Greetings from Washington D.C. A beautiful sunrise and seemingly perfect weather day is happening here. Of course, that will not be an option for folks like us because we have 15 scrappy and sometimes tough Atlantic-10 teams to learn about. Thank you for joining.
We begin the day with Bracketeer’s A-10 Ballot for the upcoming year. I am positive of only one thing, there will be a number of surprises in this league as always. Where will they come from and how? Who knows. The exercise I executed on was done with January thru March in mind, league-play only. Teams are all starting in November at different starting points. I expect the well-coached, defensive minded teams to catch up by January. That made the task difficult.
BRACKETEER’S A-10 PRESEASON POLL
VCU - The Rams finished strong with a run to the A-10 Title Game and two wins in the NIT. They worked hard to retain key cogs in Max Shula, Joe Bamisile, and Zab Jackson. Even more impressive is they added an underrated star in Phillip Russell who led UT Arlington and SEMO to winning seasons in each of the past two years.
Loyola-Chicago - The league’s top defense from a season ago, could have an even better defense now. Miles Rubin projects to grow and develop further and the additions of Jalen DeLoach (via Georgia) and Kymany Houinsou (via Washington State) ensure no depth drop-off in defensive commitment.
Dayton - The Flyers own the highest ceiling from a talent standpoint. The additions of Posh Alexander and Zed Key further make this team older and expected to win at a high clip. Can Posh maintain consistency throughout the season?
Saint Louis - Robbie Avila ankle concerns aside, this team can and likely will compete for the league crown. HC Josh Schertz would like a little more consistent shooting, yet with the offensive system being anchored by Avila and Isaiah Swope, I think it will still produce at a high level. Plus the Billikens added a defensive stopper and rebounding machine, Kalu Anya.
St. Joseph’s - The Hawks boast some weapons with the return of Erik Reynolds,
Xzayvier Brown, and Rasheer Fleming. All three are capable of being all-A10 talents. The Hawks have the tools to leap but need to prove that they can close out wins in such a narrow-margin conference.George Mason - Tony Skinn had a terrific debut as Head Coach a year ago and is building towards something bigger. A foreign trip snafu has me somewhat hesitant about the inner dynamics of the program, but I will presume that gets resolved by conference play. GMU has KD Johnson in from Auburn and Darius Maddox back in the fold. Could be formidable for A-10 defenders to keep up here. The Pats need to protect the Basketball better to ascent to the top of the mountain.
Richmond - Chris Mooney is entering year 20 if you can believe it. The Spiders are defending regular-season champions and bring a solid core back led by DeLonnie Hunt. The Spiders will need to break in a big man (there ae options), which is vital to Mooney’s offensive flow.
Duquesne - Dru Joyce III takes over the program that captured America’s hearts during March in a historic run to the Round of 32. The Dukes lose key scoring, but have established a tough-minded culture and have some fascinating new faces. Alex Williams was a joy to watch at Furman, I expect him to have an important role.
St. Bonaventure - A true pick based on Mark Schmidt’s tremendous coaching success. The Bonnies are new and fresh and have JUCO’s from high-level programs. Lajae Jones is an impact example, who won big at Barton (the JC National Champs).
Rhode Island - The Rams had a bonding trip to the Bahamas and boosted the overall talent level by adding players like Jamarques Lawrence (via Nebraska) and Sebastian Thomas (an all-KenPom player in the America East last year via Albany). The obvious question remains. How will URI defend? They were near the bottom last year in Blocks, Steals, and adjusted D as a whole.
George Washington - A program on the rise with a lot to like. Coach Chris Caputo is a bright mind in the sport and did an amazing job to keep sophomore phenoms Darren Buchanan Jr., Jacoi Hutchinson, and Trey Autry together. The one down side recently is the injury to Garrett Johnson, torn ACL. Also, the Revolutionaries have a manageable schedule without many tests and they need to resolve defensive issues, much like URI.
UMass - The Minutemen were likely the hardest team to place. Its another talented roster with seven players back. The two stars from last year were Josh Cohen and Matt Cross. They are both gone. Daniel Rivera was brought in from Bryant to help fix the rim protection and overall paint defense.
Fordham - These Rams play with a ton of energy and are best when the game gets chaotic. The core is mainly in tact, can they start shooting it a little better? Hard to say yes.
La Salle - Fran Dunphy teams will find ways to steal wins. The Explorers open a new building this season. It’s impossible to pick them in last place, so they land at 14.
Davidson - I am shocked that I have the Wildcats this low. I like the McKillop system and they should’ve upgraded their shooting skills with Zach Laput, who ripped off near-40% shooting from deep at D2 Bentley. My biggest concerns remain within in giving up too many opposing free throws and not getting many second chances on offense. This is a rough league to pick, because Davidson could easily be in the top half of the league.