Men's basketball coaches in the Western Athletic Conference are aware of the University of Hawai'i's potential this season.

The Rainbow Warriors were predicted to finish second in a poll of the nine WAC head coaches. Results of the poll were released yesterday at the WAC Basketball Media Day at Reno, Nev.

"We have a lot of players coming back and we brought in some new guys who can help us right away," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "All the coaches know that, so that's probably why they picked us that high, even though we finished (seventh) last year."

Defending WAC champion Nevada was picked to finish first. The Wolf Pack received eight of the nine first-place votes.

"You have to look them first," Wallace said. "They only lost a couple guys from that team last year, and they have the Player of the Year back in (Nick) Fazekas."

Hawai'i received the other first-place vote, and it came from Nevada head coach Mark Fox.

"I had lunch with him and he told me he voted for us because he likes what we have coming back," Wallace said.

Hawai'i and new conference member Utah State actually finished in a tie for second. Utah State placed second in the Big West Conference last season.

"Nobody's played a game yet, so this really doesn't mean anything right now," Wallace said. "But it's fun to look at and talk about, and it gets people excited for the season."

The 'Bows have seven players returning from last season's 16-13 team.

Foremost among the returnees is senior Julian Sensley. The 6-foot-9 forward was picked by the coaches to the Preseason All-WAC first team.

He averaged 12.0 points and team-highs of 6.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game last season.

"Everybody knows his potential," Wallace said. "The coaches all talk about his talent, and this is his last year, so hopefully he'll go out and have the kind of year everybody expects."

Other players picked to the first team were Nevada forward Nick Fazekas, Louisiana Tech forward Paul Millsap, Fresno State guard Ja'Vance Coleman, and Utah State guard Jaycee Carroll.

Fazekas was tabbed Preseason Player of the Year.

Hawai'i junior guard Matt Gibson was picked to the second team. "Little Matt" led the 'Bows with 13.0 points per game last season.

Hawai'i was predicted to finish fourth in a poll of the WAC media. Nevada received all 22 first-place votes from the media.

The 'Bows will open their fall practice tomorrow with Twilight 'Ohana at the Stan Sheriff Center. Carnival games will begin around 5 p.m., with basketball festivities scheduled to start around 9 p.m. Admission is free.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.