KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The NAIA released its Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Top 25 poll for the 2026-27 season on Wednesday, and the Loyola Wolf Pack checked in at No. 14 after finishing last season unranked.
This is the first time Loyola's men's basketball team has been ranked entering the season since the 2021-22 campaign, which ended in the program's second NAIA national championship. The ranking comes a week after the Wolf Pack was picked first in the Southern States Athletic Conference preseason poll, marking the first time Loyola topped the conference poll since that championship season.
[Full NAIA Preseason Poll]
In head coach Trey Lindsey's first season leading the Wolf Pack, Loyola put together a 22-8 overall record, the program's best since the 2022-23 season, and qualified for the NAIA National Championship tournament.
Loyola returns four of its top five scorers from last year's team, including Kameron Johnson, who was named the SSAC Player of the Year and an NAIA All-American. Johnson averaged 18.4 points, 6.4 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game while setting Loyola's single-season assists record with 185.
SSAC All-Conference second teamer Zachary Lee is also back for the Wolf Pack, and Kosta Bjelicic's return gives the Pack three returners who scored in double figures a season ago. Lee averaged 14.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, and Bjelicic added 11.7 points and seven rebounds. Reece Seicshnaydre (6.8 points per game), Jaylen Peters (5.9), and Georgios Vassilakis (4.1) all also averaged double-digit minutes last season, and all are back to add depth to the roster.
The Wolf Pack also welcomed seven newcomers to the team. Curtis Blair III (Cedarville University), O'Neill Connolly (Montevallo) and Michael Mouton (Louisiana) all transferred into the program, while Markuss Sipko, Jackson Kinzig, Frankie Greenberg and Langston Adams Jr. make up the freshman class.
Loyola opens up the season at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 22, at LSU Alexandria, and it'll play its first home game against Texas College on Monday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m.
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