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ATLANTIC SUN MEDIA DAY PRESEASON COACHES POLL:
- Lipscomb
- Austin Peay
- North Alabama
- Eastern Kentucky
- Jacksonville
- FGCU
- North Florida
- Stetson
- Queens
- Bellarmine
- Central Arkansas
- West Georgia
ATLANTIC SUN MEDIA DAY PRESEASON MEDIA POLL:
- Lipscomb
- Eastern Kentucky
- Austin Peay
- FGCU
- North Alabama
- Stetson
- North Florida
- Jacksonville
- Queens
- Central Arkansas
- Bellarmine
- West Georgia
MEDIAY DAY PRESEASON ALL-A-SUN TEAM:
-Devontate “Tae Tae” Blanton – Eastern Kentucky
-Keeshawn Kellman – FGCU
-Jacob Ognacevic – Lipscomb
-Will Pruitt – Lipscomb
-Isaac Haney – Austin Peay
-Sai Witt – Austin Peay
-Ben Johnson – Bellarmine
-Robert McCray V – Jacksonville
-Jacari Lane – North Alabama
-Daniel Ortiz – North Alabama
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COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-Lipscomb had a strong finish to the regular season a year ago and appeared to be one of the favorites to win the ASun Tournament, but they ended up losing their first tournament game. Just two starters are back, but Will Pruitt is one of the better players in the conference and they return enough experience off the bench to where it looks like they will once again be at or near the top of the standings. They appear to be balanced, solid in both the backcourt and the frontcourt, and have a fairly deep bench.
-Expectations are high for Austin Peay this year despite having just one starter back. Isaac Haney averaged double digit figures a year ago, as did Sai Witt who came off the bench, so they do have some pieces. Akili Evans was also a key player and double-digit scorer for Sacramento State last year, so the Govs appear to have some pieces.
-After a rough OOC campaign last year, Eastern Kentucky turned it around and ended up finishing 1st in the ASun last year and seemed to be on pace to make the NCAA Tournament, but they lost in the quarterfinals on their home court and are now tasked with rebuilding. Just one starter is back for Coach A.W. Hamilton, but it is Tae Tae Blanton who is one of the better players in the conference. This a transfer-heavy team with guys with some limited D-1 experience and some standout players from lower divisions. It is hard to say just how good they will be considering how different they look this year.
-North Alabama, who has not been up at D-1 for very long, has had two straight fairly-solid years and shown quite a bit of improvement as a program. This year the expectations are perhaps as high as they have ever been. Just two starters are back for the Lions, but Jacari Lane is one of the better players in the conference and is a very good outside shooter. I like this team this year. They are not my pick to win the league…but I think they may finish just behind Lipscomb.
-FGCU had a frustrating season last year, but they were looking better down the stretch and with three starters back there is reason to be somewhat optimistic heading in to this season. Pat Chambers is a solid head coach, and with experienced guys like Keeshawn Kellman returning to the roster (who is a solid all-around player) and Isaiah Thompson (who was affected by injuries last year) hopefully being healthy again, there is reason to be optimistic at Gulf Coast.
-I am a little surprised that Jacksonville is picked to finish in the top half of the league. They do have two returning starters and do seem to be adding some key transfers, but they also struggled all of last season. Having said that, I guess finishing toward the middle of the pack is within their capabilities.
-Stetson won 22 games a year ago, which was their best season in recent memory, and it has been fun watching them progress over the years. Having said that, much of last year’s team is gone and they are now tasked with replacing most of their key players. They are adding several players who were standouts in either JUCO or the lower divisions, but it remains to be seen if they can perform like that at the D-1 level.
-I have been a fan of North Florida coach Matt Driscoll for quite some time. They did lose their top player from a year ago, and he was such a big piece of the team that you wonder if they can replace him, but three other starters are back along with some standout players from JUCO and NAIA, so the Ospreys could be set up to surprise some people this year.
-Queens is in their 3rd transitional season, and once they complete the transition I think they will be a strong program within the ASun, but for now they are still taking their lumps. It is a great atmosphere and they have a lot of potential, but this year they just do not seem to have the pieces.
-Central Arkansas has won just nine games in each of the last two seasons, and this year things are not expected to go much better. Elias Cato is a solid player, but other than him they do not seem to have the personnel they need to compete with most of the teams in the league.
-Bellarmine is finally eligible for the postseason!! That’s the good news. The bad news is that they are not expected to be very good at all. They won just 8 games a year ago, and have just one starter back, so they are tasked with having to rebuild. I do think this team will be much better than many expect. They were plagued with injuries a season ago, and they did underperform, but this is a team that plays a unique (and fun) style that can be difficult to play against, and they have enough guys with D-1 experience that I think they will be closer to the middle than the bottom.
-Welcome to D-1 West Georgia! This team won 27 games a year ago and made the D-2 Tournament. I think they will be a solid D-1 program once they complete the transition, but as seemingly all transitional teams do, they are likely to struggle.