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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON COACHES’ POLL
- Liberty
- North Florida
- FGCU
- NJIT
- Lipscomb
- North Alabama
- Jacksonville
- Kennesaw State
- Stetson
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON MEDIA POLL
- Liberty
- North Florida
- FGCU
- Lipscomb
- NJIT
- North Alabama
- Jacksonville
- Kennesaw State
- Stetson
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL -ASUN TEAM
Caleb Homesley – Liberty, SR G
Scottie James – Liberty, SR F
Zach Cooks – NJIT, JR G
Ivan Gandia-Rosa – North Florida, SR G
Tyler Hooker – Kennesaw State, SR G
Ahsan Asadullah – Lipscomb, SO C
Michael Buckland – Lipscomb, SR G
Jamari Blackmon – North Alabama, SO G
Wajid Aminu – North Florida, SR F
Garrett Sams – North Florida, SR G
NOTES FROM DAVID: The Liberty Flames, who were new to the Atlantic Sun last year, tied with Lipscomb for first place in a race that was neck-and-neck all year, then won the ASun Tournament, and then advanced to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament with a big win over Mississippi State. Lipscomb went on to make the finals of the NIT and won some pretty big games along the way.
For Lipscomb, they have a lot to replace. Four starters are gone, along with Coach Casey Alexander who took the job just down the boulevard at rival Belmont. They replace him with Lennie Acuff, who’s had a long and successful run at Alabama-Huntsville in D-2, but it will likely be a rebuilding project.
Liberty, on the other hand, has four starters back from last year’s team and should be strong both underneath and out in the backcourt. Whenever a team who made the Round of 32 returns that kind of talent they are a team to watch. Don’t be surprised if they end up inside the bubble this year. Some of their notable OOC games include playing at Vanderbilt and at LSU.
North Florida is another team to watch. They had a rather unspectacular year overall last season, but they finished the season with seven straight wins before losing to Liberty in the ASun semifinals, and have four starters back. Matthew Driscoll has done a spectacular job as head coach. He’s been there since they were basically a transitional team and has made them one of the better programs in conference.
NJIT returns three starters from a team that won 20 games a year ago, so they’re another intriguing team.
North Alabama, who was just in their first year of transitioning last year, went 7-9 in conference, including a stretch early on where they won four straight. That’s not bad at all for a transitional team.
Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, and Stetson are bringing up the rear. Neither Kennesaw or Stetson managed more than five D-1 wins a year ago.