UCI men third in Big West poll

The UC Irvine men’s basketball team has been picked to finish third

in the Big West Conference in separate preseason polls voted upon by

coaches and media.

The Anteaters, who won or shared the regular-season conference

title in 2001 and ’02 and were second in last year’s regular-season

race, finished behind defending regular-season champion UC Santa

Barbara and Utah State, which won the conference tournament last

season, in both polls.

UCI senior Adam Parada, a 7-foot center who has twice earned

second-team all-conference honors, was named to the six-member

preseason all-conference team. He averaged 12.2 points, 6.2 rebounds

and shot a conference-leading 54.5% from the field last season. He is

also UCI’s career leader in blocked shots with 111.

The all-conference team was rounded out by senior Varnie Dennis

(Cal Poly San Luis Obispo), senior Branduinn Fullove (UCSB), junior

Vili Morton (UC Riverside), sophomore Nate Carter (UCR) and junior

Ian Boylan (Cal State Northridge).

UCI received one first-place vote in the 10 cast by coaches (UCSB

had six and Utah State three), while the Anteaters received three

first-place votes among media members (to 22 for UCSB and four for

Utah State).

The UCI women’s team was picked to finish fourth in the media and

coaches’ polls, with UCSB, University of the Pacific and Long Beach

State, respectively, holding the top three spots in each.