By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications
PORTLAND, Ore. – After emerging with the 2025-26 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men’s basketball trophies, Saint Martin’s was tabbed the favorite in the preseason coaches poll released on Thursday.
The Saints claimed six of the 10 first-place votes and tallied 88 points to top the poll. Central Washington was close behind with 84 points and one first-place vote for second in the poll, while Northwest Nazarene followed third with three first-place votes and 80 points.
| 2026-27 GNAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll |
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
2025-26 Record |
2025-26 GNAC Record (Finish) |
| 1 |
Saint Martin's (6) |
88 |
26-6 |
15-3 (1st) |
| 2 |
Central Washington (1) |
84 |
16-15 |
9-9 (T4th) |
| 3 |
Northwest Nazarene (3) |
80 |
18-11 |
12-6 (T2nd) |
| 4 |
Alaska Anchorage |
62 |
21-11 |
12-6 (T2nd) |
| 5 |
Montana State Billings |
61 |
20-11 |
9-9 (T4th) |
| 6 |
Alaska |
56 |
15-14 |
9-9 (T4th) |
| 7 |
Western Washington |
47 |
13-16 |
7-11 (8th) |
| 8 |
Seattle Pacific |
36 |
14-12 |
9-9 (T4th) |
| 9 |
Western Oregon |
19 |
9-18 |
4-14 (T9th) |
| 10 |
Simon Fraser |
17 |
7-21 |
4-14 (T9th) |
| Points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. |
The Saints cruised to the regular-season title last spring, going 15-3 in league play to win the trophy by a three-game margin ahead of co-runners up Alaska Anchorage and Northwest Nazarene. All four of SMU’s regular-season crowns have come in the last seven seasons, as the Saints have been the most dominant GNAC program dating back to their first title in 2018-19. Saint Martin’s went on to capture its first-ever GNAC Championships trophy, rolling past Central Washington 87-68 and Alaska Anchorage 74-62 at the conference tournament. After knocking off Hawaii Pacific 75-68 in the opening round of the NCAA West Region Championships, the Saints’ season ended with a 26-6 record after a 66-57 loss to Point Loma.
SMU recently announced a change in men’s basketball leadership, with long-time assistant coach
Tyler Velasquez being promoted to the permanent head coach position. It will be Velasquez’s seventh season with the team and he was previously promoted to associate head coach ahead of the 2022-23 campaign. He played a role in bringing SMU each of its last three GNAC regular-season crowns. Velasquez replaces two-time GNAC Coach of the Year Aaron Landon, who was
announced as the head coach of the renewed Sonoma State men’s basketball program on Oct. 7. During his seven seasons leading the charge at SMU, Landon went 116-75 (.607) overall, 64-45 (.587) in conference play and brought four total GNAC trophies back to Marcus Pavilion.
Central Washington received steady upper-third voting to show up second in the preseason poll, after going 16-15 overall and tying for fourth in the GNAC standings at 9-9 a season ago. The Wildcats defeated Seattle Pacific 58-53 in the opening round of the conference tournament, before their season came to a close with the loss to the Saints in the semifinal round.
Brandon Rinta, the 2024-25 GNAC Coach of the Year, is back for his eighth season at the helm in Ellensburg, Wash. Rinta holds an overall record of 121-91 (.571) and has gone 67-61 (.523) in league play since taking over in 2019. He led the Wildcats to the conference tournament crown in 2024 and the regular-season title in 2025, with each marking the second time in program history CWU won the respective trophies.
Northwest Nazarene’s 80 points in the preseason poll were largely fueled by its three first-place votes, as the Nighthawks return after another NCAA West Region Championships season in 2025-26. Despite falling 87-75 to Alaska in the opening round of the conference tournament, NNU earned a spot in the regional championship where its campaign came to a close with a 76-61 loss to Point Loma in the opening round. The Nighthawks finished the season 18-11 overall and went 12-6 in league play to tie Alaska Anchorage for second in the standings.
Jon Hawkins kicks off his third season as head coach of the Nighthawks having gone 55-29 (.655) overall and 38-16 (.704) in conference games since taking over in 2024-25. Hawkins’s .704 winning percentage in league games is third-highest all-time among GNAC coaches with multiple seasons in charge. Only Western Oregon’s Jim Shaw at .788 (63-17 from 2015-19) and Seattle Pacific’s Ryan Looney at .762 (96-30 from 2010-16) hold higher GNAC winning percentages. The Nighthawks will be in search of their first-ever GNAC regular-season title, and project as a contender to add their second conference tournament crown after the first came in 2023.
Alaska Anchorage, the GNAC’s other NCAA regional team from last season, was picked fourth in the preseason poll with 62 points. The Seawolves went 21-11 overall including a tie for second in the conference standings at 12-6 last year, advancing to the GNAC title tilt where they were defeated by the Saints. UAA came up short 69-58 in a first-round battle against Cal State Dominguez Hills to finish the season. That ended the tenure of one of the most successful coaches in GNAC history, as Rusty Osborne retired after his 22nd season leading the Seawolves. Osborne went 381-244 (.610) overall and was 222-157 (.586) in GNAC games, with both win totals being the most-ever since the conference was founded in 2001.
Cameron Turner, who served as an assistant under Osborne from 2011-17, was announced as the head coach on March 31 and will begin his first season leading the program in Anchorage. UAA will be in pursuit of its second GNAC crown after claiming the regular-season title in 2007-08.
Montana State Billings finished fifth in the preseason poll, earning 61 points after tying for fourth place in the GNAC standings a season ago. The Yellowjackets went 20-11 overall and were 9-9 in conference contests, narrowly missing out on a conference tournament berth based on tiebreaker procedures.
Luke Fennelly led the team to its first-ever regular-season title in his first season in 2023-24 and will return for his fourth year piloting the program. He holds an overall record of 61-33 (.649) and has gone 34-20 (.630) in conference games since taking over. In addition to their regular-season title, MSUB also has one GNAC Championships trophy which it won in 2012.
The Alaska Nanooks occupied the sixth spot in the preseason poll, emerging with 56 points after earning a spot in last year’s conference tournament. Alaska upset Northwest Nazarene 87-75 in the opening round before an 87-86, double-overtime defeat against the Seawolves marked the end of its season. The Nanooks finished 15-14 overall and tied for fourth in the conference standings at 9-9 in league contests. In his second tenure leading the team,
Frank Ostanik returns for what will be his sixth overall year as head coach. He holds an overall record of 84-60 (.583) and is 50-38 (.568) in conference games, first coaching the Nanooks from 2004-07 and reassuming the role ahead of the 2024-25 season. Alaska won GNAC regular-season co-titles in 2003 and 2005 and its lone conference tournament crown came following the 2021-22 season.
Western Washington will be among the GNAC teams looking to crack back into the conference tournament field, after finishing eighth at 13-16 overall and 7-11 in league play last year. The Vikings were slotted seventh in the preseason coaches poll with 47 points.
Tony Dominguez has been in charge since the 2012-13 season, accumulating an overall record of 246-141 (.636) including a GNAC record of 147-96 (.605) in his 13 seasons in Bellingham. WWU’s five GNAC regular-season titles are the most of any program, with its most recent crown coming in 2016-17. WWU has also won two conference tournament trophies, in 2017 and 2020.
Earning 36 points in the preseason poll and projected eighth was Seattle Pacific. The Falcons went 14-12 overall and tied for fourth in 2025-26 going 9-9 in GNAC contests. A year removed from winning the 2025 GNAC tournament trophy, SPU fell 58-53 in the opening round to finish its season.
Keffrey Fazio will begin his fourth season in the Emerald City holding records of 49-42 (.538) overall and 30-24 (.556) in conference contests. SPU has won the regular-season title four times – most recently in 2019-20 – and Fazio delivered the program’s record fifth conference tournament trophy in the spring of 2025.
Western Oregon and Simon Fraser wrapped up the preseason poll with 19 points and 17 points for ninth and 10th place, respectively. The two teams tied for ninth in last year’s standings, each going 4-14 in conference play, with WOU finishing 9-18 overall and SFU going 7-21 overall. WOU’s
Ryan Orton and SFU’s
Barnaby Craddock each begin their second seasons leading their teams. WOU won three regular-season titles and two tournament crowns in a four-year span from 2015-18, while Simon Fraser has yet to win a GNAC trophy since joining the conference in 2010-11.
The 2026-27 men’s basketball season officially kicks off on Oct. 30 with the D2CCA Tip-Off Classic in Ellensburg, Wash. The first round of GNAC contests runs Dec. 3-5 with the remaining 16 games following after the new year. The top-six teams in the regular-season standings will earn spots in the
2027 GNAC Basketball Championships, which run March 4-6 at Johnson Sports Center on the campus of Northwest Nazarene. The winner of the conference tournament will earn the GNAC’s automatic berth into the NCAA West Region Championships, which follow March. 12-15 at the site of the top seed in the region.