NAIA Hoops Report Daily Dive: October 21 Coaches Poll Roundup, Players to Watch and RSC Media Day

NAIA Hoops Report Daily Dive: News & Notes, with gold and white lettering on a black basketball-themed background.

DAILY DIVE • OCTOBER 21, 2026

One Day Out: The Newest Polls, Players to Watch and Stories Around the NAIA

ONE DAY. Countable NAIA competition can begin tomorrow, and the final preseason updates are giving us plenty to talk about. We are starting with the newest conference coaches polls and Players to Watch, then catching up on the Frontier, River States media day and the earlier releases.

We also have a look at Indiana Wesleyan’s I AM THIRD Arena and a brothers-as-teammates story at Georgia Gwinnett. The polls below are the conferences’ selections, separate from NAIA Hoops Report’s own rankings. Let’s dive in!

Appalachian Athletic Conference

Coaches poll released October 20

Pikeville gets the preseason nod, but Johnson is close enough to make the top of this ballot worth a second look. The Bears received 159 points and eight first-place votes, just five points ahead of the Royals at 154 with three first-place selections. Columbia International is third with 136, and Union Commonwealth is fourth with 122. Each received a first-place vote. Pikeville is coming off an 18–1 conference season and the regular-season title, while Johnson enters as the defending AAC tournament champion.

Pikeville
Johnson
Columbia International
Union Commonwealth
Tennessee Wesleyan
Montreat
Truett McConnell
Bryan
Milligan
Reinhardt
Columbia
Spartanburg Methodist
Bluefield

Read the official AAC coaches poll →

Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference

Coaches poll released October 20

Oklahoma Wesleyan is the clear choice at the top of the KCAC ballot. The Eagles collected 169 points and 13 of the 14 first-place votes after winning a fifth straight regular-season title and last season’s conference tournament. McPherson is second with 149 points, followed by Bethel at 144 and Southwestern at 141. Bethel received the other first-place vote. Only eight points separate that second-through-fourth group, and Friends and Kansas Wesleyan are tied for seventh.

1. Oklahoma Wesleyan
2. McPherson
3. Bethel
4. Southwestern
5. Evangel
6. Saint Mary
T7. Friends
T7. Kansas Wesleyan
9. Ottawa
10. Sterling
11. Avila
12. Tabor
13. York
14. Bethany

Read the official KCAC coaches poll →

American Midwest Conference

Coaches poll recap and Players to Watch

Williams Baptist starts with the target, but Columbia is right there. The Eagles collected 46 points and five first-place votes, just three points ahead of the defending regular-season and tournament champion Cougars. Columbia received two first-place votes, while Hannibal-LaGrange earned the other one. Only three points separate Hannibal-LaGrange, Mission and Central Baptist in the next three spots.

Williams Baptist
Columbia
Hannibal-LaGrange
Mission
Central Baptist
Crowley’s Ridge
Harris-Stowe
Health Sciences & Pharmacy

AMC Players to Watch

The AMC included these nine players in its preseason release:

Central Baptist: Caleb Knight
Crowley’s Ridge: Cole Nichols, Kyzer Phillips and Azani Smith
Hannibal-LaGrange: Ian McDonald and Caleb Wade
Harris-Stowe: Nashawn Davis
Williams Baptist: Kylen Kelly and Deion Wesson

Read the official AMC coaches poll and Players to Watch →

Southern States Athletic Conference

Players to Watch released October 20; coaches poll released October 14

Loyola leads a race that drew first-place support for four teams. The Wolf Pack earned 181 points and six first-place votes. William Carey, the defending regular-season champion, follows with 168 points and five first-place selections. Faulkner is only three points behind Carey at 165 with two first-place votes. Defending tournament champion Dalton State is fourth at 159 and received the remaining first-place vote. That is just nine points separating second through fourth.

Loyola (La.)
William Carey
Faulkner
Dalton State
Life
Brewton-Parker
Xavier (La.)
UT Southern
Mobile
Point
Thomas
Blue Mountain
Abraham Baldwin
Andrew

Read the official SSAC coaches poll →

SSAC Players to Watch

Loyola’s Kameron Johnson returns as the reigning SSAC Player of the Year after averaging 18.4 points, 6.4 assists and 4.5 rebounds. The conference’s October 20 watch list gives us two names from every program:

Loyola: Kameron Johnson and Zachary Lee
William Carey: Malik Franklin and Troy Dunn
Faulkner: Jordyn Turner-Durley and Kamal Green II
Dalton State: Raylan Barrion and Kota Benson
Life: Timothy Parker and Triston Conger
Brewton-Parker Christian: Gil Gonzalez and Abraham Garjah
Xavier: Elijah Pichon and Leon Williams
UT Southern: Jack Harper and TJ Cochran
Mobile: BJ Marable and BJ Boykin
Point: Robert Harris and Cahlib Edwards
Thomas: Devon Rainey and Yannis Woods
Blue Mountain Christian: Seck Zongo and KJ Anderson
Abraham Baldwin: Landen Williams and Dontae Smith
Andrew: Amir Rosa and K’Shawn Scott

Read the official SSAC Players to Watch release →

Frontier Conference

Coaches poll released October 19

Rocky Mountain carries plenty of expectations into the new season. After a 31–4 campaign, a sweep of the Frontier’s regular-season and tournament titles, and a national quarterfinal appearance, the Battlin’ Bears received 119 points and 10 first-place votes. Bellevue and Montana Tech are tied for second with 100 points and one first-place vote apiece. Carroll is next with 93, giving that second-place tie a close challenger.

1. Rocky Mountain
T2. Bellevue
T2. Montana Tech
4. Carroll
5. MSU-Northern
6. Dakota State
7. Montana Western
8. Dickinson State
9. Mayville State
10. Valley City State
11. Providence
12. Bismarck State

Read the official Frontier coaches poll →

IWU’s I AM THIRD Arena looks like one of the NAIA’s best

Indiana Wesleyan is setting a high bar with the I AM THIRD Arena. The Wildcats’ arena reveal gives us another reason to be excited for the season, and we think this has the look of one of the best facilities in the NAIA. The countdown is on for November 6, when the Wildcats are scheduled to host Kuyper in their new home. What a setting to start a new chapter of IWU basketball!

Brothers reunited at Georgia Gwinnett

A familiar connection is back in Lawrenceville. Amari and Tahai Morgan are teammates again at Georgia Gwinnett after two seasons apart, with Tahai arriving from Clayton State to join his younger brother. They previously won region championships together at Lanier High School. Getting to share the floor again gives the Grizzlies a fun family storyline to follow this season.

Read GGC’s story on the Morgan brothers → | See GGC’s post →

River States Conference

IU Kokomo is the preseason favorite with 79 points and seven first-place votes. IU Southeast, the defending conference tournament champion, is second at 71 with two first-place selections. Rio Grande takes third with 66 and the remaining first-place vote. Those three programs account for all 10 votes to win the league.

IU Kokomo
IU Southeast
Rio Grande
Midway
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods
WVU Tech
IU East
Brescia
Kentucky Christian
IU Columbus

Read the official River States coaches poll →

Watch the RSC teams’ media-day interviews

The RSC’s October 20 preseason preview links to these interviews on the teams’ YouTube channels. Pick a program and hear its outlook for the season:

The conference preview also links media-day videos on X for Brescia, Kentucky Christian and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. We did not verify current-season YouTube versions for those three teams. IU Kokomo did not have a linked media-day video in the preview when checked.

Read the full RSC preseason preview →

Elsewhere around the conferences

WHAC: In our October 16 poll recap, Madonna led with 99 points, followed by Indiana Tech at 91. Lawrence Tech and Cornerstone rounded out the top four. Official WHAC release →

Cascade: College of Idaho leads with 111 points, but Eastern Oregon received the most first-place votes with four and is second at 105. Lewis-Clark State is third at 103. Oregon Tech and Corban also received first-place support, putting five programs on that list. Full Cascade poll →

Heart: Grand View has 239 points and William Penn has 237. Both received seven first-place votes. Missouri Valley is third, while fourth-place Missouri Baptist earned the other two first-place selections. Clarke and Culver-Stockton are tied for 15th. Full Heart poll via Benedictine Athletics →

Sun: Keiser received eight of the nine first-place votes and leads with 64 points. Ave Maria is second with 53, followed by St. Thomas at 51 with the remaining first-place vote. Southeastern is fourth with 44. Full Sun poll →

GSAC: Arizona Christian leads with 61 points and five first-place votes. The Master’s is second at 50, with Embry-Riddle and Hope International tied for third at 48. Those three programs and fifth-place Benedictine Mesa each received one first-place selection. Full GSAC poll →

GPAC: Concordia leads with 96 points and six first-place votes. Morningside follows at 91 with three, while Dordt is third at 84 with two. Dakota Wesleyan and Mount Marty are only two points apart in fourth and fifth. Full GPAC poll via Concordia Athletics →

Crossroads: Grace led the poll covered in our first preseason Daily Dive with 81 points, followed by Indiana Wesleyan and Taylor. Huntington and Marian rounded out the top five. Official Crossroads release →

Today: Sooner Athletic Conference media day

The Sooner Athletic Conference’s announced schedule lists its men’s preseason poll for 8:30 a.m. Central today, October 21, with virtual media-day interviews beginning at 9 a.m. Central. Follow the conference’s official channels for today’s poll and interviews.

The coaches’ picks give us a starting point. The watch lists give us names to learn. Now the games get to give us some answers. One day until countable competition can begin. Good At Basketball.

Polls and media links were checked through October 20, 2026. NAIA Hoops Report is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NAIA. Conference poll results and Players to Watch selections are credited to the sources linked above.