Christopher Newport is favored in the 2023-24 Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) Men's Basketball Preseason Poll. The Captains collected 25 points and five first-place votes to lead the rankings.

Mary Washington collected 21 points and one top vote to finish second with Salisbury in the third spot with 16 points. UC Santa Cruz ranked fourth with 14 points, while Warren Wilson and Pratt Institute rounded out the poll with nine and five points, respectively.

The 2023-24 season kicks off Wednesday, Nov. 8, with the 2024 C2C Men's Basketball Championship, a 6-team tournament, being hosted by the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on Feb. 22, 23, and 24. 

Below is a brief preview of each team entering the 2023-24 season:

Christopher Newport: Following a 30-3 season and the first National Championship in program history, Christopher Newport University has been ranked the #1 team in the country heading into the 2023-2024 season by D3hoops.com. The Captains, who return 12 players including four starters from last season's title team, received 24 of 25 first-place votes.  Head Coach John Krikorian is heading into his 13th season leading the Captains. Last year his team made history by beating Mount Union in the National Championship game in Fort Wayne, Indiana, 74-72.  The 2023-24 Captains roster features two returning All-Americans in seniors Jahn Hines and Trey Barber. Hines, a Norview High School product, last year became the 34th CNU player in history to score 1,000 points or more, reaching the lofty plateau during CNU's National Semifinal victory over Swarthmore in Fort Wayne. Hines has now recorded 1,029 points in 63 games played for a career average of 16.3 points per game. Barber, who hit the game-winning shot in the final second of the national championship game, blocked 77 shots last year in 28 games played (2.75 per game), and ranked 11th in the nation in blocks per game. The Captains' big man, from Woodbridge, Va., was second on the team in scoring with 13.5 points per game while knocking down 55.3 percent of his shots from the field.

Mary Washington: Mary Washington will look to build on the success of last year's 20-9 team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and leading the charge will be four returning starters, including consensus All-America forward Greg Rowson (16.9 PPG). Also back for head coach Marcus Kahn will be C2C Defensive Player of the Year Zack Blue, as well as starters Cameron McCravy, Daniel Peterson, and C2C Rookie of the Year Dorian Davis. Transfers Trey Hillman and Zyon Grant will look to fill the void left from graduated seniors Da'Shawn Cook and Emmanuel Aghayere.

Salisbury: The Sea Gulls return a productive group of upperclassmen for the 2023-24 campaign, headlined by senior forward Jordan Oates. In addition to being named the C2C Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Oates led the conference in rebounding for the second straight season (8.7) a year ago while averaging 9.7 points per game. After graduating two All-C2C selections in the backcourt in Greg Bloodsworth and Brandon Craig, the Sea Gulls will look to junior guard Brendan Davis and graduate guard Cameron Heard. The duo ranked fourth and sixth on the team in scoring a season ago, respectively. Davis's three-point clip of .448 ranked first among Sea Gulls with 10 or more attempts last year. Heard ranked third in both rebounding (3.2) and assists (46) a season ago for the Sea Gulls. Salisbury welcomes seven new faces in 2023-24, including four freshmen and three transfers. Size was the emphasis of the class, with five of the seven residing in the frontcourt and four standing at 6'5" or taller.

UC Santa Cruz:  The Banana Slugs return four of their top seven student-athletes from the C2C semi-finalist team of last year.  Juniors Ian McCloskey (9.5 points, 1.7 assists per game) and Zino Okah (10.6 points, 0.9 steals) will be joined by fifth-year Tyler Kessinger (team-high 14.4 points, 2.7 assists) to form one of the conference's most experienced backcourts.  Treyson Keating (51.7% FG, 5.4 rebounds) returns to provide a presence under the boards. 

Warren Wilson: The 2023-24 season brings a fresh start for the Warren Wilson men's basketball team, with new head coach Chris Horton.   The Owls return four players with seniors Antonio Banuelos and Nedas Nacickas bringing valuable experience and leadership along with sophomores Nasir Cotton and Dylan Wheatley.  To bolster the roster, WWC welcomes eight newcomers including transfers - Tashaun Simpson, Yoshi Kendrick, Marcus Andrews, and Demarshaun Worley - and freshmen - Daishaun Handy, Ibraheem Essader, Aaron Cutherbertson, and Jason Hines Jr.

Pratt: The Cannoneers return three of their top five scorers from last season in seniors Patrick O'Gorman and Ace Bibbs and sophomore Sebastian Roda. O'Gorman earned All-C2C Second Team honors last year after leading the league in assists and three-point shooting and was fourth in scoring en route to eclipsing 1,000 points as a junior. Head Coach David Danzig in his second season will also turn to an underclassmen squad that features 10 sophomores and first-years all looking to compete for minutes.