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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL
- Colgate
- Bucknell
- American
- Loyola MD
- Boston U
- Army
- Lehigh
- Lafayette
- Navy
- Holy Cross
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON PATRIOT LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Sa’eed Nelson – American, SR G
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-PATRIOT LEAGUE TEAM
Sa’eed Nelson – American, SR G
Max Mahoney – Boston U, SR F
Jordan Burns – Colgate, JR G
Rapolas Ivanauskas – Colgate, SR F
Andrew Kostecka – Loyola MD, SR G
COMMENTS FROM DAVID. Colgate was last year’s first-place team, and with four starters back they are once again the consensus favorite to win the league. They have two of the better players in the conference, are solid in both the frontcourt and the backcourt, and after a 24-win season it wouldn’t surprise me if they were even better this year.
Bucknell, who’s been one of the better teams in the league in recent years, comes in right behind them. They only have two starters back, but we said the same thing about them a year ago and they still finished near the top. They always seem to have guys that are ready to step up and take on bigger roles.
American has a fair amount of talent coming back from a year ago, and that includes the conference preseason player of the year. Nelson is probably the best player in the league, and American, who exceeded expectations last year, is looking to do so again.
I always think Boston U is going to be better than they end up being. Four starters are back from a team that was unimpressive a year ago, but that also won four of their last five before losing in the conference tournament, so there is some reason to expect them to be better.
Loyola MD won just seven games a year ago, but all five starters are back and that experience should help them do a little better than they did a year ago.
Year after year, it seems like Army loses a lot of close games. Last year, they lost seven games by five points or less. With three starters back they should be better this year.
Lehigh won 20 games last season, but with just two starters back they look to be in a bit of a rebuilding mode.
Lafayette returns all their starters, but they won just ten games a year ago. Still, the experience factor should help them out.
It’s going to be rough for Navy and Holy Cross. Holy Cross used to dominate this league. Last year, they finished in last place, and they don’t appear to be a whole lot better this year. They could finish last for the second year in a row, which seemed next to impossible just a few years ago.