The Heart of America Athletic Confernece (HAAC) held its annual basketball media day on Tuesday at the NAIA Headquarters in downtown Kansas City and the Raven men’s basketball team was selected as the preseason No. 4 team.

Benedictine went 10-8 in the HAAC a year ago and finished with an overall record of 18-12 under second-year head coach Ryan Moody.

After waiting his chance to speak to the those in attendance, Coach Moody was very humbled by his fellow coaches and the athletes who represent the conference.

“When you start to look at the some of the things in the HAAC media guide, there’s a lot of humbling numbers in there,” Coach Moody said. “The first thing you see is all of the wins that some of these (coaches) have in their bios and that’s very humbling. The second thing you see is the type of players that many of these (coaches) continue to bring in, they are very talented and there are a lot of character athletes that have been brought it and that’s very humbling.”

With three teams qualifiying for the NAIA Div. I tournament routinely since making the jump from NAIA Div. II, one might expect the HAAC coaches to split their first-place votes among the three schools who qualified for nationals last year. While Evangel, the preseason favorite, earned seven first-place votes and MNU, the preseason No. 2, earned two first-place votes, the final first-place vote did not go to preseason No. 3 Culver-Stockton, it went to Benedictine.

The Ravens return all but one player from last season with 70 percent of their scoring from last year coming from players who are now sophomores and juniors.

“We return essentially our entire team,” Coach Moody said. “That leaves a lot of room for optimism and we’re excited to be back at it. We’ll be led by three seniors and we’re going to lean on those guys pretty heavily.”

Senior forward Charlie Wallrapp was a second-team All-HAAC selection a year ago and senior forward Steven O’Brien was one of the top reserves last year. Guard Herb Khangura is the third senior on the squad and is expected to push for minutes at the point this season after sitting out last year.

“Having that much scoring coming back is a positive thing,” Coach Moody said. “But we’ve talked with our guys a lot, and I they believe it, that  one year older doesn’t mean you’re one year better. We’re going to have to continue to work hard because this (conference) has too many good coaches and there are too many good players in this league.

“We’re excited to see how things are going to be, we’re movitivated and ready to compete.”

Benedictine opens their 13 game home schedule on Nov. 1 when they host Tabor College at 7 p.m.

— BC Sports Information —

Coming off its first trip to the NAIA Div. I National Championship Tournament, the Raven women’s basketball team was selected as the preseason No. 2 favorite by the HAAC coaches on Monday at the annual conference media day.

Benedictine went 28-6 last year and earned a trip to the round of 16 at the NAIA Div. I tournament and was the last of three HAAC teams who qualified for the tournament left standing.

The Ravens went 16-2 in the HAAC regular season with its only two losses coming to preseason No. 1 selection MNU.

“It was good to see our conference represented so well by three teams at the national tournament,” said Raven women’s head coach Chad Folsom. “Since we made the jump to NAIA Div. I, it’s taken four of five years for our league to get that respect back that we had when we were NAIA Div. II.”

Central Methodist, who upset the Ravens in the HAAC Tournament semifinals last season, was selected as the preseason No. 3 and garnered one first-place vote away from MNU. Baker University was selected fourth while Evangel University and Culver-Stockton College were selected in a tie for fifth.

Avila University, Missouri Valley College, Peru State College and Graceland University rounded out the preseason selections.

Benedictine returns three starters and eight letterman from last season, including All-HAAC selections Justice Payne and Erin Murphy.

“We have quite a lot of depth and experience back form last year,” Coach Folsom said. “The players came back with a different mentality this year having had a taste of the national tournament last year. They’ve been more motivated and driven and I think that taste has motivated them just a little bit more to work that much harder this year.”

Benedictine begins its run through the 2013-14 schedule on Nov. 5 with a road trip to North Newton to take on Bethel College. They open a 13-game home schedule on Nov.9 at 7 p.m. against Friends University.

— BC Sports Information —