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NORTHEAST
Of the ten teams in the Northeast Conference, only three finished with winning overall records in the 2015-16 season. Wagner was 23-11 overall, though the Seahawks faltered in the NEC Tournament and wound up in the NIT, where they did pick up a first round upset win over St. Bonaventure. Fairleigh Dickinson posted an 18-15 record and captured the conference’s automatic bid, falling in the First Four to fellow 16-seed Florida Gulf Coast. The only other team to finish at or better than .500 was Long Island University, whose 16-15 record did not put them in any postseason events.
This season, the same three teams are expected to be the top contenders to win the conference title. LIU returns a star player in Jerome Frink, Wagner brings back three starters from last year’s regular season champions and FDU has four starters back from their NCAA team. In the end, these three teams may be in a class above everyone else in the league, and it would probably be a shock if anyone else ended up winning the title. That being said, the best candidates to sneak into the conversation could be Bryant or Sacred Heart, despite neither team having had a very successful 2015-16 campaign.
Predicted Order of Finish
1. Wagner – With three starters back and key reserve Romone Saunders ready to take on an even bigger role, the only question for the Seahawks may be developing enough bench depth.
2. Fairleigh Dickinson – Most of last year’s conference tournament championship team is back, led by perimeter players Darian Anderson and Earl Potts, Jr. The Knights will be looking to capture both the regular season and conference tournament titles this time around.
3. Long Island University – The Blackbirds may have one of the better guards in the conference in Jerome Frink. As long as he can get enough help, and the team can make up for the late offseason loss of Martin Hermannsson, they should be right there at the end of the season.
4. Bryant – Despite struggling to only 8 wins last year, head coach Tim O’Shea returns four solid starters and could have his Bulldogs back in the upper division.
5. Sacred Heart – Cane Broome’s 23.1 points per game is gone, along with two other double-digit scorers. All is not lost, however, as guard Quincy McKnight is back and De’von Barnett is healthy after missing last season.
6. Central Connecticut – The Blue Devils return four starters for a new head coach with Connecticut ties in Donyell Marshall. The team only won four games last year, however, so expectations should not be too high.
7. Mount St. Mary’s – The Mountaineers will be among the NEC’s best defensive teams again, and will be fun to watch as they are led by 5-5 Junior Robinson. They probably do not have enough pieces to seriously contend.
8. St. Francis (Brooklyn) – Guard Yunus Hopkinson is the Terriers’ top returning scorer and a legitimate three-point threat. He probably does not have enough other pieces around him for his team to fight for anything other than a top 8 finish and berth into the conference tournament.
9. Robert Morris – Rodney Pryor’s 18 points per game are gone from a team that only averaged 65 points per game last season. This could be another very long year.
10. St. Francis (Pennsylvania) – The Red Flash lost their top three players in the offseason, though having Isaiah Blackmon back after suffering an ACL tear should help. There just are not enough other pieces here to make any noise this season.
Note: I will be taking a one week break and the next preview (Ohio Valley) will be posted on Monday, October 24. Keep an eye on the site for all our other great content until then!