Head Coach Bob Rukavina and his Pitt-Johnstown men's basketball team have been been picked to finish fifth in the PSAC Western Division when the league office released the 2023-24 Preseason Coaches' Poll on Thursday.

Indiana (PA) garnered five first-place votes and sits atop the PSAC Western Division poll, while California (PA) earned four first-place votes and was selected to finished second in the division.  In the PSAC Eastern Division, East Stroudsburg was picked to win it with five first-place votes, followed by West Chester, which got three first-place votes.

After losing six seniors off of a squad that advanced to the program's fifth NCAA Regional Tournament in 2022-23, including First-Team NABC All-American and four-time PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Year John Paul Kromka, Coach Rukavina will have one his youngest teams in his 35-year tenure at Pitt-Johnstown.  The Mountain Cats led by PSAC West Freshman of the Year and Second-Team All-PSAC West point guard Andrew Shull (11.3 ppg., 3.9 rpg., 3.1 apg.), two-year starting guard Ryan Smith (9.5 ppg., 4.2 rpg., 2.3 apg.), and junior guard Andy Zuchelli (3.9 ppg., 1.3 rpg.).