Colorado Springs, Colorado - New Mexico Highlands men's basketball was picked 11th in the 2025-26 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll that was released this morning. The poll is voted on by the 15 basketball coaches in the conference.
The Cowboys were 12-16 overall and 5-15 in conference play a year ago.
Zach Settembre takes the reins of the New Mexico Highlands program after being named head coach on April 8th of this year.
"We're extremely excited about the upcoming 25-26 season and are grateful to play in such a competitive league like the RMAC. Considering all circumstances, a new head coach who has never coached at the Division II level, 49 new players in the program and zero returning production from last year's team, I'm pleasantly surprised we are ranked as high as 11th," said Coach Settembre. "That said, the preseason voters are unaware of the great support we are getting from our president Dr. Neil Woolf, our VP of Advancement Paul Grindstaff, and our new ambitious athletic director
Scott Noble. The sky is the limit for this program, and we look forward to taking our first tangible steps toward making Highlands Men's Basketball nationally relevant. Fortunately for us, preseason polls are fun for the fans but mean absolutely nothing once the ball is tipped. We expect to compete for championships, and we will continue to work every day on making that a reality. Go Cowboys!"
The Cowboys open the season with an exhibition game at North Texas on November 3rd. They play eight games, two exhibitions and six regular season games, away from historic Las Vegas before the home opener on November 28th against Western New Mexico.Â
Full RMAC Men's Basketball Coaches Poll release
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