Sports
Sports Editor: Jeff Hart – J.R.Hart2@iup.edu
Crimson Hawks garner No. 5 ranking in preseason poll Foster named preseason All-American By IUP Sports Information
A delay in the start of the 202021 season hasn't stopped IUP men's basketball from getting national recognition, as the Crimson Hawks are ranked No. 5 by the Basketball Times in its Division II preseason poll released Thursday. IUP is used to high expectations, especially during the Joe Lombardi era, earning preseason top-25 rankings by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) for 11 straight seasons. The NABC has not yet released its preseason poll for this season. IUP is one of four teams from the Atlantic Region, and the only squad from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), in the Basketball Times' top-20. The Hawks are joined by West Liberty at No. 4, Charleston at No. 18 and Fairmont State at No. 20. Northwest Missouri State is the No. 1 team in the preseason poll followed by West Texas A&M at No. 2. The Crimson Hawks are coming off one of the finest years in program history before the
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COVID-19 pandemic ended their 2020 NCAA tournament run before it started. IUP finished with a 28-2 overall record, winning its fifth straight PSAC West Division regular season and second straight conference tournament title. The Hawks earned the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Region and were set to host the regional championships before the cancellation of the season. The Hawks reached as high as No. 3 in the national rankings before finishing the year ranked (iupathletics) No. 6 in the NABC poll. The PSAC suspended all sports during the 2020 fall semester, so the Crimson Hawks cannot start their abbreviated year until January 2021. No schedule or start date has been determined by the conference. Early season accolades have come in for IUP junior guard Armoni Foster as he was named a Division II preseason All-American by the Basketball Times. Foster is one of 24 preseason
All-Americans across Division II after enjoying a breakout season as a first-year starter in 2019-20. The guard earned all-region and all-district honors by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and D2CCA and was an obvious first team All-PSAC West selection. Foster led the Crimson Hawks and finished fourth in the conference in scoring at 19.8 points per game, putting up 15 20-point games and hitting double-figures in all but two of his 30 games during the season. Foster finished the year on a hot streak, averaging 23.3 points over the final four weeks. He went for a career-high 33 points in the PSAC quarterfinal win over Cal U and followed that with 28 points against East Stroudsburg in the conference semis. He was a big part of IUP’s 11th PSAC tournament title, averaging 26.0 points and 6.7 rebounds, while shooting 54.8 percent from the field, 63.6 percent from three and 25-of-28 from the foul line. Foster finished the year with 595 points, tied for 10th most in single season program history. He was the top shooting guard in the PSAC with a 49.6 field goal percentage and was third in the league with 154 made free throws. He also played a huge part in IUP’s defense as his 56 steals ranked third in the conference. IUP is used to high expectations, especially during the Joe Lombardi era, earning preseason top-25 rankings by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) for 11 straight seasons. The NABC has not yet released its preseason poll for this season. The PSAC suspended all sports during the 2020 fall semester, so the Crimson Hawks cannot start their abbreviated year until January 2021. No schedule or start date has been determined by the conference.
October 28, 2020
(Autumn Dorsey/The Penn) Foster looks to lead this team to a championship.
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