Westminster picked first in North Division in PAC Preseason Coaches' Poll

11/4/2026 3:55:00 PM

TRAFFORD, Pa.---The Westminster men's basketball team was picked to finish first in the North Division in this year's Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Preseason Coaches' Poll. The results of the poll, which was voted on by the league's 13 head coaches, were released along with the PAC Players to Watch list Wednesday afternoon.

In the North, Westminster finished with 72 points and 12 first-place votes. Grove City was second with 56 points and Allegheny was third with 53 points and the final first-place vote. Geneva was fourth (39), Thiel was fifth (24) and Hiram was sixth (23).

In the South, Washington & Jefferson, last year's conference champion, was picked to finish first with 67 points and seven first-place votes and Franciscan was second with 63 points and the final six first-place votes. Chatham was third (47), Saint Vincent was fourth (44), Bethany was fifth (27) and Waynesburg was sixth (19).

The Titans entered last season as the No. 1 preseason pick in the PAC's North Division in the league's annual coaches' poll, finishing 19-9 overall and earning the North Division's top seed in the PAC Championship Tournament with a 12-4 conference record. Westminster opened the tournament with an 80-76 quarterfinal victory over Saint Vincent before defeating defending conference champion Chatham, 81-79, in the semifinals. The Titans' postseason run ended with a 68-61 loss to W&J in the championship game on Feb. 28.

Led by second-year head coach David Richards, Westminster had five players named to this year's players to watch list: graduate students Trey DePietro (Boardman, Ohio, Boardman) and Drew Weir (Salem, Ohio, Salem), seniors Jonathan Anderson (New Castle, Pa., New Castle) and Xavier Vann (Euclid, Ohio, Euclid) and sophomore Lucas Stanley (New Castle, Pa., Union).

DePietro appeared and started in 26 games and averaged 11.7 points and 5.5 rebounds. Weir, recognized as a Second Team All-PAC pick last season, appeared and started in all 28 games and averaged 14.4 points and 7.3 rebounds. Anderson and Vann joined the program this fall. Anderson spent last season at Edinboro while Vann spent last season at West Chester. Stanley appeared in 28 games with eight starts and averaged 7.3 points and 1.9 three-pointers per game.

The PAC Championship Tournament will get underway on Tuesday, Feb. 23 with the top two seeds from each division hosting quarterfinal games. Semifinal games will be played Thursday, Feb. 25 and the PAC title game is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 27. All PAC Championship Tournament matchups will be played at campus sites. For a full breakdown of the new PAC Championship Tournament format, check the PAC Championships page.

This year's championship tournament winner will receive the league's automatic qualifying bid to the Division III Championship. Team selections for the Division III Championship are scheduled to be announced Monday, March 1, with first- and second-round matchups scheduled for Friday-Saturday, March 5-6.

This year's schedule gets underway on Friday, Nov. 13 against Mount Aloysius on day one of the Buzz Ridl Classic. Tipoff at Ron Galbreath Court inside Buzz Ridl Gymnasium is slated for 8 p.m.

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