After winning the Midwest Conference title last season, coach David Arseneault's Grinnell College men's basketball squad has been picked to repeat.

The Pioneers, 13-3 in MWC play in 2006-2007 and 17-7 overall, garnered six of 10 first-place votes in balloting by league coaches. Lawrence University was picked second and had three first-place votes, while No. 3 pick Lake Forest College had the other top vote. Rounding out the top five were St. Norbert College and Carroll College.

Among Grinnell's top returnees are Arseneault's son, David '09, and John Grotberg '09, both first-team All-MWC selections last season. The 6-foot-2 Arseneault was the NCAA Division III assists leader for the second season in a row with 203, breaking his own school record. Arseneault, a finalist for the prestigious Bob Cousy Award, also averaged 18.7 points per game. The 6-2 Grotberg ranked third in DIII scoring at 28.1 points a contest and also averaged 3.1 assists a game.

Also back is honorable mention All-MWC pick Keith Chamberlain '08, the team's tallest player at 6-8 who averaged 11.9 points and 6.4 rebounds a game. Rounding out the list of top returnees are Bobby Long '09 (15.3 ppg) and Mike Schmidt '08 (8.8 ppg), who are 6-0 and 6-3, respectively.
MIDWEST CONFERENCE MEN'S PRESEASON BASKETBALL POLL
(First-place votes in parentheses)
1. Grinnell (6)
2. Lawrence (3)
3. Lake Forest (1)
4. St. Norbert
5. Carroll
6. Ripon
7. Monmouth
8. Illinois College
9. Knox
10. Beloit