GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Guilford College's men's basketball team is ranked third in the D3hoops.com Preseason Poll. Two-time defending national champion Washington University in St. Louis, which defeated Guilford in last year's NCAA Division III national semifinals, earned all 25 first-place votes and the poll's top spot. John Carroll University, which lost to Guilford in the third round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, is second in the poll with 526 points, nine ahead of the Quakers.

Coach Tom Palombo's Quakers return three starters among 14 letter winners from last year's 26-6 club that defeated Franklin & Marshall College to finish third in the Division III Tournament. The Diplomats are ranked sixth in the D3hoops.com Poll. St. Thomas University and defending national runner-up Richard Stockton College round out the top five. Guilford's Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) rival Randolph-Macon College is ranked 19th in the poll.

Guilford center Tyler Sanborn (Elkin, N.C./Elkin), a preseason All-American according to The Sporting News, returns after a breakout season in which he collected Fourth Team All-America and South Region Player of the Year honors from D3hoops.com. Sanborn, a 6-10 center, averaged 15.4 points, 12.9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game as a junior and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament Sectional at John Carroll.

The Quakers also return the senior backcourt tandem of Rhett Bonner (Yadkinville, N.C./North Forsyth (Presbyterian)) and Clay Henson (Glen Alpine, N.C./Freedom). Bonner averaged 16.5 points per game and captured Second Team All-ODAC honors a year ago. Henson, a First Team All-ODAC pick, led Guilford's scorers with 18.8 points per game and set school records for three-pointers in a career (189) and season (95). He starts his senior season ranked 23rd in school history with 1,128 career points.

Palombo brings a 117-53 Guilford record into his seventh season with the Quakers. The three-time Bob Johnson ODAC Coach of the Year has taken Guilford to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three seasons, during which time Guilford is 74-16. The Quakers won the 2008 ODAC Tournament title and regular-season league crowns in 2008 and 2009. Guilford opens the 2009-10 campaign Nov. 17 against visiting Methodist University at 7:00 p.m.

2009 D3hoops.com Preseason Men's Basketball Poll (first-place votes)
1. Washington (Mo.) (25)
2. John Carroll
3. Guilford
4. St. Thomas
5. Richard Stockton
6. Franklin & Marshall
7. DeSales
8. Massachusetts-Dartmouth
9. Wooster
10. Wisconsin-Stevens Point
11. Bridgewater State
12. Texas-Dallas
13. Wisconsin-Whitewater
14. California Lutheran
15. Wheaton (Ill.)
16. Whitworth
17. Wisconsin-Platteville
18. Puget Sound
19. Randolph-Macon
20. St. Mary's (Md.)