ORLANDO, Fla.- Palm Beach Atlantic's basketball team was picked fifth in the Sunshine State Conference coaches' poll.
The Fish are coming off a 17-12 season with a 10-10 conference record, finishing sixth in the conference. PBA knocked off two ranked opponents including number one Nova Southeastern on the road. The Sailfish also found their way into the national rankings for the first time since joining the Division 2 level.
Coach Rose enters his fifth season at the helm and brought several cornerstones back for the Sailfish including Jakob Hester, Tyler Burton, Alvin Tumblin Jr., and Trent McNair who is coming off an injury he suffered last year. Hester picked up big minutes off the bench and averaged 8.6 points a game and a productive 4.4 rebounds a game. Burton in his first season finished second on the team in assists as well as third in steals and averaged 8.4 points a game and shot the three ball at 38%.
Tumblin looks to build off a productive first season with the 'Fish as he averaged 8.5 points a game and was a monster on the boards collecting 143. McNair seeks to battle back from an injury that kept him out of the entire season. His last full season was an explosive offensive performance averaging 11 points a game and 45% from the three-point line.
Several newcomers joined the Sailfish squad this year with Preston Le Gassick, Dante Depante, and Christian Kirkland. Le Gassick was an elite guard for Menlo where he averaged 15.5 points a game and shot a high clip of 45% from the field. Depante joins the 'Fish from Youngstown State where he shot 50% from the field in his nine games played. Kirkland joins his former teammate at Youngstown with the Sailfish where he played in 30 games and picked up 57 rebounds in his time.
Nova Southeastern was picked first in the league for the fifth season with 10 first place votes. Florida Southern was second and Tampa at the third spot. Lynn at four and PBA at the fifth spot, receiving a first-place vote, round out the top five.
PBA starts the 2025 campaign in Nashville facing off against Trevecca Nazarene in the Conference Challenge on Saturday, Nov. 15th.
