CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Coming off its first-ever Atlantic Region championship and NCAA Division II Elite Eight berth, Coach Jim Crutchfield’s West Liberty University men’s basketball team is ranked No. 3 in the NCAA Division II section of the 2011-12 Sporting News College Basketball Preview magazine.
Hilltopper sophomore guard Cedric Harris was selected as an Honorable Mention Preseason NCAA Division II All-American by the publication, which featured a list of the projected Top 10 teams for the 2011-12 season along with an All-America Team.
Entering his eighth season at the West Liberty helm, Crutchfield has the highest career winning percentage of any active NCAA Division II head coach at 175-40 (.814) and is coming off a school-record 33-1 campaign which saw his Hilltoppers spend the final two months of the season ranked No. 1 in the coaches’ Top 25. West Liberty led the nation in an NCAA Division II-record eight statistical categories, including the fifth national scoring title in the past six seasons.
Crutchfield must replace four 1,000-point scorers – including All-Americans Corey Pelle and Jordan Fortney – but the cupboard is far from bare. Junior starter Alex Falk (13.3 ppg.) leads 9 returning lettermen for the two-time defending West Virginia Conference champions.
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