BURNSVILLE, Minn. – Augustana men's basketball was the unanimous pick to finish first in the overall and South Division polls in the 2015-16 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll released on Thursday. Augustana, the defending NSIC Overall Co-Champion, South Division and NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament Champions, received 225 points and all 15 first-place votes.
 
Augustana senior, and defending NSIC and Central Region Player of the Year, Daniel Jansen was named the South Division Preseason Player of the Year. Isaac Sevlie of MSU Moorhead was named the North Division Preseason Player of the Year.
 
MSU Moorhead earned 210 points and one first-place vote and was picked to finish second, followed by Minnesota State in third, Winona State in fourth and Northern State in fifth.
 
In the South Division, Augustana earned seven first-place votes and 49 points and was followed by Minnesota State in second, Winona State in third, Southwest Minnesota State in fourth, Upper Iowa in fifth, Concordia-St. Paul in sixth, Sioux Falls in seventh and Wayne State in eighth.
 
Jansen, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound forward from Orange City, Iowa, enters his senior season ranked 10th all-time at Augustana with 1,534 career points after a junior season where he set a single season record with 671 points. He was named to five All-America teams following the 2014-15 season in which he averaged 19.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Jansen scored 10 or more points in 31 of 33 games, including 20-plus points 19 times and 30-plus points twice. He finished the season with 58 3-point field goals and shot 50.8 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from 3-point range and 77.2 percent from the free throw line.
 
Casey Schilling was named a "Player to Watch" in the NSIC in 2015-16 in the preseason coaches' poll. Schilling, a 6-foot-6 forward from Ellsworth, Minn., was named the NSIC's Defensive Player of the Year last season averaging 8.4 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.1 blocks per game to go along with 18.9 points and 2.1 assists. Schilling was named the MVP of the NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament after averaging 23 points and 11.5 rebounds while shooting 55 percent from the field to help the Vikings to their first ever conference tournament championship. Schilling scored in double-digits in 33 of 34 games, including 20-plus points in 16 games and 30-plus points twice. He led the team with 12 double-doubles, 36 blocks and 61 steals.
 
Augustana held its first official practice of the 2015-16 season last Thursday. The Vikings will open play with two exhibition contests in November, starting with Bethel University on Nov. 2 at the Elmen Center.
 
The Vikings will then travel to Iowa City to take on the University of Iowa in an exhibition contest on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m.
 
Augustana opens the regular season Friday, Nov. 13 taking on Washburn in Las Vegas, Nev.