Benjamin Bill makes a move in the paint vs. Chestnut Hill

Men's Basketball Selected 1st In ECC Preseason Poll, Bill Named Preseason Player of the Year

10/20/2025 1:00:00 PM

AMHERST, N.Y. – Daemen University is a unanimous selection atop the East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll, the league office announced today. It marks the third time in the last four seasons that the Wildcats have been picked as the ECC's preseason favorite. In another unanimous vote, redshirt junior center Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) has been named the ECC Preseason Player of the Year.

Daemen amassed 81 total points and collected all nine first-place votes to sit ahead of second-place St. Thomas Aquinas College (69 points). The College of Staten Island (54 points), Queens College (48 points), Roberts Wesleyan University (45 points) and D'Youville University (42 points) round out the poll's top six teams, making them favorites to qualify for the ECC Championship tournament next March. The University of the District of Columbia (24 points), Molloy University (22 points) and Mercy University (20 points) filled positions seven through 10.

Daemen is coming off a magical 2024-25 campaign during which they posted a 28-1 overall record, an unblemished 16-0 mark in conference play, won the ECC regular season and tournament championships, were the last remaining unbeaten team across all levels of college basketball, rose to No. 1 in the national rankings and qualified for the NCAA tournament for the fifth time in program history. Several key players return, none bigger - both literally and figuratively - than the 6-foot-9, 240-pound Bill who earned ECC Player of the Year and consensus All-American honors last season despite coming off Daemen's bench. While playing just 22.7 minutes per game, the Daemen big man produced 16.8 points per game on 70.8% field-goal shooting. He was a force on the backboard (7.2 rebounds per game, 8 double-doubles) and on the defensive end (62 blocked shots) as well.

Fellow All-ECC selections Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.), Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) also return to the fold. Hemphill, a redshirt senior forward who also earned All-Region accolades, averaged 11.9 points and was the first player in program history to lead the team in total rebounds (215), assists (116) and steals (43) in the same season. He already ranks sixth in program history for career rebounds with 641, and enters his final collegiate season just 55 points shy of 1,000.

Glover and Philipkoski are back to man the backcourt, along with junior Ryan Heath who appeared in all 29 games off the bench a season ago. Glover, a 5-foot-9 senior, shot 50% from the field and 42.7% from three-point range while producing 9.6 points per game. The 6-foot-4 Philipkoski, who was named the 2023 New York State Player of the Year in Class A, averaged 10.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game last season.

The Wildcats' roster also features several high-profile newcomers, including sophomore guard Jaiden Harrison (Buffalo, N.Y.), the all-time leading scorer in Western New York high school basketball history. Harrison spent his first collegiate season at Division II Anderson University (S.C.), but headed back to Buffalo where he joins fellow Bishop Timon-St. Jude High School product Nakyhi Harris (Buffalo, N.Y.) and St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute graduate Jaymeir Goosby (Buffalo, N.Y.) with the Wildcats.

Daemen opens its 2025-26 season with an exhibition game vs. Division III Nazareth University this Saturday, Oct. 25 as the first of two games at KeyBank Center in downtown Buffalo. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m. with the nightcap featuring Syracuse University against the University at Buffalo (7 p.m. tip). Tickets are on sale now at the KeyBank Center online box office (use passcode: DAEMEN).

The regular season tips off Saturday, Nov. 1 (vs. Lenoir-Rhyne University) and Sunday, Nov. 2 (vs. University of Alaska Anchorage) with Daemen participating in the prestigious Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland, Fla. The Wildcats will return home to host the East Region Challenge presented by WNY Knee and Orthopedic Surgery on Friday, Nov. 14 (vs. Felician University) and Saturday, Nov. 15 (vs. Saint Anselm College).

Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

Follow the Daemen University men's basketball program on Twitter and Facebook at @DaemenMBB.

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