2011 RMAC preseason poll and all-conference team

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Fort Lewis College men's basketball team was picked to finish fourth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference this year, RMAC Assistant Commissioner Eric Danner announced today.

Metro State was picked to win the league title with 20 points and eight first place votes. The Roadrunners were followed by Colorado Mines (25 points, two first place votes), Adams State (40, four), Fort Lewis and Colorado Mesa (59 points each), New Mexico Highlands (78), Nebraska-Kearney (85), Western New Mexico (89), Colorado State-Pueblo (106), Chadron State (123), Western State (135), UC-Colorado Springs (136), Regis (156), and Colorado Christian (163).

The Skyhawks finished the 2010-11 campaign with a 24-8 overall record, equaling the school standard for most wins in a season. Fort Lewis advanced to the NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen for the first time in school history and the NCAA playoffs for the seventh time in 10 seasons. The Skyhawks also won the RMAC Shootout.

Fort Lewis lost six seniors — Kyle Behrens, Connor Drumm, Tayler Faust, David Kanyinda, DeAndre Lansdowne, and Daniel Steffensen — to graduation.

Additionally, Matt Morris, a 6-foot-6 senior center from Durango, was named to the RMAC Preseason All-Conference Team. As a junior, Morris averaged 11.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He was picked to the All-RMAC second team in 2011-12, and also received a bevy of academic accolades, including RMAC All-Academic Player of the Year, Capitol One All-District VII second team, RMAC All-Academic first team, and the D2 Athletic Directors Association/WeatherPORT Academic Achievement Award. 

The Skyhawks host their final preseason tune-up at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Whalen Gymnasium when they hold their annual Blue & Gold Scrimmage following the women's basketball team's Alumnae Game. Admission to both events is free.

Fort Lewis opens its regular season at 8 p.m. on Friday, November 11, when it travels to Boulder to face NCAA Division I foe Colorado. The Buffaloes advanced to the NIT Final Four last season.

Skyhawk skipper Bob Hofman, who begins his 16th season at FLC and 23rd overall as a head coach in the collegiate ranks, will be gunning for his 400th collegiate victory when he leads his troops against his alma mater. Hofman played point guard for the Buffs from 1970-74 and was an assistant coach at CU from 1981-83.