ORLANDO, Fla. – Embry-Riddle Men's Basketball has been selected to finish seventh in the 2025-26 Sunshine State Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Poll, as voted upon by conference coaches.

The Eagles were slotted seventh with 50 voting points, one point behind Rollins in sixth and one point ahead of Barry in eighth. Reigning national champs, Nova Southeastern were tabbed preseason favorites with 10 of the 11 first-place votes.

Head Coach Steve Ridder and company look to improve upon last season's 17-12 overall record and an 11-9 SSC tally, marking five-consecutive seasons above .500. Ridder has been at the helm of the program since 1989 and is nearing 800 career wins at Embry-Riddle, holding a 798-340 record with the Eagles.

A handful of returners mixed with five new faces appear on this season's roster, highlighted by leading returners Jared Berry, Milan Skoric, and Clarens Pierre. Berry leads the returners in total scoring from last season with a total of 298 points for 10.3 per game.

Skoric followed with 9.5 points per contest for a total of 257 while Pierre netted an average of 4.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game. Other notable contributors from a season ago are Jack Klinger, Logan Lewis, and Dawson Barr, all of which appeared in all 29 contests in 2024-25. Klinger joins Pierre as one of the top rebounders returning to the squad, averaging 3.7 boards last season.

Two of the five new members of the program are transfers from NCAA Division I programs as the Eagles will look to apply the talents of Evan Montanari and Braeden Moore to the lineup.

Montanari a transfer from East Carolina will look to be scoring threat from long range. The Denver, N.C. native completed his high school career as Gaston Day School's leading three-point leader in a season with 103 treys, including nine in one contest.

As for Moore, he comes from Oral Roberts where he made 27 appearances in two seasons. He averaged 2.5 points per game and shot for 42.9% from the field during that time. The Nashville, Tenn. native was a stellar high school talent, scoring 2,000 points and was the TSSAA Mr. Basketball Runner-Up in 2021.

ERAU will open the season with an exhibition on Nov. 10 against Atlantis before tipping-off the regular season at the GSC/SSC Crossover in Nashville, Tenn. on Nov. 15-16. The Eagles open with Morehouse and close with hosts Trevecca Nazarene for the opening weekend of play inside the Trojan Fieldhouse.