ANNVILLE, Pa. - With four starters returning to mix in with a talented crop of newcomers, the Lebanon Valley College men's basketball team seems ready for a return to the Commonwealth Conference playoffs in 2009-10.

Under 16th-year head coach Brad McAlester, the Dutchmen (12-13, 4-8 CC in 2008-09) will start their campaign Sunday with the first of five home games to start the season, hosting Moravian at 2 p.m.

- Lebanon Valley has been picked to finish third in the Commonwealth Conference in a preseason poll of the league's coaches. The Dutchmen received 39 votes, including a first-place nod. Elizabethtown is the preseason favorite with 55 points and five first-place votes, and Widener is in second at 52 points and three first-place. Albright, Lycoming, Messiah, Alvernia, and Arcadia appear, in order, behind LVC in the poll.

- LVC will have to absorb the graduation of leading scorer Kyle Enoch '09 (16.9 ppg), but they bring back last year's leading rebounder and second-leading scorer in senior forward Dan Dunkelberger. The 6-6 Dunkelberger averaged 9.9 ppg and 7.0 rpg, and was also one of the conference's best free-throw shooters at .843 (107-127). The team tri-captain also blocked 17 shots and snagged 20 steals.

- Commonwealth Conference Rookie of the Year Joe Meehan will again run the LVC offense at point guard. Meehan, who was handed the starting point role four games into his sophomore season, dished out a CC-best 4.7 assists per game last year, and also turned into a reliable scorer during the stretch run, averaging 9.1 points per game. After not scoring more than 10 points in his first 12 games, Meehan ended the season with double-digit scoring in seven of the final eight games, including a career-high 23 against Elizabethtown at home. He was also played the most minutes of any returning player, at 29.4 mpg.

- Junior forward Grant Becker will try to bounce back from a late-season injury to reprise his starting role. As a sophomore, Becker averaged 8.9 points and 2.9 rebounds per game in 19 games and 18 starts. His .727 shooting percentage at the line was third on the team, and he converted 47.1 percent of his shots overall.

- Junior guard Sean MacIntosh will have to carry some of the scoring load in 2009-10 with Enoch's graduation. The sharpshooting guard is the team's leading returning three-point shooter (27-of-84 last year) and averaged 6.0 ppg in 12 starts.

- Several key reserves from last year are back, and all will be relied on to take on bigger roles this year. Senior tri-captain Matt Staub saw action in 15 games off the bench and is a dangerous outside shooter, while Anthony Trautman, who played 22 games off the bench, is also a scoring threat, averaging 3.6 ppg in 10.4 mpg last year. Sophomore Jordan Stewart is expected to be in the mix for the fifth starting spot at guard after limited action a year ago, and junior Zach Kebetz will be an option at forward for McAlester.

- McAlester hopes that seven newcomers can help make an immediate impact on the program, and they are a talented mix of speed, skill, and size. Freshman 6-6 forward Danny Brooks (Abingdon, Md./Edgewood) and 6-3 forward David Corbin (Hop Bottom, Pa./Mountain View) will be a key post players behind Dunkelberger and Becker. A batch of talented guards join the program with Sam Diaz (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon), Ryan Kinard (York, Pa./York Suburban), Sean Ruane (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport), and sophomore transfer Cameron Prince (Elkins Park, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham/Delaware Valley College). Freshman Matt O'Brien will also stay with the program after suffering a preseason ACL tear.

- A challenging schedule will once again include the nation's best early on. #19 Randolph-Macon will be a part of the Rinso Marquette Tournament (Nov. 21-22), and LVC will host #6 Franklin & Marshall on Nov. 24. Conference foe Widener also recieved votes in the d3hoops.com Top 25.