in the preseason poll with 396 points and two first-place votes coming off a run to the semifinals of the Horizon League Basketball Championships last season after knocking off the top-seeded Raiders in overtime, just ahead of fifth-place Detroit Mercy with 350 total points and the final two first-place votes after earning the No. 5 seed at the championship last season.

In sixth place in the poll is Oakland for the second-straight season as the Golden Grizzlies are coming off their first appearance in the HL championship game in 2020-21. Youngstown State is No. 7 in the preseason poll coming off a 9-11 record during #HLMBB play last season.

UIC came in eighth in the poll with 204 points, followed by Purdue Fort Wayne with 169 points and RMU with 157. Rounding out the poll is Green Bay with 146 points and IUPUI with 85.

The regular season will start on Tuesday, Nov. 9, and Horizon League play is scheduled to begin on Thursday, Dec. 2. The 2022 Horizon League Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships are scheduled to culminate at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis March 7-8. More information on the championships can be found at HorizonLeague.com/Indy.

2021-22 #HLMBB Preseason Poll Results

Pl. School (1st-place) – Votes

1. Cleveland State (30) – 502

2. Wright State (9) – 463

3. Northern Kentucky (1) – 406

4. Milwaukee (2) – 396

5. Detroit Mercy (2) – 350

6. Oakland – 340

7. Youngstown State – 214

8. UIC – 204

9. Purdue Fort Wayne – 169

10. RMU – 157

11. Green Bay – 146

12. IUPUI - 85

Preseason Player of the Year

Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy

Preseason All-League First Team (alphabetical order by school)

Torrey Patton, Cleveland State

Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy

Patrick Baldwin Jr., Milwaukee

Jalen Moore, Oakland

Grant Basile, Wright State

Preseason All-League Second Team (alphabetical order by school)

DeAndre Gholston, Milwaukee

Trevon Faulkner, Northern Kentucky

Marques Warrick, Northern Kentucky

Jarred Godfrey, Purdue Fort Wayne

Tanner Holden, Wright State