Pioneers open season ranked 18th in NAIA

Wayland Baptist's Pioneers are ranked 18^th in the 2022-23 NAIA Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll.

Under second-year head coach Clint Galyean, Wayland opens the season as a ranked team after not receiving any Top 25 votes last season. The Pioneers are one of just two teams – along with No. 9 Jamestown (N.D.) – to appear in the 2022-23 Preseason Top 25 after not receiving any votes in last season's final poll.

Wayland – which was picked by Sooner Athletic Conference coaches to win the league title in very close polling – is one of two SAC teams in the NAIA Top 25, along with No. 13 Science & Arts of Oklahoma. Mid-America Christian and Langston received votes and are the equivalent of 37^th and 41^st in the rankings.

USAO, Southwestern Assemblies of God and Mid-America Christian were invited to the 64-team NAIA National Championships last season, with Wayland the first SAC team out.

Despite some challenges last season, the Pioneers still produced almost 20 wins and advanced to the SAC Tournament championship where, after knocking off 10^th-ranked USAO in the semifinals, they lost to. No. 24 SAGU, 58-56.

Graduation took out SAC Defensive Player of the Year and shot-blocking extraordinaire Jibrael Washington, but three others earning post-season honors return, led by all-conference second team senior guard RJ Mason. Forward Thad Udoh earned honorable mention All-SAC and guard Dylan McDougal made the SAC All-Freshman Team. Other veterans back are senior guard Parrish Hewitt, who topped WBU in scoring at 17.3 points in the six games in which he appeared before redshirting, forward Jaxon Recer and guard Josh Servantez.
 
Among Pioneer newcomers are senior forward Tederick Wolfe, a former NAIA Honorable Mention All-American with Galyean at Central Baptist (Ark.) along with fellow transfers BJ Simmons (UT-Rio Grande Valley), Reece Spencer (Houston Baptist), 6-foot-9 junior forward D'Michael Bellfield (Oklahoma Baptist), 6-8 Manny Crump (Sam Houston State) and 6-9 Bol Tong (University of New Orleans).
   
Galyean's sophomore season gets under way Nov. 4 when the Pioneers host University of the Southwest (N.M.). WBU is scheduled to play just three non-conference games plus an exhibition Nov. 14 at West Texas A&M before opening SAC play Nov. 17 at University of North Texas at Dallas.

NAIA Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25

RANK	LAST YEAR	SCHOOL [1st Place Votes]	RECORD	FINAL POINTS
1	4	Arizona Christian [15]	31-5	553
2	5	Thomas More (Ky.) [3]	31-5	521
3	9	College of Idaho	32-5	513
4	3	Oklahoma Wesleyan [1]	34-3	501
5	7	Indiana Wesleyan	28-7	489
6	13	William Jessup (Calif.)	30-7	485
7	1	William Penn (Iowa) [1]	31-2	457
8	RV	Grace (Ind.)	27-9	429
9	NR	Jamestown (N.D.)	25-11	403
10	RV	Georgetown (Ky.)	25-8	367
11	15	Faulkner (Ala.)	26-7	356
12	21	LSU Shreveport (La.)	25-8	312
13	10	Science & Arts (Okla.)	25-8	262
14	12	Marian (Ind.)	26-6	252
15	RV	Southwestern (Kan.)	25-8	242
16	8	Carroll (Mont.)	29-5	237
17	18	Southeastern (Fla.)	22-8	236
18	NR	Wayland Baptist (Texas)	19-13	224
19	19	Indiana South Bend (Ind.)	25-7	197
20	RV	Cumberland (Tenn.)	22-9	193
21	RV	Florida College	31-4	171
22	RV	Oregon Tech	22-11	167
23	14	Montana Tech	27-7	124
24	RV	Briar Cliff (Iowa)	19-12	123
25	25	Indiana Tech	26-8	121

Dropped from the Top 25: Loyola (La.), Talladega (Ala.), Olivet Nazarene (Ill.), Saint Francis (Ind.), Hope International (Calif.), Bethel (Kan.), IU Kokomo (Ind.), Concordia (Neb.), SAGU (Texas).
Others Receiving Votes: Union (Ky.) 117, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 112, Evangel (Mo.) 80, Kansas Wesleyan 70, Huntington (Ind.) 60, Hope International (Calif.) 57, WVU Tech (W.Va.) 57, Xavier (La.) 56, Ottawa (Ariz.) 35, Missouri Baptist 26, Northwestern (Iowa) 23, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 22, Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 22, Madonna (Mich.) 18, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 16, Langston (Okla.) 16, Stillman (Ala.) 15, Bellevue (Neb.) 14, Cumberlands (Ky.) 14, IU Kokomo (Ind.) 9, Concordia (Neb.) 6, Reinhardt (Ga.) 5.