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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- Fairleigh Dickinson
- Long Island
- Bryant
- Mount Saint Mary’s
- Saint Francis Brooklyn
- Saint Francis U
- Merrimack
- Wagner
- Central Connecticut
- Sacred Heart
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE TEAM:
-Damian Chong Qui – JR, G – Mount Saint Mary’s
-Ty Flowers – SR, F – Long Island
-Chauncey Hawkins – SR, G – Saint Francis Brooklyn
-Jahlil Jenkins – SR, G – Fairleigh Dickinson
-Elyjah Williams – SR, F – Fairleigh Dickinson
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-If you are a regular follower of HoopsHD, and you watch the Under the Radar shows, you know how much we love this league!
-They are not getting the most preseason love but we have to start with Merrimack. They were one of the great stories in college basketball last year as they finished in first place even though they were a transitional team. They were not eligible for the NCAA Tournament, but would have almost undoubtedly been invited to the CIT had it not been cancelled. The bad news is they lost a lot from last year’s team and have just two starters back, so they will likely be in a rebuilding mode, but I still do not think they will end up as the doormats.
-Everyone seems to be big on Fairleigh Dickinson this year, which makes sense considering they have four starters back from team that had a strong finish to the season. They are also balanced with solid players in both the frontcourt and the backcourt.
-Long Island is another team with four starters back, and while they were kind of blah last year and finished in the middle of the pack, their experience should help them improve going into this season.
-Saint Francis U won 22 games a year ago before losing to Robert Morris (who has since left the league) in the conference championship game. They are losing quite a few pieces, but they appear to once again have a strong frontcourt and if they could have some guys step up at the guard position that came off the bench last year it wouldn’t surprise me if they exceeded their preseason expectations.
-Bryant won just three games two years ago, so there has been steady improvement and I look for that to continue into this season. Three starters are back along with what look to be some promising newcomers. Head coach Jared Grasso has this program going in the right direction.
-Mount Saint Mary’s also has a lot of experience back, but it is from a team that had a rather unspectacular year last year so it is hard to conclude that they have a high ceiling.
-Saint Francis Brooklyn also has four starters back, including a very strong guard in Chauncey Hawkins who is among the best in the conference. They really struggled down the stretch last season so it is kind of hard to be all that high on them as a league contender despite all of the experience they have back.
-Sacred Heart won 20 games last year, but with so much gone from that team they appear to be in a complete rebuild mode. Wagner and Central Connecticut also have a long way to go and it could be a three-way fight amongst these three teams for that last spot in the NEC Tournament.