DENVER-Tuesday, Dixie State men’s basketball, a new member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, was expected to finish fourth in the RMAC, per a preseason coaches poll. Westminster was picked to finish sixth overall.
The Trailblazers return five letter winners and three redshirts from last season’s Pacific West Conference team that set a school record at the NCAA Division II level in program history for wins with 23.
The defending RMAC Tournament champion Regis Rangers were projected to win the title, netting 8 of a possible 16 first place votes.
Dixie State also received two first-place votes from the coaches around the conference.
Dixie State commences its season Tuesday October 30 with an exhibition game at Division I Utah Valley.
Their regular season begins November 17 at the Burns Arena in St. George against the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos for a 7:30 pm tip-off.
The Trailblazers are once again led by head coach Jon Judkins in his 14th year at the helm in St. George.
Judkins is 244-117 (.675) at Dixie State and 224-129 (.680) in the Division II era of the program’s history.
Judkins will have a tall task as he had all five of last season’s starters graduate.
The returning letter winners for the Trailblazers include forwards Julien Ducree of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Quincy Matthews of St. George’s Desert Hills High School, Austin Montgomery of Lilburn, Ga., Dub Price of Draper’s Alta High School and guard Wade Miller of Tremonton, Utah and Bear River High School.
Newcomers to the Dixie State program include junior college transfers in guard Jack Pagenkopf of Brooklyn, N.Y., Andre Wilson of Moreno Valley, Calif. and Dason Youngblood of South Jordan, Utah.
