Bobcats Picked Atop Blue Ribbon Preseason Big Sky Poll
9/7/2022 12:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Jubrile Belo and the defending Big Sky men's basketball champions pick up their first preseason accolade from the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook.
BOZEMAN, Mont. – The defending Big Sky men's basketball champions got their first preseason accolades of the year, as the Montana State Bobcats were picked first in the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook's Big Sky Preseason poll on Wednesday.
Montana State leads Montana, Northern Colorado, Weber State and Eastern Washington in the longtime college basketball publication's top five Big Sky team rankings.
Along with the team accolade, senior Jubrile Belo was selected to Blue Ribbon Sports' Preseason All-Conference Team. The forward from London, England averaged 12.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game in his Big Sky MVP and Defensive MVP-caliber season last year. He was a unanimous First Team All-Big Sky selection, plus he earned NABC All-District honors as a junior. Going into this season, Belo ranks second in program history with 127 blocks and seventh in field goal percentage (60.5%).
Montana State is coming off a 27-8 season — including a 16-4 record in Big Sky play — that culminated in an NCAA Tournament berth. The Bobcats bring back two starters from last season, plus add experienced transfers in Darius Brown II, Robert Ford III and Caleb Fuller to the squad.
Northern Colorado's Daylen Kountz, Weber State's Dillon Jones, Eastern Washington's Steele Venters and Northern Arizona's Jalen Cone rounded out Blue Ribbon Sports' preseason All-Big Sky selections. Kountz was the publication's Preseason Player of the Year pick, and Sacramento State's Callum McRae was named Newcomer of the Year.
The Bobcats open the 2022-23 season with an exhibition game against Montana State University Billings on Oct. 30.
