CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The first preseason poll leading up to the 2018-19 season has been released and the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team finds itself in a familiar position, as the Railsplitters are tabbed at No. 4 in the Street & Smith's preseason rankings. In addition to that, redshirt-junior guard Cornelius Taylor has been selected as a preseason All-American. 
 
Lincoln Memorial is coming off of yet another masterful season. In 2017-18, the Railsplitters posted their fourth straight 30-win campaign while going 32-2 overall, which included an unblemished 20-0 mark in South Atlantic Conference play. LMU won its sixth straight SAC regular-season title and fourth SAC tournament crown while hosting the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional for the third time in four seasons. 
 
The Railsplitters, who ended the season ranked No. 1 in the NABC/Division II national poll for the third time in four years, made their third straight trip to the Southeast Region title game and narrowly missed earning their third consecutive Elite Eight berth.  
 
LMU has put up at least 25 wins in each of the last eight seasons, but enters the 2018-19 campaign in unfamiliar territory from a roster standpoint. The Railsplitters graduated four starters off last season's team and lost six of their top eight scorers overall, including Bevo Francis Award recipient and current Denver Nuggets forward Emanuel Terry, leading scorer Trevon Shaw and All-American, do-everything forward Dorian Pinson. In fact, of the team's 21 players heading into the upcoming season, only seven have ever made an appearance for the Railsplitters. 
 
Taylor is the lone starter returning for Lincoln Memorial this season, and the point guard was named to Street & Smith's preseason All-American squad after averaging 14.5 points, 3.9 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game while shooting 45.3 percent from the field and 37.7 percent from three-point range last season. A native of Claxton, Ga., Taylor was one of the Railsplitters' four All-SAC selections in 2017-18, earning second-team distinctions. 
 
Taylor hit double figures in 26 of his 33 appearances last season, headlined by a career-high 31-point effort against Anderson. He surpassed the 20-point threshold five other times, scoring 24 against No. 2 Queens in the regular-season finale. He posted a career-high eight assists against Carson-Newman and had at least five assists in 13 games. He enters his junior season with 861 career points. 
 
Other than Taylor, redshirt-junior Kamaran Calhoun is the Railsplitters' most experienced returning player with 47 career appearances and only one start. He averaged 5.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game last season. 
 
West Liberty is ranked No. 1 in the Street & Smith's preseason poll, while the rest of the top five consisted of No. 2 Bellarmine, No. 3 Indiana (Pa.) and No. 5 West Texas A&M. 
 
The Railsplitters open the 2018-19 season with an exhibition contest at Auburn on November 2. Lincoln Memorial plays the first official game against Clayton State on November 9 in Aiken, S.C.