College Men: Saint Louis picked to win the Conference USA again

Saint Louis, the 2000 regular-season and tournament champion, has been selected to win the 2001 regular season title in a vote taken by the league’s 11 head coaches. Billiken midfielder Brad Davis, the Conference USA Freshman of the Year last season, has been selected as the 2001 preseason Player of the Year. Saint Louis, which has earned at least a share of the last three regular-season titles, is seeking a fifth consecutive NCAA berth with the help of 10 returning starters and 17 returning letterwinners under first-year head coach Dan Donigan. The Billikens placed a league-high four players on the preseason all-league team. Joining Davis (11 goals, six assists) are forward/midfielder Jack Jewsbury(13 goals, 5 assists) the 2000 C-USA Player of the Year and defenders Jason Cole and Joe Hammes UAB, runner-up in the regular-season and tournament last season, has been selected to finish second once again. The Blazers return six starters from a team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season in 2000. UAB is represented on the preseason all-league team by forward Flavio Montero, the 1999 Conference USA Freshman of the Year who missed much of last season with injuries. Coming off a school-record 14 win last season, Memphis was chosen to finish third. The high-scoring Tigers placed its two leading scorers from a year ago on the preseason all-league team: forwards Sean Fraser and Lars Thorstensen. Fraser led Conference USA in scoring last season with 16 goals and 41 points, while Thorstensen netted 13 goals. South Florida has been picked to finish fourth, followed by Charlotte. The Bulls posted their fifth straight campaign with 10 or more wins last season and will look to forward Jeff Thwaites, a preseason all-league choice, to help them back to post season play this fall. Charlotte improved by four games last season and is ready for even greater heights this fall with the help of its two preseason honorees: forward Juan Munoz-Airey and defender David McGill. Louisville is picked to finish sixth, followed by Marquette and Cincinnati, who tied for seventh. The Cardinals, who tied their school record with 12 wins last season, have two representatives on the all-league team in midfielder Adrian Cann and goalkeeper Jeremy Morales, who set a school-record with 10 shutouts in 2000. The Golden Eagles list forward Sean Reti among the preseason honorees, while Cincinnati begins a new era under head coach Hylton Dayes Rounding out the poll is TCU, DePaul and East Carolina, respectively. Both TCU and East Carolina will be beginning their first seasons as members of Conference USA. 2001 C-USA Preseason Awards PLAYER OF THE YEAR Brad Davis, MF, Saint Louis ALL-CONFERENCE Adrian Cann, MF, Louisville Jason Cole, D, Saint Louis Brad Davis, MF, Saint Louis Sean Fraser, F, Memphis Joe Hammes, D, Saint Louis Jack Jewsbury, F/MF, Saint Louis Flavio Monteiro, F, UAB Jeremy Morales, GK, Louisville Juan Munoz-Airey, F, Charlotte Sean Reti, F/MF, Marquette Lars Thorstensen, F, Memphis Jeff Thwaites, MF, South Florida 2001 C-USA Preseason Poll