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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- Western Kentucky
- North Texas
- Marshall
- UAB
- Old Dominion
- Charlotte
- Louisiana Tech
- UTEP
- UTSA
- Florida Atlantic
- FIU
- Middle Tennessee
- Southern Miss
- Rice
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE TEAM:
-Jordan Shepherd, – SR, G – Charlotte
-Jahmir Young – SO, G – Charlotte
-Taevion Kinsey – JR, G – Marshall
-Jarrod West – SR, G – Marshall
-Javion Hamlet – SR, G – North Texas
-Bryson Williams – SR, F – UTEP
-Jhivvan Jackson – SR, G – UTSA
-Keaton Wallace – SR, G – UTSA
-Taveion Hollingsworth – SR, G – Western Kentucky
-Charles Bassey – JR, C – Western Kentucky
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-Let me start with acknowledging what this conference has not only done for college basketball, but what it has done for sports around the world. They have given us The Curtain! THE CURTAIN!!! The greatest thing in sports in perhaps this past century!! Two tournament games going on in the same building at the same time separated by a curtain, but set up so that fans can walk back and forth!! WHAT A VISIONARY LEAGUE THIS IS!!!
-Western Kentucky always seem to have big expectations coming into the season, but they run into injuries, or off-court issues, or something else that keeps them from reaching their potential. With the kind of talent they have, their potential is being inside the bubble come March and not needing the automatic bid. All five starters from a year ago are back including Charles Bassey, who missed most of last season with an injury. Despite a rocky road of a season, they did seem to pull it together down the stretch and were one of the hottest teams in the conference heading into the CUSA Tournament. Had it been played, the Toppers probably would have been our pick to win it. This year, if they can hold it together then they may run away from the rest of the conference.
-North Texas has some pretty good pieces back from a team that won 20 games a year ago and should once again be a force in the league. Head coach Grant McCasland has won twenty games in each of his 1st 3 seasons with the Mean Green and appears to have the pieces to do so yet again.
-Marshall is another team that could end up having a big year. They have all five starters back from a team that played very well down the stretch at the end of last season, and Coach Dan D’Antoni has continued to win consistently while at the helm. With Taevion Kinsey and Jarrod West they have one of the better backcourts in the conference.
-UAB welcomes Andy Kennedy back into coaching. He has his work cut out for him, but he also has some things to work with. Tavin Lovan and Jalen Benjamin make up what should be a strong backcourt, and graduate transfers Michael Ertel and Quan Jackson should be able to contribute right away as well.
-Old Dominion was a disappointing 13-19 last year. Four of their starters return and we should see quite a bit of improvement this year if the Monarchs can stay healthy.
-Last year at this time I was all in on UTSA…and then they had a horrendously disappointing season where they went just 13-19. Four starters are back, and it appears as though the potential is there for them to be good, but after what happened last year I will not become a believer until I see it.
-Louisiana Tech had a great season last year where they won 22 games and finished second in the conference. The problem is that most of the key players last year’s team is gone. They did have some guys that came off the bench last year that will need to step up this year.
-Charlotte was .500-ish last year, which was a major improvement from the previous year. It appears to me that they will be in about that same range this year.
-UTEP appears to be in a similar spot as Charlotte. Three starters back from a .500-ish team a year ago seems like it will land them in a similar spot this year.
-Same with Florida Atlantic.
-Prior to last year, for about three years Middle Tennessee was not just the team to beat in this conference, they were making a splash on the national scene by reaching the Round of 32 in back-to-back years, and reaching the top-25 in the latter part of the season the following year. Then the roof caved in: Coach Kermit Davis left for Ole Miss and their roster turned completely over. They won just 8 games last year and while they may be a little better this year, it does not look like it will be by much.
-FIU, Southern Miss, and Rice will most likely not make the conference tournament (assuming they keep it at 12 teams, which means missing out on The Curtain).