WHITEFISH, Mont. – The University of Providence men's basketball was picked to finish third in the Frontier Conference in the preseason coaches' poll that was released on Tuesday.

The Argos received 17 points in the poll, including one first-place vote, and were a single point behind Montana Tech, who was picked second. Carroll College was picked to win the league, receiving a total of 25 points. MSU-Northern was picked fourth, followed by Montana Western and Rocky Mountain College, respectively.

"I feel like we're getting a little bit of respect getting third, but that's not our ultimate goal," head coach Steve Keller said. "Our ultimate goal is to win the conference championship. That's what we're going to be working for."

Marcus Stephens was also recognized by the opposing coaches, as he was one of six players named to the Frontier Conference Preseason All-Conference team. Stephens is a returning Honorable Mention All-American, after averaging 15.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists last season.

"Marcus was our second-leading scorer last year," Keller said. "Hopefully he's going to do that and more. He's a returner so he understands what needs to be done. I'm excited that he got picked. He'll continue to work hard and get better."

The team is coming off the most decorated season in program history. The Argos won both the regular season and the conference tournament, bringing home the first Frontier Conference championship trophy since the 1982-83 season. The Argos qualified for the NAIA National Tournament last season for the second straight season, finishing with an overall record of 17-3.

The Argos will look a bit different from last year however. Two-time 1^st Team All-American Zaccheus Darko-Kelly left the team to play professionally, and Jaxen Hashley, Davien Harris-Williams and Cap Uzan aren't returning as well. The team will have some familiar faces however, including Stephens, Dawson Fowler and Rashee Stocks to mix in with a plethora of new faces.  

"Our team is going to look way different," Keller said. "You take Darko-Kelly out of our lineup and you take Jaxen Hashley out of our lineup, size-wise we're going to miss that a little bit. I just feel like we have seven or eight guys that could average 10-12 points a game instead of a couple that average 18. We're going to be entirely different in that sense. We have lots of guys that can score."

The squad has a couple of weeks of preparation before the season kicks off. They'll take on Miles City Community College at 4:30 p.m. on Friday in a scrimmage before officially kicking off their season with a home game against Yellowstone Christian on Oct. 29 at 7:00 p.m. in Great Falls, Mont.

"I'm real excited," Keller said. "The kids have been working hard. Practices have been fun. We're ready to play somebody else."
 

Team	Points
Carroll College (5)	25
Montana Tech	18
Providence (1)	17
MSU-Northern	14
Montana Western	11
Rocky Mountain College	5

 * numbers in parentheses denotes first-place votes