HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – After reaching its second straight Elite Eight, the University of Alabama in Huntsville men's basketball team will once again begin the season with high expectations as the squad landed at No. 6 in the Division II Bulletin Preseason Top 25, and Jaime Smith was picked to the Division II Bulletin Super 16.
 
With the women's team also ranked, UAH joins just three other schools – Metro State, Chico State, and Western Washington – in placing both basketball programs in the preseason rankings, and with Jasmine Hammon also being named to the Super 16 on the women's side, UAH is the only team to feature a representative on both.
 
Lennie Acuff guided his team to a 29-win season a year ago, hosting and winning the NCAA South Regional for a second consecutive year while also winning the Gulf South Conference Tournament for the first time in program history. His squad finished fifth in the country in field goal percentage last season, and led by Smith's performance, the Blue and White was also 12th in the country in 3-point field goal percentage.
 
Smith finished as the nation's top 3-point shooter, connecting on 48.6 percent of his attempts, and he ranked eighth with 3.24 treys per game en route to averaging right at 18 points per game. The Birmingham, Ala., native was selected as one of the top players in the region, landing on both the Daktronics All-South Region team as well as the NABC All-Region squad.
 
UAH is the highest ranked South Region team ranked as Christian Brothers is No. 13 followed by Florida Southern in 15th. Saint Leo is No. 23.
 
Midnight Madness for the Chargers will be held Friday night, and UAH will first hit the floor when it opens the home slate on Nov. 9 against Point Loma Nazarene before travelling to Manhattan, Kan., to face North Texas in the NIT Season Tip-Off on Nov. 12.