LOCK HAVEN, Pa. --- The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference announced their preseason men's basketball coaches' poll on Thursday. Clarion was predicted to finish eighth in the PSAC West in 2025-26.
 
The Golden Eagles went 12-14 overall and 7-13 in PSAC play last year, marking a one-game increase in both conference and overall victories from the previous year. Last year's leading scorer and all-region guard Cam Kearney transferred to Division I Robert Morris after last season but the Golden Eagles return the rest of their significant contributors, including all four other starters.
 
Point guard Trey Nelson and small forward Gavin Cote both started all 26 games a year ago and return to the fold. Nelson led the PSAC with an average of 5.7 assists per game and ranked fourth on the team with an average of 9.6 points per game. He recorded one of only a handful of triple-doubles in Division II last year, recording 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Slippery Rock. Cote, meanwhile, ranked eighth in the PSAC with an average of 2.5 three-pointers made per game.
 
The other two returning starters are Jeremy Thomas II and Justice Easter. Thomas was one of the conference's leaders in blocked shots, averaging 1.8 blocks per game, while also recording 11.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Easter averaged 8.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game last year and made 49.0 percent of his field goals.
 
The Golden Eagles tip off the 2025-26 campaign on November 14 at the West Liberty Tip-Off Tournament, facing host institution West Liberty, as well as Wheeling.
 
Eastern Division (# of first-place votes in parentheses)
 
1. West Chester (8)
2. East Stroudsburg (1)
3. Millersville
4. Shepherd
5. Shippensburg
6. Lock Haven
7. Mansfield
8. Kutztown
9. Bloomsburg
 
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Western Division (# of first-place votes in parentheses)
 
1. Gannon (6)
2. IUP (1)
3. California (1)
4. Slippery Rock
5. Seton Hill
6. Edinboro
7. Pitt-Johnstown
8. Clarion