By Stretch Jenkinson
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU men’s basketball redshirt seniors Dontaie Allen and Brandon Newman have been named as Preseason All-Conference USA honorees for 2023-24, as announced by the league on Thursday. The Hilltoppers were selected to finish in third place in the CUSA Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll and received two first-place votes following a vote by the conference’s head coaches.
Allen returns for the Tops following a redshirt junior season that saw the Falmouth, Ky. native appear in 26 of WKU’s 33 games while averaging 13.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Allen shot 41.6% from beyond the arc and finished 11th in the league in 3-pointers made per game.
Allen joined the WKU roster in 2022-23 as a transfer from Kentucky.
Newman joined the Tops’ roster in the summer of 2023 as a transfer from Purdue. The Valparaiso, Ind. native appeared in all 35 games for the Boilermakers in 2022-23, starting in the final six contests of the season.
While at Purdue, Newman averaged 6.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game while netting 35 3-pointers across the year. Newman also scored in double figures six times a season ago, including a 19-point game with six boards, five assists and three steals in a home win over Illinois.
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2023-24 CUSA Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
| Rank | School (first-place votes) | Total |
| t-1. | Liberty (5) | 71 |
| t-1. | MTSU (1) | 71 |
| 3. | WKU (2) | 63 |
| 4. | LA Tech (1) | 48 |
| 5. | UTEP | 41 |
| 6. | Sam Houston | 38 |
| 7. | FIU | 31 |
| 8. | NM State | 30 |
| 9. | Jacksonville State | 12 |
CUSA MBB Preseason Player of the Year
Isaiah Crawford, LA Tech
CUSA MBB Preseason All-Conference Honorees
| Name | Yr. | Pos. | Hometown |
| Arturo Dean, FIU | So. | G | Miami, Fla. |
| Isaiah Crawford, LA Tech* | Sr. | F | Fort Worth, Texas |
| Kyle Rode, Liberty | Sr. | F | Lexington, Ky. |
| Elias King, MTSU | Sr. | G | Atlanta, Ga. |
| Camryn Weston, MTSU | Sr. | G | Albany, Ga. |
| Cameron Huefner, Sam Houston | Jr. | F | Adelaide, Australia |
| Tae Hardy, UTEP | Sr. | G | Ellenwood, Ga. |
| Calvin Solomon, UTEP | Sr. | F | Houston, Texas |
| Dontaie Allen, WKU | Sr. | G/F | Falmouth, Ky. |
| Brandon Newman, WKU | Sr. | G | Valparaiso, Ind. |
* 2022-23 All-Conference USA selection
COURTESY WESTERN KENTUCKY ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS AND CONFERENCE USA
