INDIANAPOLIS – The Horizon League will be releasing its 2011-12 Preseason Men's and Women's Basketball polls live on the Internet Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, on the conference's website at horizonleague.com.  The league's sports information directors, coaches and media members will predict the standings of the upcoming season and will give their choices for Preseason All-League Teams.
 
Entering his fourth year of his University of Detroit Mercy re-build, head coach Ray McCallum has his team on the precipice of big things and has the Titan faithful anxious in anticipation of what promises to be a special 2011-12 campaign.  Coach McCallum has a group of veterans poised to ascend the Horizon League standings and place Detroit back on the map nationally.  Of the ten All-Horizon Team honorees from a year ago, only two are back, and both are Titans (Ray McCallum, Eli Holman).
 
Returning every scholarship player from a team that etched 10 Horizon League wins last season, Detroit sets its sights on a return to the NCAA tournament. The Titans (17-16 overall last year) have the horses to make a return to the postseason and have the tough schedule to help them get there.  Included in the mix are key home dates against St. John's (Dec. 5), Mississippi State (Dec. 17) and Butler (Jan. 8).  Road tilts at Notre Dame (Nov. 14) and Alabama (Dec. 11) make this season's schedule one of the most challenging in recent memory.
 
The women's team, led by fourth-year head coach Autumn Rademacher, will have some new pieces added to a strong core that returns seven letterwinners from a year ago. More than half of the returners are upperclassmen who have been a part of the Titans' turnaround since Rademacher came on board in 2008.
 
A lot of experience will be in the hands of two senior guards in Lauren Allen and Jalesa Jones. The Titan duo has appeared in 184 career games with 151 starts, and both will look to make their senior year a special one. Allen is an all-around player who can score, rebound, handle the ball and play defense, while Jones currently ranks seventh in school history with 355 assists. She enters the season needing 132 helpers to claim the top spot in the Titan record book.
 
Also back for the Titans is junior Yar Shayok, a candidate for Horizon League Player of the Year. Shayok led the Horizon League - and was 27th in the nation - in rebounding with 10.2 per game last season, while posting 10 double-doubles for the second-straight year. She is the team's returning leading scorer at 9.3 per game, and also topped UDM in field-goal percentage (44%). The former HL Newcomer of the Year and second team All-HL honoree, she added another accolade to her resume last year as she was selected to the conference's All-Defensive team after leading the team in steals (46), and blocks (32).
 
Viewers are encouraged to watch the release of the polls live at horizonleague.com beginning at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday for the men with the women's show airing on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. on the Horizon League Network.