HONOLULU — The Hawaii men’s basketball team is again expected to perform in the upper tier of the Big West Conference.

UH was tabbed to finish third of 11 teams in the Big West as voted by the conference's head coaches, the BWC announced on Thursday.

Last year, UH was picked second, its highest of its Big West membership, and went on to finish fifth with a first-round exit in the conference tournament, an overtime loss to No. 4 Cal State Fullerton, to cap a 22-11 season.

Senior point guard JoVon McClanahan was named to the six-player preseason all-conference team. McClanahan had a breakout year in 2022-23 with the game-winning shot in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic title game against SMU. He started all 33 games, averaging 11.3 points, 3.5 assists and 0.9 steals per game.

Defending BWC tournament champion UC Santa Barbara, led by returning BWC Player of the Year Ajay Mitchell, was picked to win the league, followed by Long Beach State, UH, UC Irvine, UC Davis and Cal State Fullerton as the projected top half of the conference.

UCSB garnered eight first-place votes and LBSU two.

UH was to have its annual Tip-Off Event fundraiser at the Stan Sheriff Center on Wednesday night, then play No. 23 Saint Mary’s in a preseason exhibition Friday to raise funds for Maui relief efforts.

UH is currently slated to open the 2023-24 regular season against Hawaii Hilo on Nov. 14.

Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.