MINNEAPOLIS – Senior wing Nate Stahl was selected to the D3Hoops.com Preseason All-America Third Team in a recent release from a group of publications that have selected the Capital men’s basketball team as one of the best in the Ohio Athletic Conference heading into the 2008-2009 season.
Stahl (St. Henry, Ohio/St. Henry HS) was third team All-America selection by both the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and D-III News last season. He was also named the Ohio Athletic Conference Player of the Year and a First Team All-OAC selection in 2007-2008 as he led Capital to a school-record 24 wins, a second-straight OAC regular season championship and NCAA Tournament bid.
He is a three-time All-OAC selection (second team in 2006 and first team in 2007 and 2008) who started 29 games and averaged 13.2 points, 4.7 rebounds per game and led the team with 30 steals and a .443 three-point shooting percentage as a junior. Last season, he also became the 27th player in school history to score over 1,000 career points and will enter his final collegiate season with 1,143 points and 21st on the school's all-time list.
Capital was chosen in the Others Receiving Votes section of the D3Hoops.com Preseason Top 25 Poll with 76 total votes, which was the 28th highest vote total overall. Elms was 25th in the Poll with 94 votes followed by Maryville (84 votes) and Millsaps (83 votes). The Crusaders were also ranked fourth in the 2008 D-III News Preseason Top 25 Poll and picked as the team to beat in the Ohio Athletic Conference. OAC coaches agreed with the publication as CU earned a maximum nine first place votes in the OAC Preseason Coaches Poll that was released on Nov. 3.
The Crusader men will open their 2008-2009 regular season schedule with a trip to the Case Western Reserve Tip-Off Classic on Nov. 21 & 22. The Crusaders will face Bluffton on Friday before taking on either host Case Western Reserve or Monmouth on Saturday.