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MEAC MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- Howard
- Norfolk State
- NC Central
- Morgan State
- UMES
- Delaware State
- Coppin State
- South Carolina State
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-MEAC 1ST TEAM:
-Shy Odom – SO, F – Howard
-Martaz Robinson – SR, G – Delaware State
-Marcus Dockery – JR, G – Howard
-Jelani Williams – SR, G – Howard
-Christian Ings – SR, G – Norfolk State
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-MEAC 2ND TEAM:
-Kamron Hobbs – JR, G – Morgan State
-Will Thomas – JR, F – Morgan State
-Brandon Stone – SR, G – Delaware State
-Jevin Muniz – SO, G – Delaware State
-Bryce Harris – JR, G – Howard
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-MEAC 3RD TEAM:
-Jamari Thomas – JR, G – Norfolk State
-George Beale Jr. – SO, G – Norfolk State
-Chance Davis – JR, G – UMES
-Jordan Simpson – SO, G – SC State
-Fred Cleveland Jr. – SR, G – NC Central
COMMENTS FROM DAVID GRIGGS:
-Howard was the 1st-place team a year ago and then went on to win the conference tournament before falling to Kansas in the NCAA Tournament. This program has made unbelievable improvements under Coach Kenny Blakeney and is the consensus favorite to win the league again. Just two starters are back, but both Jelani Williams/Shy Odom are good all-around players and the Bison appear to be adding some nice pieces to fill out their roster.
-I always like Norfolk State, but with just one starter back from a year ago I can see this being a bit of a rebuilding year for them. They have had back-to-back seasons of 20+ wins and nearly made the NCAA Tournament last year, but lost to Howard by just 1-pt in the conference championship game. Christian Ings is the top returning scorer and he is a very solid player, but most of the rest of their roster seems to be made up of guys with limited D1 experience.
-NC Central lost all five of their starters from a season ago and has reached into the portal and the JUCO ranks to try and rebuild the roster. Like a lot of teams in this league they have a lot of new players and will need new guys to step up and contribute.
-Morgan State has just one starter back and is also adding what appear to be several good looking JUCO players. Myles Thompson is a an outstanding outside shooter and will be a key part of the roster.
-UMES lost all five starters and, like a lot of teams, has a mostly new roster. Only three players from last year’s team are back and, like a lot of teams in this league, they have a very transfer-heavy team.
-Delaware State has all five starters back from a year ago. The problem is that the Hornets won just 5 D1 games last season, so while they should improve some being that they are the only team with players who have experience playing together, will it be enough of an improvement for them to make some noise in this league? They do appear to have a pretty solid backcourt with two of their players receiving preseason all-MEAC honors. We will see if that can translate into more wins this year.
-Coppin State has won fewer than ten total games for the past three years and with no starters back from last year the expectations are once again rather low.
-South Carolina State won just five total games last year but they actually were not that bad of a defensive team. Three starters are back so if they can find a way to put the ball in the basket we may see a few more wins this year.