Indianapolis, Ind. - Lewis men's basketball was tabbed tied for 13th place in the 2026-27 Great Lakes Valley Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll, the league office announced today (Oct. 23).
In a vote of the league's 15 coaches, McKendree topped the poll with 190 points and nine first-place votes. Defending GLVC Champions, William Jewell took second with 186 points and six first-place votes, while Upper Iowa closed out the top three with 146 points. Illinois Springfield placed fourth with 144 points, and Indianapolis rounded out the top five with 140 total points. Missouri S&T (136), Missouri St.-Louis (125), Drury (121), Rockhurst (80), Quincy (67), Lincoln (64), Truman State (64), Lewis (44), Southwest Baptist (44), and Maryville (24) represented the remainder of the poll.
Under first-year head coach Kevin Reynolds, the Flyers welcome an entirely new roster featuring several local talents, including Toby Onyekonwu (Joliet, Ill./Joliet West), Jajuan Cozark (Chicago, Ill./Chicago Marshall) and Josh Abushanab (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West). Onyekonwu is a graduate student who previously played at Stony Brook University from 2022-26. During his senior season, he appeared in 21 games with two starts, totaling 49 points, 16 rebounds, 16 assists and 13 steals. Chicago native Cozark
previously played at Rock Valley College, appearing in 54 games with 31 starts. He finished his junior college career averaging 14.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Abushanab
begins his collegiate career with the Flyers after attending Glenbard
West High School. As a senior with the Hilltoppers
, he earned Daily Herald All-Area First Team, All-West Suburban Conference (WSC) and IHSA All-State honors while averaging 20.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game.
Throughout his head coaching career, Reynolds has compiled a 252-138 record, averaging nearly 20 wins per season while making six postseason appearances: three NCAA Tournaments, one NAIA National Tournament, one Division I National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and one ECAC Tournament. He has also led multiple programs to quick turnarounds across levels ranging from Division I to the NAIA. Before arriving at Lewis, Reynolds served as head coach at Point Park University from 2022-25. During his tenure, he led the Pioneers to 64 wins and was the winningest coach in Pennsylvania from 2022-24 while helping the program transition to Division II and move from the River States Conference to the Mountain East Conference. Point Park recorded just 32 total wins from 2019-22, marking a 32-win increase during Reynolds' tenure. He also guided the Pioneers to the first back-to-back 20-win seasons in program history from 2022-24. At Point Park, Reynolds coached and recruited one All-American, six River States Conference (RSC) Scholar-Athletes and two RSC Champion of Character team members. His players also earned four All-Conference selections, one RSC Newcomer of the Year honor and one RSC Player of the Year award.
The Flyers tip off the year on Nov. 9 in Hammond, Ind., at 7:00 PM against Purdue Northwest. Their first home game of the season will be on Nov. 18 against Calumet at 7 p.m.
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For the latest news and updates on Lewis men's basketball, visit LewisFlyers.com and follow the Flyers on social media at @lewisflyersmbb on Instagram and @Lewismball on X.
