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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- Hofstra
- Delaware
- Drexel
- Towson
- Elon
- Charleston
- Northeastern
- UNC Wilmington
- James Madison
- William & Mary
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE 1ST TEAM:
-James Butler – SR F – Drexel
-Isaac Kante – JR F/C – Hofstra
-Matt Lewis – SR G – James Madison
-Zane Martin – SR G – Towson
-Camren Wynter – JR G – Drexel
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE 2ND TEAM:
-Ryan Allen – SR G – Delaware
-Kevin Anderson – SR G – Delaware
-Brevin Galloway – SR G – Charleston
-Hunter McIntosh – SO G – Elon
-Tyson Walker – SO G – Northeastern
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-Hofstra has been steadily improving in recent years and has been really solid for the last two, but last year was the year they finally won the conference tournament and a trip to the NCAA Tournament…had it been played. Them missing out on March Madness will always be one of the many “what if’s?” They should be a solid team once again this year with three starters coming back. They once again look to be a great outside shooting team and that could carry them a long way.
-Delaware is coming off their best season in recent memory with 22 wins. They did lose some key players from last year’s team, but will still have a solid backcourt and if some of the newer players can step up they should once again be pretty good.
-I say this every year and I will say it again this year. I believe Pat Skerry is a phenomenal coach who has turned Towson around from one of the worst programs in D-1 to a player in the CAA. Zane Martin returns to the team (after transferring out and transferring back in!) and that alone should give them a huge boost, especially if some of the other returning players can step up.
-Drexel is getting quite a bit of preseason love despite just 14 wins last year, but with four starters back they are much more experienced and should be noticeably better if they can stay healthy.
-Elon also has four starters back from a team that was “meh” a year ago. Whether or not that experience will result in improvement has yet to be seen. They were much better in the second half of the season than they were in the first half, though.
-I am a huge fan of Coach Earl Grant at Charleston and am a little surprised we do not hear his name more often as a candidate for bigger jobs. Having said that, he really has his work cut out for him this year as they are in complete rebuilding mode. Just one starter is back, and they will be relying on a mix of transfer players and guys who came off the bench last year.
-Northeastern is always a team that seems to have a high ceiling that they sometimes play up to, but not all the time. There is not a whole lot of preseason love for them, but it would not shock me if they ended up doing better than expected. They look to have an experienced backcourt, but will need some other players to step up.
-UNC Wilmington has four starters back, but from a team that won just 10 games last year and finished near the bottom. Expectations are understandably not all that high for this year.
-William & Mary lost so many key pieces from a team that won 21 games last year, and at times looked phenomenal. They will likely be in complete rebuild mode this year.
-James Madison has a new head coach after winning just 9 games a year ago. They do have Matt Lewis back, who was one of the best players in the league last year, and also add quite a few transfer players, but they still have a long way to go.