COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's basketball team, which finished as the 2026 Northeast 10 Conference Championship runner-up before qualifying for its second NCAA East Regional Championship in three years, was selected first in the NE10 Preseason Coaches' Poll, which was released on Tuesday. The Purple and Gold garnered 80 points and eight of a possible 10 first-place votes.
 
The Purple Knights finished 19-14 overall and 10-8 in the league last season, using an 11-2 stretch in the middle of the season to overcome a slow start. As the No. 6 seed in the NE10 Championship, Saint Michael's traveled to bounce No. 3 Pace University, 54-48, in the first round, clipped No. 7 Southern New Hampshire University, 81-72 in overtime, during a home semifinal, and lost at No. 1 Saint Anselm College, 75-69, in the title game. In an NCAA East Regional Championship quarterfinal, the Purple Knights had the largest comeback at the tournament since it went to an eight-team format in 2003 by erasing a 21-point deficit in an 87-80 win over Bentley University. The Purple and Gold's season concluded in the regional semifinals against host Daemen University, the nation's fourth-ranked team.
 
Now in their eighth year under head coach Eric Eaton, the Purple Knights were fifth in the nation in free throw shooting (79.6%) a year ago while committing the third-fewest turnovers per game in the East Region (11.6). They were also seventh in the East in scoring defense (73.0), ninth in field goal percentage defense (43.2%), and ninth in made three-pointers per game (8.4).
 
Sophomore Quintin Floyd (Windsor, Conn./Choate Rosemary Hall), who landed on the NE10 All-Conference third team last winter, led the Purple Knights in scoring (12.8) and assists (3.0) while burying 51 three-pointers. Junior Greg Kenney (Williston Park, N.Y./The Frederick Gunn School/LIU), who joined Floyd on the NE10 Championship All-Championship Team, averaged 10.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals while converting 84.4% of his free throw tries and canning 45 threes.
 
Senior Latiek Briscoe Jr. (Brooklyn, N.Y./Saint Francis Prep/Saint Edward's) added 10.7 points, 4.6 boards, 1.6 assists and 1.1 steals with 41 threes in his debut season with the Purple and Gold. Junior Abdur-Rahman De Leon (Roxbury, Mass./Saint Thomas More School) posted 5.1 points on 52.6% shooting, including 44.2% from three-point range, and sophomore John Kelley (Plaistow, N.H./Kimball Union Academy) added 3.6 points on 51.3% shooting with 3.8 rebounds. Senior TJ Henaghen (Hampden, Maine/Williston Northampton School) notched 3.0 points with nine blocks.
 
In a 10-man class of newcomers, Saint Michael's added six transfers with college experience. Among them are sophomore Amadou Fall (Bronx, N.Y./Millbrook School/Lincoln), who was sixth in NCAA Division II in blocks per game (2.5) last year at Lincoln University; junior Coleman Hopson (Montclair, N.J./The Newman School/AIC), who averaged 11.1 points and buried 45 threes at NE10 counterpart American International College; and sophomore Rudolfs Svitins (Riga, Latvia/Rigas Komercskola/Yavapai), who notched 11.3 points with 41 threes and 20 blocks at Yavapai (Ariz.) College. Sophomore Drew Bessette (Milton, Vt./Rice Memorial/Vermont), who spent two years at Division I University of Vermont, was the 2024 Vermont Gatorade Player of the Year.
 
The Purple Knights hit the court at the University of Vermont for an exhibition game on Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m.