Griz picked 4th in Preseason Polls

The Big Sky Conference released its annual Preseason Coaches' and Media Polls on Wednesday afternoon. The Montana Grizzlies were picked to finish fourth in the league in both polls, receiving one first-place vote in the media poll.

The Grizzlies are in the top four of both polls for the 12^th straight season. They haven't been picked outside of the top four since 2014-15, the first year of the Travis DeCuire era. Montana would go on to win the regular season title that year.

Despite being picked towards the top of the league again, DeCuire knows there is work to do as Montana brings in 10 newcomers to combine with five returners from last year's team that reached the Big Sky Championship game in Boise.

"I think when you look at this, the biggest thing is that we have work to do and respect to earn," head coach Travis DeCuire said. "I don't know how many times in my 13 years there has been zero Montana players on the preseason All-Conference list. Fourth is about right when you look at the number of returners. I think when you look at the last couple of years, the teams that return the most have been the most consistent and finished the highest, for the most part."

Montana's top two returners are Kenyon Aguino and Tyler Thompson. The duo put together two of the most memorable freshmen seasons in program history last year and will look to make a leap this year. Aguino scored the fifth most points in a single season by a freshman in program history, starting all 34 games, a UM freshman record for starts.

Thompson started 33 games, the second most by a freshman in program history, and averaged 8.4 points per game. His 69 made three-pointers were the most by a freshman in Griz history.

The duo are also joined by returners Connor Dick (9.1 MPG), Amari Jedkins (5.3 MPG), and Courtney Anderson Jr. (11.4 MPG in 10 appearances).

Montana had to reload the roster with 10 newcomers. DeCuire brought in seven transfers and three freshmen to get the roster up to 15 total players.

Montana State and Northern Colorado were picked 1-2 in both polls with Eastern Washington in third. Montana and defending regular season champion Portland State tied for fourth place in the Coaches' Poll with 73 points.

The Grizzlies narrowly edged out Portland State in the Media Poll with 254 points to the Vikings' 236. Defending tournament champion Idaho was sixth in both polls by a significant margin as both the coaches and media predicted a tight race between the top five teams and a drop-off for the next six.

Langston Reynolds, a former First Team All-Big Sky pick at Northern Colorado who spent last season at Minnesota, returns to the Bears this year and was chosen as the Preseason MVP of the league.

Montana did not have a member of the Preseason All-Conference team for just the second time since the honor was created in 2015-16. In that time, the Grizzlies have had 11 Preseason All-Conference picks with 2021-22 being the only other season with zero Montana players honored.

"I think when you look at the All-Conference list, six of the seven guys have been on a postseason team, whether that's All-Conference, All-Defense, Freshman of the Year, they were awarded something in the postseason at some point," DeCuire said. "So that makes sense, especially when a number of them are fifth-year guys with more experience."

Montana is hosting a public exhibition against Cal State Bakersfield on Oct. 24. It's the first chance for Griz fans to see the new-look team. The game will begin at 7:00 p.m. in Dahlberg Arena.

The Grizzlies begin the regular season on the road at Oregon on Monday, Nov. 2. They face the Ducks in the post-Dana Altman era as the longtime head coach retired on Oct. 7. The first regular season home game comes on Nov. 4 when the Grizzlies host Salish Kootenai.

2026-27 Big Sky Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll
1: Montana State (7) – 97
2: Northern Colorado – 81
3: Eastern Washington (3) – 79
T4: Montana – 73
T4: Portland State – 73
6: Idaho (1) – 56
7: Utah Tech – 50
8: Weber State – 29
9: Idaho State – 26
10: Southern Utah – 25
11: Northern Arizona – 16

2026-27 Big Sky Men's Basketball Preseason Media Poll
1: Montana State (19) – 326
2: Northern Colorado (7) – 295
3: Eastern Washington (5) – 279
4: Montana (1) – 254
5: Portland State – 236
6: Idaho – 183
7: Utah Tech – 161
8: Weber State – 143
9: Idaho State – 93
10: Southern Utah – 85
11: Northern Arizona – 57

2026-27 Big Sky Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
Langston Reynolds, Northern Colorado (MVP)
Jed Miller, Montana State
Ethan Potter, Utah Tech
Andrew Cook, Eastern Washington
Alton Hamilton IV, Eastern Washington
Jaiden Feroah, Southern Utah
Koren Johnson, Portland State

University of Montana Athletics

Related News

Players Mentioned

Kenyon Aguino

Courtney Anderson Jr.

Connor Dick

Amari Jedkins

Tyler Thompson

Related Videos