PORTLAND, Ore. - The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball program returns to action after a year off for the 2020-21 men's basketball due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Seattle Pacific received all 10 first-place votes, earning a perfect 100 points and being named the GNAC Men's Basketball preseason favorite. In second place came Alaska Anchorage, receiving 77 points. Close behind in third was Western Washington University with 76 points. Next was Alaska, as the Nanooks, led by 2019-20 All-American Shadeed Shabazz, earned 64 points for a fourth-place prediction. They beat out Northwest Nazarene who earned 61 points and came in at fifth-place. 

Six through eighth-place was Central Washington (47 points), Simon Fraser (41 points) and Western Oregon (34 points). Rounding out the preseason standings was Saint Martin's with 28 points and Montana State Billings with 22 points. 

The Nanooks are coming off of a sixth-place finish in the 2019-20 season that saw them end the year 12-18 overall and 10-10 in GNAC play. They made the 2020 GNAC Basketball Championships and ran all the way to the GNAC semifinals before their season ended with a loss to Western Washington. 

The Nanooks will host their annual Blue/Gold scrimmage on Oct. 23 before opening their schedule with two scrimmages on Oct. 30/31 at home against the Seattle Mountaineers. 

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter, @AlaskaMensBasketball on Instagram, or like the Alaska Nanooks athletic page on Facebook.