LANCASTER, PA – Johns Hopkins is tied atop the Centennial Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Poll in a vote of the league's head coaches. The Blue Jays, who won 20 games and went to the NCAA Tournament last season, earned five first-place votes and 77 total points.  
 
Hopkins is tied for first in the poll with defending champion Gettysburg, which also received five first-place votes and 77 points. Franklin & Marshall is third in the poll with 59 points, followed by Ursinus (58 points) and Swarthmore (49 points) to round out the top five.
 
Hopkins, which is ranked 22^nd in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25, returns three starters from last year's NCAA Tournament squad in senior Jeb Williams and juniors Wyatt Eglinton Manner and Logan Feller. Eglinton Manner earned Second Team All-Centennial Conference and College Sports Communicator (CSC) Academic All-District honors. Williams and Feller joined him on the CSC Academic All-District team.
 
Eglinton Manner ranked eighth in the Centennial Conference in scoring (13.6), tied for third in assists (3.3) and first in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.1). He also ranked 11^th in steals (1.3) and eighth in field goal percentage (.429). Williams led the Blue Jays with 36 three pointers and ranked second in steals (1.5), third in blocks (0.5) and fourth in scoring (8.7) and rebounds (3.9). Feller finished fourth on the team in assists (1.2) and fifth in rebounds (3.3). He averaged 6.8 points and shot 39.1 percent from the field and 33.0 percent from downtown.
 
Hopkins will open the season on Friday, November 6 at Marymount. Tip-off at Converse Family Fieldhouse is slated for 8:00 pm.
 
2026-27 Centennial Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
1T. Gettysburg (5 First-Place Votes) • 77 points
    Johns Hopkins (5 First-Place Votes) • 77 points
3. Franklin & Marshall • 59 points
4. Ursinus • 58 points
5. Swarthmore • 49 points
6. Dickinson • 45 points
7. Haverford • 27 points
8. Muhlenberg • 25 points
9. McDaniel • 23 points
10. Washington College • 10 points