WALESKA, Ga. – The AAC has announced its preseason poll for men's basketball and a familiar face is at the top of it.
 
Defending regular-season champion Pikeville is the favorite to repeat, according to the vote of league coaches.
 
The Bears got eight of the 11 first-place votes to finish atop the poll. Johnson (Tenn.) was second with the other three top-line selections, while Columbia International (S.C.) was picked third with Milligan (Tenn.) and Montreat (N.C.) tied for fourth.
 
UPike was 25-7 last season and won the league with a 16-4 record. It advanced to the second round of the NAIA tournament with an 86-84 overtime win over St. Francis (Ill.) before falling to second-seeded Grace (Ind.) 75-67.
 
The Bears will be led by AAC Player of the Year Bradley Bunch, a 6-6 senior from Big Stone Gap, Va. He won the award after averaging 18.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game last season.
 
Bunch shot 50.7 percent from the floor and 42.0 percent from the arc a season ago.
 
He was also named to the league's all-defensive team thanks to 28 steals and 26 blocked shots while averaging 8.0 defensive rebounds per game.
 
LA Walker returns for the Bears as well. A second-team all-conference selection, the 6-4 senior from Columbus, Ohio, averaged 15.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last season.
 
Keian Worrix is also back for his senior campaign. A 5-7 point guard from Pikeville, Worrix averaged 9.8 points and 4.1 assists per game as a junior, shooting 40.8 percent from the three and 74.5 percent from the line.
 
Worrix joined Bunch on the all-defensive team, leading the Bears with 44 steals.
 
Jaylen Rigdon, a member of the all-freshman team last season, is also back. A 6-0 guard from Pikeville, Rigdon averaged 5.3 points while sinking 40 percent of his three-point tries and connecting on 89.4 percent from the free throw line.
 
UPike will open the 2025-26 season when it visits WVU Tech on Tuesday, Nov. 4. The home opener will come on Wednesday, Nov. 12 when Bluefield (Va.) University visits the Appalachian Wireless Arena in the AAC opener. That game tips off at 7:30 p.m.