The Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team was picked first in the 2023-24 Under Armour Horizon League Preseason Poll.
The Norse received 18 of 34 first-place votes and earned 435 points in the poll, 38 points ahead of second-place Milwaukee.
NKU returns three of its starting five with Marques Warrick, Sam Vinson and Trey Robinson and brought in a plethora of players via the transfer portal or incoming freshman. Warrick was selected to the Preseason All-League First Team, Vinson selected to the Second Team.
Warrick, a senior guard from Lexington that played at Henry Clay, earned First Team honors after one of the best individual seasons in program history last year. He averaged 18.8 points, 2.6 assists and 2.3 rebounds. His 659 points scored ranked first in NKU’s NCAA Division I history and second in school history for most points scored in a single season. On the national level, Warrick finished the year 21st in all of NCAA DI basketball in points. Warrick has 1,589 points over his first three years with the program. He is currently ranked ninth all-time in school history in career points and trails NKU legend Drew McDonald by just 477 points for the top spot in school history heading into the year.
Vinson, a junior guard from Fort Thomas and played at Highlands, picked up Second Team honors after averaging 11.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.4 steals per game last year. He also totaled 76 swipes on the year, a mark that ranked first in NKU’s NCAA DI era and second all-time in school history. On the national scene, Vinson finished 11th in the NCAA in total steals and 12th in steals per game.
Over his first two years with the Norse, Vinson has totaled 735 points, 277 boards, 200 assists and 142 steals. He is already ranked 11th all-time in school history in career steals through just 64 career games played.
NKU gets their season started on Nov. 1 with an exhibition against Mount St. Joseph at Truist Arena. They’ll then make road trips to Middle Tennessee State (Nov. 6) and Washington (Nov. 9) to start the regular season before their regular season home opener against DePauw on Nov. 14. A trip across the river to Cincinnati follows on Nov. 19.
The Norse are coming off a 22-13 season and their fourth Horizon League Tournament Championship in the last seven years.
Preseason Poll
Rank Team (First-Place votes) Points
- Northern Kentucky (18) — 435
- Milwaukee (10) — 397
- Wright State (12) — 392
- Cleveland State (1) — 362
- Youngstown State (3) — 342
- Oakland — 280
- Robert Morris — 186
- Purdue Fort Wayne — 166
- Detroit Mercy — 132
- IUPUI — 116
- Green Bay — 96
Preseason Player of the Year
Trey Calvin, Wright State
Preseason All-League First Team
Tristan Enaruna, Cleveland State
BJ Freeman, Milwaukee
Marques Warrick, Northern Kentucky
Trey Townsend, Oakland
Trey Calvin, Wright State
Preseason All-League Second Team
Jiynn Counter, IUPUI
Sam Vinson, Northern Kentucky
Tanner Holden, Wright State
Brandon Noel, Wright State
Brandon Rush, Youngstown State
