LOCK HAVEN, Pa. — With the calendar getting closer to the ESU men's basketball team's season, the PSAC released its Coaches Poll on Thursday morning, ranking the Warriors second in the Eastern Division.
 
ESU finished fourth in the division last season, though the PSAC East title came down to the final game of the regular season. Coming off a 21-9 overall season with a 14-7 conference record, the East Stroudsburg returns 12 players from last year, bringing in four freshmen and reuniting with another Warrior who last played in 2024. Both of last season's captains, guard Davon Lee and forward Jalen Pichardo, are back this year to lead the team, as are both of their standout underclassmen, guard Keni Williams and forward Adrian Brito, the 2026 PSAC East Freshman of the Year. Eight of the 11 players who averaged double-digit minutes per game are back for ESU in 2026-27, and that doesn't include forward Kevin Coleman, who started four games to start the season last year, and guard Tyshawn Trail, a regular in the starting five in 2023-24.
 
Since 2017-18, the Warriors have posted a .700 or better overall winning percentage, finishing at least tied for first in the East in four of those eight seasons. Over the Warriors' last four seasons, they've won 20-plus games each time, going a combined 90-30. The only other four-year stretches ESU has had a better winning percentage were 1931-32 to 1934-35 (54-16 (.7711)) and 1939-40 to 1942-43 (53-13 (.803)).
 
Across the rest of the division, West Chester was narrowly selected to finish above ESU, coming in first with four votes. The last vote went to Shepherd, who was picked above Millersville and Shippensburg. The final three teams, Bloomsburg, Kutztown, and Mansfield, were voted in the order they finished last year. Lock Haven, last year's sixth seed in the PSAC East, has moved over to the Western Division.
 
The Warriors kick off the year the same way they did last year at the PSAC/CIAA Conference Challenge, taking on Bowie State and Virginia State in Petersburg, Va., on Nov. 13.
 
PSAC East Preseason Poll

Rank	Institution (# of First-Place Votes)
1	West Chester (4)
2	East Stroudsburg (3)
3	Shepherd (1)
4	Millersville
5	Shippensburg
6	Bloomsburg
7	Kutztown
8	Mansfield

PSAC West Preseason Poll

Rank	Institution (# of First-Place Votes)
1	Gannon (8)
2	Indiana (Pa.)
3	California (Pa.) (1)
4	Slippery Rock
5	Seton Hill
6	Pitt-Johnstown
7	Edinboro
8	Clarion
9	Lock Haven