PATRIOT LEAGUE MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- Navy
- Boston U
- Colgate
- American
- Bucknell
- Loyola MD
- Lafayette
- Lehigh
- Holy Cross
- Army
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-PATRIOT LEAGUE TEAM:
(***note from David***. I gotta say this is one hell of a backcourt!!!)
-Greg Jones – JR, G – American (Defensive Player of the Year)
-Kyrone Alexander – JR, G – Boston U
-Jalen Cox – JR, G – Colgate
-Jacob Theodosiou – JR, G – Loyola MD
-Austin Benigni – SR, G – Navy (Preseason Player of the Year)
COMMENTS FROM DAVID
-Historically, it has been very difficult for service academies to build consistently successful basketball programs, but one of the advantages they tend to have in the transfer-heavy era that we are now in is that they do usually retain their key players. All five starters are back for Navy, and while they were just a modest 10-8 in conference play a year ago, they really caught fire in the latter half of conference play and won seven out of eight before losing in the PL Championship Game. Austin Benigni is one of the best players in the conference and averaged just under 19ppg a season ago, and he is surrounded by a lot of guys who saw quality minutes last year. This could be Navy’s year!
-Boston U has two solid returners in Kyrone Alexander and Michael McNair. Alexander is a solid guard and McNair is a good outside shooter. They are joined by some guys who saw quality minutes a year ago and seem ready to step into bigger roles this year, so the expectations are high for the Terriers.
-Colgate won just 14 games a year ago, which was a huge step back from how well they had been playing. Matt Langel has done a good job with his program, and with three solid starters back I think we will once again see them near the top of the league, if not at the very top of the league. Jalen Cox gives them a strong presence out on the perimeter, and he will be supported by a mixture of solid returning players and talented newcomers.
-American was last year’s conference winner. The problem is just one player from that team is back, so they are in the process of having to rebuild. Duane Simpkins led the Eagles to their best season in quite some time last year and he hopes to be in the mix again this year. Greg Jones returns after averaging double-figures last year and who is a prolific outside shooter. The question is whether the other returners and newcomers step up and contribute this year.
Bucknell was one of the hottest teams in the conference in the second half of conference play last year. They won 10 of 11 before losing in the conference tournament. Unfortunately they are having to replace a couple of their best players and it does not look like that success will carry over into this season. At least not at the beginning.
-Loyola MD was a very underwhelming 6-12 in PL play a year ago, and even though three starters are back and that experience could benefit them, I just do not see them being a team that can finish in the top half of the standings this year. Jacob Theodosiou is a solid guard who earned preseason honors, but he cannot do it by himself.
-Lafayette is another team that returns the majority of their starters, but they do so after a rather unimpressive year where they were not particularly all that strong down the stretch. Still, experience can translate into improvement.
-Lehigh struggled last year and is tasked with replacing their top players. It will likely result in them struggling even more this year.
-Holy Cross, who used to be one of the flagship teams in the league and one of the better UTR programs in the nation, has been an utter disaster for the past several years and that status does not seem like it will improve this year. They actually had a solid OOC campaign last season, but fell apart once conference play started. A couple of starters do return, and I am a little surprised they are being picked to finish 9th because I think they will be a little better than this, but not much better.
-Army has managed a winning record in two of the last three season, which I would say is an accomplishment for a service academy program. This year they appear to be at the bottom of their talent cycle. Just one starter is back and their roster has very little in the way of guys who have experience as D-1 contributors.
