Chicago, IL – Coaches from the Mid-Continent Conference have picked the NIU men’s basketball team to finish third in its’ debut and forward Donnell Thomas to make the All-Conference team.

A panel of 27 casted their pre-season selections and the results were handed to the press at the annual Mid-Continent Conference media day on Tuesday.

The Huskies, competing in the Mid-Continent for the first time along with newcomers, Akron and Cleveland State, received five first-place votes out of a possible 27. The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay topped the other nine teams in the Mid-Continent, but only by a narrow margin. UW-GB tallied nine first place votes, followed by Northern Iowa with six and NIU with five.

“We’ll be a good team,” NIU coach Jim Molinari said. “I think third is about right.”

Thomas, the only senior on the pre-season all-conference team, is only one of the two forwards to be chosen. All three of the remaining five selections are guards. The experience factor is what has opposing conference coaches cautious of the Huskie attack.

“They (NIU) have outstanding senior leadership,” Dick Bennett, head coach of UW-GB said. “Plus they are tremendous basketball players and with an excellent coach, that’s an incredible combination – they are probably my pre-season pick to win it all.”

With five returning seniors, NIU is not anonymous to the rest of the coaches either. Eldon Miller, coach of the Nothern Iowa team that knocked off Missouri in the NCAA tournament last season, acknowledged the Huskies’ strong point.

“With Donnell Thomas, Whiteside, Harmon, Well and Arrington,” Miller said, “we know those people and they’re going to be a tough team.”

Coach “Mo” enjoyed his first official Mid-Continent assignment and welcomed the task ahead.

“I really enjoy this,” Molinari said. “It (the Mid-Continent) does a lot for us. I think the conference title will be up for grabs. It’s going to be tough, but I’m looking forward to the season.”