LOCK HAVEN, Pa.- The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) released its men's basketball preseason coaches poll on Thursday morning, and West Chester, coming off its third PSAC East Regular Season title in four seasons, was picked as the preseason favorite to repeat once again with four first-place votes.
West Chester enjoyed a strong 2025-26 season, finishing 21-8 overall and 15-6 in league play, which led to the Golden Rams earning a share of the PSAC East Regular Season title. West Chester fell to IUP in a home PSAC quarterfinal, 71-70, to end the season.
The Golden Rams ranked third in the PSAC in scoring last winter, averaging 85.4 points per game, led by
Ruben Rodriguez Jr. (Reading, Pa./Reading), who averaged 14.9 points per game on 43.6 % shooting from the field and scored in double figures in 23 of 25 games, including seven with 20 or more. Rodriguez Jr. is the lone returning All-PSAC East selection from last winter for West Chester, but is part of a veteran group of guards returning for the 2026-27 season.
Head coach
Damien Blair remains at the helm of the Golden Rams for his 19
th season at the helm with a career record of 325-168 and is joined by longtime assistant coach
Ben Kay, who was elevated to Associate Head Coach earlier in the fall.
East Stroudsburg was picked to finish second in the PSAC East with three first-place votes, followed by Shepherd, Millersville, and Shippensburg to round out the top five. Defending National Champion Gannon is the unanimous preseason favorite in the PSAC West, followed by IUP, California, Slippery Rock, and Seton Hill.
West Chester will start its season with a six-game homestand, beginning with a matchup against St. Thomas Aquinas at 7 p.m. on November 10 before facing Wilmington, Goldey-Beacom, College of Staten Island, West Liberty, and Jefferson before venturing out on the road for the first time in December with a trip to Slippery Rock and Gannon on December 4 and 5.
