LIBERTY, Mo. - The William Jewell men's basketball team is closing in on the start of the 2026-2027 season and are among the top rated teams by the National Association of Basketball Coach (NABC), receiving 28 votes in the Division II preseason national poll. This is the third straight appearance in the poll for the Cardinals, dating back to last March, and the first time in the NCAA era they have received votes in the preseason.
Jewell is one of three Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) teams to appear in the poll as McKendree University comes in at No. 20. while Rockhurst received four votes. McKendree was picked first in the GLVC preseason poll, four points ahead of the Cardinals. In addition to the Bearcats and Hawks, the Cardinals will face off with three others in the poll in non-conference play, including No. 2 Washburn, No. 19 Central Missouri, and (RV) Fort Hays.
Jewell returns one of Division II's best guards in
Justice Sutton who averaged 19.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.5 steals per game on his way to All-GLVC First Team honors along with a selection to the All-Region teams by both the D2CCA All-Region and the NABC.
The full NABC Division II poll can be found below.
| Rank |
Team |
2025-26 Record |
Points |
Last Poll |
| 1. |
Nova Southeastern (Fla.) |
31-2 |
387 |
1 |
| 2. |
Washburn (Kan.) |
31-2 |
362 |
3 |
| 3. |
Gannon (Pa.) |
34-3 |
342 |
6 |
| 4. |
West Liberty (W.Va.) |
27-5 |
283 |
7 |
| 5. |
DBU (Texas) |
29-7 |
276 |
15 |
| 6. |
Black Hills State (SD) |
30-5 |
261 |
10 |
| 7. |
Lander (SC) |
30-6 |
260 |
23 |
| 8. |
Cal State East Bay |
33-1 |
228 |
2 |
| 9. |
Minnesota State |
21-12 |
198 |
NR |
| 10. |
West Alabama |
27-6 |
185 |
17 |
| 11. |
Point Loma (Calif.) |
27-6 |
183 |
19 |
| 12. |
Oklahoma Baptist |
31-4 |
181 |
8 |
| 13. |
Palm Beach Atlantic (Fla.) |
26-6 |
164 |
11 |
| 14. |
Walsh (Ohio) |
29-4 |
162 |
9 |
| 15. |
Daemen (NY) |
33-2 |
151 |
4 |
| 16. |
Eastern New Mexico |
26-6 |
133 |
13 |
| 17. |
Grand Valley State (Mich.) |
26-7 |
131 |
22 |
| 18. |
Anderson (SC) |
29-3 |
129 |
5 |
| 19. |
Central Missouri |
24-10 |
112 |
NR |
| 20. |
McKendree (Ill.) |
22-8 |
107 |
NR |
| 21. |
Saint Martin's (Wash.) |
26-6 |
100 |
18 |
| 22. |
St. Cloud State (Minn.) |
26-7 |
95 |
25 |
| 23. |
Lubbock Christian (Texas) |
27-6 |
94 |
14 |
| 24. |
Fairmont State (W.Va.) |
26-6 |
70 |
12 |
| 25. |
Alabama Huntsville |
23-10 |
56 |
NR |
| Receiving Votes: Cal State San Bernardino 54, Michigan Tech 51, Saint Michael's (Vt.) 44, Lake Superior State (Mich.) 41, Fayetteville State (NC) 37, Lake Erie (Ohio) 28, Lenoir-Rhyne (NC) 28, William Jewell (Mo.) 28, Minnesota Duluth 22, CSU Pueblo 20, Columbus State (Ga.) 18, Missouri Western 17, Bentley (Mass.) 16, Florida Southern 14, Morehouse (Ga.) 14, Indiana (Pa.) 12, Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) 11, Miles (Ala.) 10, Missouri Southern 10, St. Edward's (Texas) 10, Northern Michigan 9, Cal Poly Humboldt 8, Southern Nazarene (Okla.) 8, Catawba (NC) 7, Cal State Dominguez Hills 6, Westmont (Calif.) 6, Felician (NJ) 5, Jefferson (Pa.) 4, Rockhurst (Mo.) 4, Charleston (WV) 3, Shepherd (2), Southern New Hampshire 2, Fort Hays (Kan.) 1, Saint Anselm (NH) 1 |
