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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- Norfolk State
- NC Central
- Howard
- Morgan State
- Coppin State
- UMES
- Delaware State
- South Carolina state
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-MEAC 1ST TEAM:
-Nendah Tarke – JR, G – Coppin State
-Elijah Hawkins – SO, G – Howard
-Kris Bankston – SR, F – Norfolk State
-Joe Bryant – SR, G – Norfolk State
-Justin Wright – JR, G – NC Central
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-MEAC 2ND TEAM:
-Steve Settle – JR, F – Howard
-Da’Shawn Phillip – SR, G – UMES
-Malik Miller – SR, G – Morgan State
-Eric Boone – SR, F – NC Central
-Kris Monroe – SR, F – NC Central
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-MEAC 3RD TEAM:
-Corey Perkins – SO, G – Delaware State
-Nathaniel Pollard – SR, F – UMES
-Dana Tate – SR, F – Norfolk State
-Brendan Medley-Bacon – SR, C – NC Central
-Rahsaan Edwards – JR, G – South Carolina State
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-The majority of this league looks like it will be heading to the First Four in Dayton if they happen to win the conference tournament, but not Norfolk State. They won 24 total games last year, blew through the regular season with 12 conference wins, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. With four starters back they look like they are just head and shoulders above everyone else.
-NC Central won 16 games last year after winning just 5 the year before and finished a very respectable 3rd in the conference. With three starters and several contributing players back, including Justin Wright (a good all-around player and very good outside shooter), expectations are once again high.
-Howard is another team that drastically improved last season, winning 16 total games after winning just 1 the year before and 4 the year before that. They are having to rebuild a little but, but they have enough coming back that they should be able to continue to progress as a program.
-Morgan State has two of their top scorers back, but will also be looking for a lot of guys to step in to new roles and become contributing players if they want to finish in the top half of the conference.
-Coach Juan Dixon is entering his 6th year at Coppin State and has yet to really get rolling. They won just nine games a year ago and are not showing many signs of being able to win a whole lot more than that this year.
-UMES has four starters back from a team that won 11 total games a year ago, and was not playing too terribly badly down the stretch. I do not think they will contend for the top of the conference, but we may see them finish closer to the middle of it than what we are typically used to.
-Delaware State and South Carolina State are bringing up the rear. South Carolina was a modest 7-7 in MEAC play last year but a lot of the pieces from that team are now gone. Delaware State was winless a year ago, and ended up taking home their second Centenary Award!!! They have a much better chance of repeating as Centenary Award winners than finishing at the top of the conference.