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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL
- NC Central
- Bethune Cookman
- Norfolk State (tied 3rd)
- North Carolina A&T (tied 3rd)
- South Carolina State
- Howard
- Coppin State
- Morgan State
- Florida A&M
- Delaware State
- Maryland Eastern Shore
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Cletrell Pope – Bethune Cookman, SR F
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-MEAC 1ST TEAM
Malik Maitland – Bethune Cookman, SR G
Cletrell Pope – Bethune Cookman, SR F
DeJuan Clayton – Coppin State, JR G
Charles Williams – Howard, SR G
Damani Applewhite – South Carolina State, SR F
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-MEAC 2ND TEAM
Isaiah Bailey – Bethune Cookman, SR G/F
Stanley Davis – Morgan State, SR G
Steven Whitley – Norfolk State, SR G
Kameron Langley – North Carolina A&T, JR G
Randy Miller Jr – NC Central, SR G
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL MEAC 3RD TEAM
Pinky Wiley – Delaware State, JR G
M. J. Randolph – Florida A&M, SO G
Sherwyn Devonish-Prince – Morgan State, SO G
Jibri Blount – NC Central, SR F
Jordan Perkins – NC Central, JR G
NOTES FROM DAVID. I hate to sound negative, but the truth is that it’s kind of hard to find good things to say about a lot of the teams in this conference this year.
NC Central went to their fourth NCAA Tournament in six years last year, and are the favorites to get back there again. Only two starters are back, but some strong JUCO transfers will join the roster so they should once again be in the mix for the title.
Bethune Cookman has three starters back from a team that went just 9-7, but was much better in the second half of conference play. A couple of quality JUCO players will also join the roster.
Norfolk State was last year’s first place team, and it was kind of a surprise when they fell to NC Central in the championship game. They are looking at a serious rebuilding project now that all five starters are gone.
NC A&T also had a really good year last year as the second place finisher, but also has a huge rebuilding project ahead of them with just one starter returning.
Morgan State has three starters back, and should improve from last year’s 11th place finish. They should also get help from a couple of D-1 transfers that are eligible this year.
Howard lost two of their top players and their coach from last season. They do return two starters, so at least they have some experience, but it could be another year of challenges.
South Carolina State returns just two starters from last year’s team, and was one of the worst defensive teams in all of D-1 last year.
Coppin State has a really strong guard in DeJuan Clayton, but he is the only starter to return from a team that won just 8 total games lats year, and finished 8th in the conference.
Florida A&M is not eligible for the postseason this year, and Delaware State and Maryland Eastern Shore will probably finish closer to 353rd than they will to the top-300 this year. These are three teams that could battle it out for the Centenary Award.