COLONIA, N.J. – Following back-to-back ECC Championship runs, the Daemen University Wildcats were chosen as the favorites in the 2026-27 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's nine head coaches. Moreover, the Wildcats frontcourt leader Phil Nwugwo was named Preseason Player of the Year.
Daemen was the recipient of 80 points and eight first-place votes to lead the pack in the poll. The Wildcats posted their second straight undefeated ECC regular season and went 33-2 overall during the 2025-26 season. They became the first ECC program to record back-to-back undefeated regular seasons since Philadelphia Textile in the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons and owned a dominating +22.6 scoring margin over ECC foes last year, while the team’s 33 wins were a program-record. After securing its second consecutive ECC Championship, Daemen earned its third straight and sixth all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament and would go on to capture the NCAA Division II East Region title for the second time in program history after cruising through the regional tournament with victories of 111-78 (vs. #8 Goldey-Beacom), 85-62 (vs. #5 Saint Michael's) and 94-68 (vs. #3 Saint Anselm in the regional championship) to advance to the Elite Eight. The Wildcats magical run would conclude in a three-point heartbreaker, 77-74, to the No. 5 seeded Lander. Daemen ranked first in the ECC in 16 statistical categories and was top 10 in the NCAA in seven areas. The Wildcats sat atop of the ECC in assists to turnover ratio, assists per game, blocks per game, effective field goal ratio, fastbreak points, field goal percentage, filed goal percentage defense, fouls per game, rebounding margin, rebounds per game, scoring defense, scoring margin, three-point percentage, three-point percentage defense, turnovers per game, and winning percentage. Nationally, Daemen led the country in blocks, while being top 10 in assists (2nd), winning percentage (2nd), scoring margin (4th), rebound margin (6th), fouls per game (8th), and rebounds per game (9th). Over the past two championship season runs for Daemen, the squad has logged an unparalleled 32-0 ECC mark (61-3 overall record) and also ascended to the top of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) national polls in the 2024-25 season, earning the program's first ever No. 1 national ranking after going undefeated during the regular season for the first time in program history. The Wildcats have only won two ECC titles in team history, but the unit has played in the championship final six straight seasons dating back to 2021, and seven total times since 2016.
Checking in at second place in the poll was St. Thomas Aquinas, which received 61 points. The most decorated program in ECC history, the Spartans own the most ECC Championships all-time with eight and the most ECC Regular Season titles all-time with seven. Over the past decade from 2016 through 2026, STAC dominated the conference, securing all eight of its ECC Championships by going on a three-peat from 2016 to 2018, before rallying off five straight titles from 2020 to 2024. During the timespan, the Spartans made the championship final in nine out of 11 postseasons and 11 times total dating back to 2014. The team’s seven regular season crowns were clinched from 2015-2017 (3x) and 2021-2024 (4x). In 2025-26, St. Thomas Aquinas went 13-3 during the ECC league slate and 17-12 overall, finishing second in the final standings of the ECC. Despite the recent postseason success for the program, the Spartans were upset in the semifinals by No. 6 Roberts Wesleyan, marking the first time since 2019 that the team failed to make the final. Thriving on its defense, STAC led the ECC in steals per game (8.7), turnovers forced per game (16.41), and turnover margin (+2.7), while ranking second in scoring defense (80.2) last season. On the offensive end of the hardwood, the team ranked third in scoring (82.3) and had the second-best field goal shooting percentage, making shots at a 45.2 percent rate.
Staten Island compiled 56 points in the poll, finishing in third place. The Dolphins concluded 2025-26 with a 20-9 overall record and an 11-5 ECC mark, with the 20 wins serving as the most in a season for the Dolphins in their Division II era. CSI made the ECC Tournament as the No. 3 seed, marking its fourth consecutive ECC postseason berth. Although the Dolphins hosted their 2026 ECC Championship First Round game, the team was upset by No. 6 Roberts Wesleyan. All-time, CSI is 1-4 in the ECC postseason, with the team’s lone win coming in the First Round of the 2025 tournament in a win over Roberts Wesleyan. The Dolphins produced one of the nation’s top scoring units last season, registering 86.5 points per game, good for 17th in the NCAA. In addition to scoring, CSI also led the ECC at the charity stripe, logging the most free throws made per game (17.3), free throws attempted per game (21.7), and recording the most-efficient free throw percentage (79.5), while ranking second in three pointers made per game (8.9) and third in three-point percentage (34.5). The squad was also one of the ECC’s best on the glass, leading the conference in defensive rebounds, while ranking second in rebounding average and rebounding margin.
The poll’s top five wrapped up with 2026 ECC Championship runner-up Roberts Wesleyan in fourth place with 51 points and the final first-place vote and D'Youville in fifth place collecting 46 points. Rounding out the poll were Molloy (45), Queens (28), Mercy (21), and District of Columbia (17).
One of the best defensive players in the league, Daemen redshirt senior Nwugwo, has been named as the ECC Preseason Player of the Year. Originating from Rochester, N.Y., the forward played in all 35 games for the Wildcats last season, making 11 appearances in the starting lineup, while he averaged 8.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game in 21 minutes of action per night. In his 11 starts, Nwugwo averaged 13.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, serving as a key part of the Wildcat offense. A defensive threat in the paint, he ranked fifth in total blocks (38) and ninth in blocks per game in the ECC. Nwugwo was also sixth on the ECC leaderboard in offensive rebounds per game (2.23) and 21st in total rebounds. Academically, he earned CSC Academic All-District honors and was selected to the NABC Honors Court last season.
2026-27 ECC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
1. Daemen - 80 points (8 first-place votes)
2. St. Thomas Aquinas - 61 points
3. Staten Island - 56 points
4. Roberts Wesleyan - 51 points (1 first-place vote)
5. D'Youville - 46 points
6. Molloy - 45 points
7. Queens - 28 points
8. Mercy - 21 points
9. District of Columbia - 17 points
Player of the Year
Phil Nwugwo - Daemen
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Founded as the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference in 1989 and rechristened the East Coast Conference in July 2006, the ECC was formed to enhance intercollegiate athletic competition among member institutions and to assist them in integrating athletics into their academic program in a fiscally sound way. The ECC is committed to the highest standards of scholarship, sportsmanship, teamwork, and citizenship. Its mission is to promote the total person concept in its student-athletes, which stresses the abilities to excel in academic achievement, athletic competition, and positive character traits. East Coast Conference members include: Daemen University (Amherst, N.Y.); University of the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.); D'Youville University (Buffalo, N.Y.); Mercy University (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.); Molloy University (Rockville Centre, N.Y.); Queens College (Flushing, N.Y.); Roberts Wesleyan University (Rochester, N.Y.); College of Staten Island (Staten Island, N.Y.); and St. Thomas Aquinas College (Sparkill, N.Y.). The ECC also is home to 13 associate members in the sports of women’s bowling (3), men’s and women’s indoor track & field (3), men's volleyball (2), field hockey (1), and men’s lacrosse (1).
The ECC sponsors the following championship sports: baseball; men’s and women’s basketball; women's bowling; men’s and women’s cross country; field hockey; men’s and women’s lacrosse; men’s and women’s indoor track and field; men’s and women’s outdoor track and field; men’s and women’s soccer; softball; and men's and women’s volleyball.
The East Coast Conference is a proud member of the NCAA and Division II. Division II is a dynamic and engaging group of colleges, institutions and conferences of varying sizes and educational missions. Division II members encourage and support diversity; value sportsmanship, fairness and equity; and place the highest priority on the overall educational excellence of the student-athlete.