Conway, Ark.- The Central Arkansas men's basketball team has been picked to win the United Athletic Conference, the league announced Wednesday with the release of its preseason coaches poll.

In the first season of the UAC, the Bears are tabbed No. 1 and received four first-place votes, the most of any team. Austin Peay was picked second with two first-place votes, and Little Rock was third with three first-place votes.
UCA also placed two players on the 10-member Preseason All-UAC Team: red shirt Sophomore Ty Robinson and Senior Tucker Anderson. Little Rock led all schools with three selections, while UCA and Austin Peay had two each.

"Last year we were picked at the bottom of the league and we did not listen," said UCA head coach John Shulman. "We plan to have the exact same approach this year. We will not listen. At the end of the day, preseason rankings are speculation and we better treat them as such."
"We appreciate the respect our opponents are giving us, but the moment we pause to celebrate preseason rankings is the moment we are in trouble. Our focus will remain on the process of getting better day in and day out. If we keep that focus and continue to practice and play with a chip on our shoulder, then this team will become the best version of itself."

"The UAC is going to be a fight every night," Shulman said. "It is a really good league full of really good coaches and players. Some of the rosters that have been put together in the offseason are very impressive."

Preseason All-UAC Selections
Ty Robinson returns after a breakout red shirt Freshman season in which he started all 34 games and was named All-ASUN Second Team and to the All-ASUN Freshman Team. He averaged 14.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, totaling 483 points, 189 rebounds, 69 assists, 65 steals and nine blocks.
Robinson shot 47.2 percent from the field, 37.4 percent from 3-point range and 76.7 percent at the free-throw line. He led the Bears in 3-pointers (76), steals (65), offensive rebounds (56), defensive rebounds (133) and total rebounds (189).

"Great for Ty to get recognized. He puts in the work and he deserves it," Shulman said. "He has worked hard in the offseason to improve his game. That is the type of person he is. There was no stopping to celebrate for Ty, just right back to work. The best thing about Ty is that he just wants Central Arkansas to win basketball games. That is his main focus over everything. It's funny how that works: when you focus on the right things, good things happen for you as well."

Tucker Anderson returns to Conway after two seasons at Utah State. He was the ASUN Freshman of the Year at Central Arkansas in the 2023-24 season.
Last season with the Aggies, Anderson appeared in 25 games with eight starts, averaging 3.4 points and 1.7 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per game. He shot 40.8 percent from the field and 36.0 percent from 3-point range.

"It has been great to have Tucker back at Central Arkansas," Shulman said. "A lot of people remember Tucker from when he was here in 2023-24. We are all excited for Tucker to continue down the path of getting back to that version of Tucker Anderson. He is working hard to learn and execute what we do in our program, and that speaks volumes to the type of person he is. There is no doubt that Tucker is going to be a big part of what we do this year."

UCA opens the regular season at home on Monday, Nov. 2, against Oral Roberts. Tipoff at the Farris Center is set for 7:30 p.m.
The Bears begin UAC play on Wednesday, Jan. 6, at Tarleton State.

2026-27 UAC Men's Basketball Preseason Awards
Preseason Player of the Year: Rashaud Marshall, Austin Peay

First-place votes in parentheses.