As we all recall, Connecticut ended the 2013-14 season by winning the NCAA tournament. Three other teams joined the Huskies in ending their seasons with a tournament championship: Minnesota in the NIT, Murray State in the CIT, and the Metro Atlantic’s Siena Saints by winning the best-of-three championship series in the CBI over Fresno State. The CBI champions return virtually their entire roster this season and will be looking to ride the momentum of last season’s title to an NCAA berth this year.
Winning the MAAC will not be a cakewalk for Siena as several very strong teams will be ready to challenge them. Last year’s regular season champions, Iona, are in fact our pick to repeat this year, led by perhaps the league’s best player in A.J. English. St. Peter’s got stronger and stronger as the year went on last season and looks poised to take a step up as well. Quinnipiac, which played in the CIT last year, and Manhattan, which won the automatic NCAA bid, could also figure in the mix. Canisius also received a postseason bid into the CBI last season, but Billy Baron and his 24.1 points per game graduated and took his talents to Lithuania, leaving a rebuilding project for the Golden Griffins.
Predicted Order of Finish:
1. Iona: English, together with Isaiah Williams and David Laury, should have the Gaels at the top of the standings.
2. St. Peter’s: Marvin Dominique and the exciting Desi Washington make this a very dangerous team that should be right in contention.
3. Siena: Rob Poole and Brett Bisping lead a deep, experienced team that learned how to win a championship (albeit in the CBI) last season.
4. Quinnipiac: Zaid Hearst and Ousmane Drame were both double digit scorers last season, but they will need help after losing two of their top three scorers from last year.
5. Manhattan: Steve Masiello left . . . and was replaced by Steve Masiello. While Manhattan did allow Masiello to return after the mess with his resume in the offseason, he has to start the rebuild of a team that lost its top three scorers.
6. Monmouth: Deon Jones and Andrew Nicholas lead a talented group in the backcourt, but there may be too many holes down low.
7. Marist: Chavaughn Lewis and Khallid Hart should score a lot of points this season, but there doesn’t appear to be enough other pieces on the roster beyond them.
8. Rider: Jimmie Taylor needs to become a star for this team to have any chance to move up in the standings.
9. Canisius: With only one returning starter, this looks like a rebuilding year for Jim Baron.
10. Fairfield: Four returning starters helps, but only Marcus Gilbert showed much of anything last season en route to 25 losses.
11. Niagara: Antoine Mason took his 25.6 points per game to Auburn, leaving another huge hole on a team that suffered 26 losses last year.