IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Irvine men's basketball team was picked to finish first in the 2025-26 Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll with guards Andre Henry and Jurian Dixon named to the six-member preseason all-conference team.
 
The Anteaters, who were tabbed first for the second consecutive year, totaled 98 points and eight first place votes. UCI is coming off a campaign to remember as they broke the record for the most wins in a season with a 32-7 mark and advanced to the NIT championship game. The Anteaters were 17-3 in Big West games a year ago.

UC Santa Barbara was picked second with 93 points and three first place votes. Hawaii (76), UC San Diego (69) and CSUN (63) round out the top five.

Henry was sidelined with an injury after nine games last year when he was averaging 7.6 points. In 2023-24, the graduate student was named the Big West Defensive Player of the Year and All-Big West honorable mention, playing in all 34 games and averaging 10.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. He recorded 27 steals and swiped a career-high five steals versus Occidental that year. He also posted 17 double-figure scoring performances.

Dixon is the reigning Big West Freshman of the Year after averaging 8.8 points per game. He was second on the team in steals (35) and had a .432 field goal percentage. Dixon posted a career-high 23-point performance, that included a perfect 9-9 at the free throw line, at UC Santa Barbara on Mar. 8, 2025.

It's the first time UCI has had a pair of players on the preseason team since 2018-19 when Tommy Rutherford and Evan Leonard were honored.