AUSTIN, Texas — St. Edward's men's basketball was picked to finish fourth in the 2026-27 Lone Star Conference preseason poll, with graduate student SEAN ELKINTON named to the league's Preseason Players to Watch list, announced Monday during LSC Hoops Week.
The Hilltoppers received 670 points and one first-place vote in polling of the conference's head coaches, sports information directors and media members.
St. Edward's enters the season coming off a 25-9 campaign that included a 13-7 conference record and a trip to the NCAA Division II South Central Regional semifinals. The Hilltoppers will look to build on that postseason success in a conference that sent six teams to the regional last season.
Elkinton, a Crosby, Texas, native, represents St. Edward's among the conference's 17 preseason players to watch. The student-athletes were nominated by their respective institutions.
Two-time defending regular-season and tournament champion DBU topped the poll with 841 points and 35 of the possible 51 first-place votes. Eastern New Mexico was picked second with 751 points and six first-place votes, followed by Lubbock Christian with 735 points and two first-place votes.
St. Edward's finished immediately ahead of Western New Mexico, which collected 657 points and four first-place votes. St. Mary's was selected sixth, followed by West Texas A&M, Angelo State and Texas A&M-Kingsville to complete the projected nine-team conference tournament field.
Oklahoma Christian senior guard Miles Gibson was named the LSC Preseason Player of the Year after averaging 17.6 points and 7.5 rebounds last season.
The nine-team LSC Tournament begins March 2 with an on-campus game, followed by games March 5-7 at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas.
LSC Hoops Week runs Oct. 19-23, with interviews from all 17 men's basketball programs available on the conference's YouTube channel.
2026-27 LSC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
| Place |
Team |
First-place votes |
Points |
| 1 |
DBU |
35 |
841 |
| 2 |
Eastern New Mexico |
6 |
751 |
| 3 |
Lubbock Christian |
2 |
735 |
| 4 |
St. Edward's |
1 |
670 |
| 5 |
Western New Mexico |
4 |
657 |
| 6 |
St. Mary's |
— |
615 |
| 7 |
West Texas A&M |
1 |
596 |
| 8 |
Angelo State |
1 |
499 |
| 9 |
Texas A&M-Kingsville |
— |
439 |
| 10 |
UT Tyler |
1 |
399 |
| 11 |
Oklahoma Christian |
— |
333 |
| 12 |
UT Dallas |
— |
316 |
| 13 |
UT Permian Basin |
— |
294 |
| 14 |
Midwestern State |
— |
260 |
| 15 |
Texas A&M International |
— |
200 |
| 16 |
Cameron |
— |
125 |
| 17 |
Sul Ross State |
— |
73 |
