NEC MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- Long Island
- Central Connecticut
- Stonehill
- Mercyhurst
- Fairleigh Dickinson
- Chicago State
- Saint Francis
- Wagner
- Le Moyne
- New Haven
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-NEC TEAM:
-Bernie Blunt III – SR, G – Mercyhurst
-Malachi Davis – SR, G – Long Island
-Jamal Fuller – SR, G/F – Long Island
-Hermann Koffi – SO, G – Stonehill
-Darin Smith Jr. – SO, F – Central Connecticut
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-Be sure and download NEC On The Run from whatever app store suits you. It is a free app and provides quality broadcasts of all NEC home games. It’s awesome! I’m serious!!
-Long Island is the consensus, and basically unanimous, pick to win the NEC this year. They finished in 2nd place last year and finished the year with seven straight wins before losing in the NEC Tournament. Malachi Davis returns to the roster after averaging just under 18ppg last season. Two other starters are back, so they have some proven experience in their rotation. They have also added some pretty solid players from the portal, so it would not shock me to see the Sharks dominate the league this year.
-Central Connecticut was the 1st-place team last year and won 25 total games, but failed to make the NCAA Tournament after losing a rock fight to Saint Francis in the NEC Championship game. Unfortunately all five starters are gone so CCSU will have to rebuild their roster. They do have some high-level D-2 transfers mixed in with a few guys who came off the bench last year, so the cupboard is not completely bare.
-Stonehill is eligible for the NCAA Tournament this year!! And they have some experience as three starters return from last year’s team. The Skyhawks kind of fell apart in the latter part of the season losing four of their last five games, but Hermann Koffi had a great season as a freshman last year and should be able to step up even more this year. They have some experience mixed in with some decent looking transfers.
-Mercyhurst is still transitioning and they managed 15 wins a season ago and finished 3rd in the conference standings, which is not bad at all for a transitional team. Just one starter is back in Bernie Blunt III, who averaged over 12ppg and is a phenomenal free throw shooter. He cannot do it all by himself, though, and I am thinking it may be a rough year for the Lakers.
-Fairleigh Dickinson is having to rebuild their entire starting lineup. They are relying on players who were productive at lower divisions last year to come in and contribute right away. Whenever a roster turns over this much its hard to say just how good they are going to be. I am gonna be honest: I do not have much of a read on this year’s team.
-I cannot help it. I know we are not supposed to play favorites, but I have always had a huge soft spot for Chicago State. I am not saying that to be funny: I would LOVE for this program to start to experience some success. This is their second year in the conference after being forced to play as an independent, and I think that is a good start. The team won just 4 total games last year and was among the worst in the nation. The entire starting lineup is gone, and the roster turnover may be a chance for them to try and improve some. They have turned to some players who were prolific scorers at lower divisions to help infuse some energy into the roster. They have also added some D-1 transfers who saw limited minutes and are presumably seeking out more playing time. If this team can host an NEC quarterfinal game that would be a big success and a big step forward for this program. That being said: if I am being honest…I do not think it happens.
-Saint Francis finished a modest 8-8 in NEC play last year, but won the conference tournament and advanced to the NCAA First Four. A short time after that the school announced they were leaving D-1. So, this is sort of their swan song. Expectations are understandably low because it is hard to retain key players at the D-1 level when you announce you are leaving D-1. I wish they were not transitioning down. We have always had some love for STFU! I think it is going to be a very long year.
-Wagner has had a tumultuous offseason. The coach was suspended, the roster took forever to finalize, and I believe they were the last team to finalize their schedule for the season. Even before all this happened the prognosis for the season was not good. Just one starter is back and they do not have much in the way of proven D-1 experience.
-Le Moyne is still transitioning, and it is never easy to win while going through that process. Two starters are back from last year’s team that went just 4-12 in NEC play. One of the things they do have is a phenomenal 3-pt shooter in Deng Garang, who shot an amazing 48.6% from beyond the arc last season. They have been effective on the offensive end, but are still struggling as they continue to assimilate to D-1.
-New Haven is this year’s lone first-year-transitional team! They are picked to finish last after going just 12-17 at the D-2 level a year ago. That is not good: teams that struggle in D-2 will likely struggle infinitely more in D-1.
