CAA MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- UNC Wilmington
- Charleston
- Hofstra
- Towson
- Monmouth
- William & Mary
- Stony Brook
- Elon
- Drexel
- Hampton
- Northeastern
- Campbell
- NC A&T
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-CAA 1ST TEAM:
-Eli Ellis – SO, G – Charleston
-Justin Moore – SR, G – Hofstra
-CJ Luster II – SR, G – UNC Wilmington
-Patrick Wessler – SR, C – UNC Wilmington
-Rashad King – SR, G – Northeastern
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-CAA 2ND TEAM:
-Xavier Abreu – SO, G – Charleston
-Bryson Cokley – JR, G – Elon
-Deywilk Tavarez – SR, G – Hofstra
-Jaden Daughtry – SR, F – Stony Brook
-Zion Stanford – SR, G – Towson
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COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-UNC Wilmington has won 27 games in each of the last two seasons, but was upset in the quarters of the CAA Tournament last year and failed to make the NCAA Tournament. Just one starter is back from that team, but the roster is still pretty solid. Patrick Wessler is perhaps the best big man in the conference and averaged close to a double-double last year. CJ Luster II is also back from an injury and gives them a huge presence in the backcourt. Tahlan Pettway comes in from Western Carolina and William Kermoury comes in from Northeastern. Both were great outside shooters last year, so UNCW is looking like they could once again finish 1st.
-Charleston has won 20+ games in each of the last four seasons and were the 2nd place team last year. John Groce takes over as coach, who has had a long and impressive career, so one would assume that CofC will be able to keep winning. They have just one returning starter so there is the issue of having to rebuild the roster, but Ben Bradford comes in from Charlotte and Tavari Johnson, who averaged 19ppg at Akron last year, also comes in. Eli Ellis is also a nice player who comes in from South Carolina, so I like CofC’s roster, and their coach, and their chances to win the league. In fact they are my pick to win the league!
-Hofstra was really inconsistent last year, but when they were good they were as good as anyone in the league, and they proved that by winning the conference tournament. Speedy Claxton has done a great job since taking over as coach, but he will once again have to rebuild the roster. Justin Moore was a solid PG for Drexel last year and he has transferred in. They have several other players who saw limited D-1 minutes and will have to play a bigger role this year.
-I have been a fan of Towson coach Pat Skerry for a while. They were a respectable 9-9 in CAA play last year and the expectations are a little higher this year. Just one starter is back, but Ben Roseborough transfers in from San Jose State and he should be an impact player for the Tigers. They also have some guys that contributed off the bench last year who should be able to step into bigger roles this year.
-King Rice is about to enter his 16th year as coach at Monmouth. They had a strong end to the season last year by making it to the CAA Championship game, but they came up short against Hoftsra. Just one starter is back, but they got some really good players out of the portal and I think they will make quite a bit of noise this year. Lureon Walker was a solid player for NC A&T and has shown he can produce in the CAA, Jakai Sanders comes in from Le Moyne, and Ashton Walker was a solid player for La Salle. The Hawks are a team to keep an eye on.
-William & Mary won 20 games last year and were a very solid 10-8 in CAA play, so it was a very solid second season for Brian Earl as coach. The problem is he is having to rebuild the roster after losing all five starters. This is a team that likes to shoot 3’s and they have built up their roster with guys from lower divisions who have shown they can hit from the outside.
-Stony Brook went through stretches last year. At one point they won 8 out of 10 games in the heart of conference play. But they also went through stretches where they could not buy a win. It was still a massive improvement from the year before, but with just one starter back it is questionable as to whether they will be able to continue that. Jaden Daughtry transfers in who was an amazing outside shooter at Richmond last year and he might be their best offensive weapon. Some others will have to step up if they are going to be successful.
-Elon fell apart down the stretch last year losing nine of their last ten games and the expectations are not all that high going into this year. Bryson Cokley is a player to watch. He is a dependable scorer and a solid shooter. Randall Pettus II also provides some stability and experience at the guard position, but outside of those two they do not appear to have much experience.
-Drexel always seems to go through stretches of the season where they look really good, but they also seem to never be able to consistently sustain that. Last year, in the first half of conference, there was a stretch where they went 6-1, but then there were also stretches where they really struggled. Just one starter is back and Coach Zack Spiker will be relying on guys who saw limited minutes a year ago to step up.
-Hampton was among the worst shooting teams in the country last year. They will need to fix that if they are going to be any better this year. Seth Hubbard comes in from Milwaukee and he is a guy who can score. He averaged over 16ppg and was dependable from the outside. Max Frazier was another dependable scorer for Central Connecticut, so we may see Hampton actually be able to put the ball in the basket this year and win a few more games.
-As for Northeastern, I have long thought (and still think) that Bill Coen is a phenomenal coach, but their team was phenomenally bad last year. They won just 7 total games and they seem to be one of those programs that loses their talent just as soon as it is starting to develop. For the second straight year, when looking at their roster, there just does not appear to be a whole lot to see. It may be another tough year for the Huskies. Coen has been at Northeastern for 20 years and it is hard to imagine him leaving…but as much as I hate to raise this question….is his seat starting to get a little warm?
-Jimmie Williams takes over as coach at Campbell and…well…I wish him luck! All five starters from last year are gone, the program is in desperate need of a jumpstart, and they are going to look to some guys who were productive outside of D-1 in order to give it to them.
-NC A&T’s last winning season was 2019-2020 and all indications are that the streak will continue. Shane Lancaster is a player to watch who was solid at Alcorn State last year and Ponce James was a solid all around player at Delaware State so they do have a couple of pieces and I do not think they will finish last…but I think they will still be pretty close to last.
