Complete preseason All-CCC team

LA GRANDE – The smart money is on Southern Oregon's Eric Thompson (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) to become the Cascade Conference men's basketball player of the year, that according to a survey of the circuit coaches who've been dealing with him for three seasons.

The 6-foot-8, 235-pound forward was joined by teammate and fellow Roseburg product Tim Weber (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg), a 6-8 senior swingman, on the preseason all-conference team that was released by the league office Wednesday.

Thompson has been a potent scorer all over the floor since his freshman year but posted the best numbers of his career across the board in 2013-14, averaging 20.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game to earn NAIA All-American second-team recognition. He shot 51.3 percent from the field, 81.7 percent from the free-throw line and 42.9 percent from 3-point range (75-for-175), and scored 25-plus points on 10 occasions with a career-high 38 twice.

Thompson is averaging 18.7 points over 96 career games and enters the season needing 128 more points to take down Shea Washington's school scoring record.

Weber's playmaking ability figures to be featured more frequently during his senior season. He was in the NAIA's top-30 in assists (4.7) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3) to go with averages of 9 points and 4.9 rebounds as a junior. He also shot 53 percent from the field and 32.8 percent from deep.

The Raiders were picked to finish second in the CCC preseason poll that was released Tuesday. They open their season at home on Halloween, playing New Hope Christian at 7:30 p.m.

College of Idaho, the CCC's preseason favorite, had three players on the preseason team: guard Demetrius Perkins (14.1 points), point guard Josh Wilson (9 points, 5 assists) and 6-11 University of Utah transfer Marko Kovacevic.

Thompson and Perkins were both featured on last season's all-conference team. Others returning from that team include Oregon Tech's Brandon Bautista, Concordia's Esvan Middleton and Warner Pacific's Doug Thomas.