Atlantic 10 Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on October 19, 2023 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for All of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

ATLANTIC 10 MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. Dayton
  2. VCU
  3. Saint Bonaventure
  4. Duquesne
  5. Saint Joseph’s
  6. Saint Louis
  7. Fordham
  8. Loyola Chicago
  9. George Washington
  10. George Mason
  11. Richmond
  12. Davidson
  13. UMass
  14. Rhode Island
  15. La Salle

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-A-10 1ST TEAM:

-DaRon Holmes II – JR, F – Dayton
-Dae Dae Grant – SR, G – Duquesne
-James Bishop IV – SR, G – George Washington
-Daryl Banks III – SR, G – Saint Bonaventure
-Erik Reynolds II – FR, G – Saint Joseph’s
-Gibson Jimerson – JR, G – Saint Louis

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-A-10 2ND TEAM:

-Malachi Smith – JR, G – Dayton
-Jimmy Clarke III – SR, G – Duquesne
-Maximus Edwards – SO, G – George Washington
-Khalil Brantley – JR, G – La Salle
-Philip Alston – SR, F – Loyola Chicago
-Max Shulga – SR, G – VCU

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-A-10 3RD TEAM:

-Ronald Polite III – SR, G – George Mason
-Matt Cross – SR, F – UMass
-Neal Quinn – SR, C – Richmond
-Chad Venning – JR, F – Saint Bonaventure
-Cameron Brown – SR, G – Saint Joseph’s
-Sean Bairstow – SR, G/F – VCU

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

As a whole, the Atlantic 10 is a league that should be better than what it is. It has some quality programs and is rich with what I think is a lot of unique traditions/cultures. Saint Bonaventure is a unique place with a great fanbase and a great venue, Davidson has great fans and some rich history, VCU is the same way, Richmond is fun to watch, Dayton has some of the most rabid and passionate fans in the entire country and saying that is NOT hyperbole, Saint Louis is a great program, there is a Philly Big 5 presence in the conference, Rhode Island has had some success in recent years and also has a rabid fanbase. It is a great league! Or, at least, it should be. So…why is it not better?? Why does it seem like in recent seasons it has collectively underperformed, and at the same time why do college basketball fans not have more appreciation for it? Last year, we at Hoops HD actually relegated this league to being Under the Radar…and it was well deserved. Not one team ended up inside the bubble and the only team they got into the NCAA tournament was the conference tournament winner.

-Dayton is once again the preseason favorite. While they had a decent year last year, it was not a good year and certainly not a year where they ended up being a top-25-caliber team that was capable of making the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament like we were expecting. They were just 12-6 in the A-10, 22-12 overall (which is decent, but not good, especially given their schedule) and were not even close to the NIT. I do not know why they were not better: they certainly should have been. Just two starters are back from a recruiting class that garnered them national attention when it first enrolled at the school a couple of years back, but one of them is DaRon Holmes II, a fantastic frontcourt player who averaged over 18ppg/8rpg. Enoch Cheeks, who was a standout guard at Robert Morris last year, has transferred in and should give them some strength in the backcourt, so there are a few pieces. They do appear to be good enough to win the league. The question is whether or not they (or anyone else in this conference) is good enough to make it to the NCAA Tournament without the automatic bid.

-After a 27-win season last year where VCU finished in first place and then went on to win the conference tournament before falling to Saint Mary’s in the Round of 64 of the NCAA Tournament, Mike Rhoades left to take the job at Penn State and all of his starters either transferred or graduated. It is odd to see a team that lost that much be picked to finish as high as 2nd in the preseason poll. Ryan Odom, who did an outstanding job at both UMBC/Utah State, takes over as head coach, and he has done an amazing job building the roster. Max Shulga/Sean Bairstow were two standout players on Utah State’s NCAA Tournament team last year, and they have some quality freshmen and other P5 level transfers joining a completely revamped roster. It is hard to say exactly how this team will play together until we actually see them play, but I am impressed with the roster that they were able to build.

-Saint Bonaventure had what most considered a disappointing season last year, and they certainly were not impressive in the stretch run at the end of the season. All five starters are back including Daryl Banks III, who is an outstanding guard, and with that experience we should see some improvement. Mark Schmidt is a really good coach but his program has declined somewhat. Two years ago we were expecting a top-25-caliber team and they ended up in the NIT, and last year they were just 14-18 overall, so the pressure may be on a little bit for the Bonnies to produce this year.

-Duquesne is picked to finish 4th in the league: I cannot remember them ever being picked to finish this high…but it is warranted! The Dukes won 20 games last year after winning just 6 the year before, and Dae Dae Grant returns as one of the best guards in the A-10. Two other starters are back as well including Tre Clark, who I would best describe as a frontcourt player with range. Picking Duquesne 4th just feels odd largely because it is Duquesne, but I am going to go even crazier: this Duquesne team can WIN THIS LEAGUE!!!! They are good on both the offensive/defensive ends, and while depth may be an issue they appear to have enough of it to where they can at least have guys come in and contribute quality minutes. Keith Dambrot is an outstanding coach who took over an impossible situation when he accepted the Duquesne job, and this is a year where they really could win a conference title.

-The days when Saint Joseph’s was an NCAA Tournament regular under Phil Martelli, and even rising to the #1 ranking at one point, almost now feels like it happened in another lifetime. Over the past five years they have ranged between between mediocre and awful. That being said, while I do not feel this is an NCAA Tournament or even NIT team this year, I do think we will see some improvement. All five starters from a year ago are back, and they will have a really good backcourt with both Erik Reynolds II/Cameron Brown. As far as the paint goes…yeah, they are a little thin so that will be an issue, but this program has slowly improved in each of the last two seasons and we should see that continue this year.

-We are used to seeing Saint Louis win 20+ games a year and finish at or near the top of the standings, but with just one starter back from a year ago it looks to be a rebuilding year for Coach Travis Ford and company. They do have a couple of double-digit-scoring D1 transfers (Mike Meadows from Portland/Tim Dalger from Tulsa), so those two should be able to contribute and help keep the Billikens in the top half of the standings, but winning 20+ and being a conference frontrunner is unlikely this year.

-In a year where the A-10 was a collective disappointment last year, one of the great stories from last season was Fordham. A school with no recent basketball success or culture other than being a running punchline had a breakout year, won 25 games, finished 2nd in the conference standings, and advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament. Coach Keith Urgo did the best coaching job out of anyone in the conference and it really was not even close. He and three of his starters are back, so I am a little puzzled to see them picked so low. They are losing their two biggest stars/two leading scorers, but they also add two D1 transfers in Japhet Medor (UTSA) and Josh Rivera (Lafayette) who were standout players and double-digit scorers. Granted, the caliber of play where those two guys are coming from was not at the level of the A-10 but these are guys that can contribute. I do not expect the Rams to be as good as they were a year ago, but I do expect them to be better than where they are currently being picked to finish.

-Loyola Chicago entered the A-10 with a lot of excitement and expectations given their recent NCAA Tournament success. Last year, they were just 4-14 in league play and finished in last place. It was a massive decline from back-to-back seasons where they were a solid top-40ish team. All five starters are back…but is that a good thing? They do appear to have some quality pieces, and I do think they will be better than they were a year ago. However, since they were literally last last year, that is not saying much.

-George Washington has been very mediocre for the last five or so seasons, and once again appears to have the makings of another mediocre year. Chris Caputo is in his second year as head coach, and they do appear to have a really strong backcourt with James Bishop/Maximus Edwards, so if they can get some guys to step up in the frontcourt then we could see this team exceed expectations and surprise some people.

-Kim English departed George Mason to take the head job at Providence and he took some of their better players with him, so Tony Skinn (the hero from the George Mason Final Four run) takes over as a first-time head coach, and he is tasked with rebuilding…well…everything. Ronald Polite is their top returner, and he does have a supporting cast that is transfer-heavy, but wins may be kind of hard to come by this year.

-I have always been a fan of Richmond, always liked Chris Mooney as a head coach, and always expect them to be better than they are. This year…I give up. Not even I think they will be any good. Just one starter is back, and while this always seems to be a disciplined team that moves the ball well and makes cuts to the basket, I can understand why the expectations are not higher. They do add some quality transfers, most notably Jordan King (who was a standout player at East Tennessee State), and if they can take to Mooney’s system then this team could end up being better than expected. I mean…they are tough to play against! They can end up finishing a lot higher than where they’re being picked! And…oh crap, I am doing it again!! I have a soft spot for the Spiders. I just love how they play. Win or lose, they are always destination viewing for me whenever they do play.

-With the exception of a 27-win season back in 2021-2022, Davidson just hasn’t been themselves lately, and it does not look like they are going to get back to the top this year. Matt McKillop enters his second year as head coach after taking over for his father who had a Hall of Fame-caliber career. Just two starters are back from a team that was just .500 on the season a year ago and the roster is looking pretty thin.

-If you have followed Hoops HD for a while then you know that we all love Angry Frank!! Frank Martin is an outstanding coach with an amusingly and cartoonishly-bad temper who is entering his second year at UMass, and while I do think he will turn this program into a conference contender it is hard to see a whole lot of potential this year. Just one starter is back from a team that went 6-12 in conference play, but the addition of Josh Cohen (who is transferring in from Saint Francis) should give them at least one standout player. When you look at the rest of the roster, though, not much jumps out. It will likely be a long season for the Minutemen.

-Archie Miller is a pretty good coach and Rhode Island is a program that has experienced a fair amount of success in the not so distant past, so it is kind of crazy to see them in such rough shape. They won just nine games last year, they have no starters back from that team, and the roster that they do have doesn’t seem to be capable of bringing them a whole lot of success.

-La Salle is a program that is routinely outside the top-200 of most of the metrics and from all accounts they appear to be heading there again. They do have a pretty solid player in Khalil Brantley, but not much else.

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Sun Belt Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on October 19, 2023 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for All of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

SUN BELT MEDIA DAY PRESEASON COACHES POLL:

  1. James Madison
  2. Appalachian State
  3. Old Dominion
  4. Southern Miss
  5. Louisiana
  6. South Alabama
  7. Marshall
  8. Troy
  9. Arkansas State
  10. Texas State
  11. Georgia State
  12. Coastal Carolina
  13. Georgia Southern
  14. UL Monroe

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL SUN BELT 1ST TEAM:

-Austin Crowley – SR, G – Southern Miss (Preseason Player of the Year)
-Terrence Edwards Jr. – JR, G – James Madison
-Donovan Gregory – SR, F – Appalachian State
-Chaunce Jenkins – JR, G – Old Dominion
-Christyon Eugene – SR, G – Troy
-Themus Fulks – JR, G – Louisiana

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL SUN BELT 2ND TEAM:

-Tyrell Jones – SR, G – South Alabama
-Kamdyn Curfman – SR, G – Marshall
-Tyreke Locure – SR, G – UL Monroe
-Dwon Odom – JR, G – Georgia State
-Obinna Anochili-Killen – SR, F – Marshall

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL SUN BELT 3RD TEAM:

-Terrance Ford Jr. – SO, G – Arkansas State
-Brenden Tucker – SR, G – Georgia State
-CJ Huntley – SR, F – Appalachian State
-Freddy Hicks – JR, G – Arkansas State
-Aamer Muhammad – SR, G – Troy

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-James Madison is the preseason favorite, and while I think they will be good this year I am a little surprised they were picked to finish 1st. They were 12-6 in the league last year and won 19 games against D1 teams, and while Terrance Edwards is back they have just one other starter returning. Their experience (or lack thereof) has me thinking that while they are good they are not the best overall team. They do have some guys transferring in with solid D1 experience, including two grad transfers in Bryant Randleman (High Point)/Michael Green (Robert Morris) who were both effective players a season ago. I am not saying the ceiling is not high: I am just saying I am a little surprised they are the preseason favorite.

-Appalachian State had a ‘meh’ season a year ago where they finished .500 in the league and 13-16 overall against D1. All five starters are back, and because of that the expectations for them are high. I value experience/cohesion as much as anyone and probably more than most people so I do think App State will be a better team this year: I am just not sure they will be THIS much better. They were 9-9 in league play a year ago and lost four of their last six games. Yes, they are experienced, but…2nd?

-Old Dominion had an inexplicably horrible game against Texas State in the Sun Belt Tournament last year to end their season but prior to that they were really on a roll. They won eight of their last ten regular season games, five of which were on the road, and I thought they would be a dangerous team in the conference tournament. I do like their team going into this year with three returning starters, including Chaunce Jenkins who is one of the better guards in the conference. If they can stay healthy, which was an issue for them last year, and get some production off of their bench then they will likely be one of the frontrunners.

-Southern Miss did lose three starters from a team that won 25 games last year and was the first-place team so they do have some guys that they will have to replace, but one of the returning starters is Austin Crowley who is perhaps the best player in the league. They also add Andre Curbelo to the roster, who is transferring in from Saint John’s and who averaged just under 10ppg coming off the bench, so he will likely be a big time contributor as well. They are not quite as strong in the frontcourt and that likely will be an issue for them, but I still think they are once again the best overall team in the conference and am a little shocked they were only picked to finish 4th.

-Louisiana started conference play last season by dumping their first two games against teams you would have expected them to beat. While they did have a few slip-ups after that, from that point on they were the best team in the league. They won 13 of the next 16 regular season games, won the conference tournament, and nearly upset Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament. This year could/should have been a year where they had the talent and experience to not just win the SBC again but to become nationally relevant. Unfortunately, a few key players (most notably Jordan Brown) decided to enter the transfer portal and the Ragin’ Cajuns are in a bit of a rebuild mode. They are still good…but not legit nationally-top-40ish-good like they could have been had they retained all their players. Themus Fulks appears to be their top returner and he should give them quite a bit of strength in the backcourt.

-Richie Riley has had a very respectable five year run at South Alabama and they have steadily won more than they have lost, but while they have had some big moments they have not quite put together the type of team that can consistently make a run at winning the conference. I think they will be decent again this year. I think they will land in the top half of the league again this year. I just do not think they will challenge for the top spot in the league.

-Marshall won 24 games last year and was really playing well in the second half of the conference schedule, but were upset in their first conference tournament game against Texas State. They lose quite a bit from last year’s team, but they have two key returners in Kamdyn Cufman/Obinna Anochili-Killen, which should give them some balance in the frontcourt and backcourt. Having said that, I do not see them being able to repeat last year’s success.

-I think Troy has an outstanding head coach in Scott Cross, and while they have posted back-to-back 20-win seasons they really have not broken through as a conference frontrunner yet like I keep expecting them to. This could be a tough year for Troy where they are forced to rebuild. Just two starters are back, (one of which is standout player Christyon Eugene) and while they are adding some standout JUCO transfers who should be able to contribute, it could still be a long year for the Trojans.

-Bryan Hodgson takes over as head coach at Arkansas State and he has his work cut out for him. Three starters are back from a team that won just four SBC games a year ago, and while Freddy Hicks is a guy who received preseason all-conference honors and gives them some strength at the guard position, the rest of the pieces just do not seem to be there.

-After an unspectacular regular season that ended rather pitifully last year, Texas State did suddenly get hot in the conference tournament and after winning three tourney games nearly upset Louisiana in the semifinals. Three starters are back from that team, and if they can play the way they did in the conference tourney then there is reason to hope.

-The days of Ron Hunter leading Georgia State to multiple NCAA Tournaments and even a few NCAA Tournament wins now seems like a long time ago. Georgia State was the last place team a year ago after going just 3-15 in the conference, and while four starters are back and that experience should result in some improvement, chances are they will again be closer to the bottom of the league than the top.

-I cannot understand how Coastal Carolina is not a better program. They became a flagship program in the Big South before joining the Sun Belt but the success just hasn’t followed them. Also, if you have ever been to their campus, it’s beautiful: it is in Myrtle Beach! It is the kind of place you would think that good players would want to go to! They won just 11 total games a year ago and have just one starter returning, so they are in a bit of a reset mode and it will likely be a long season for the Chanticleers.

-Georgia Southern is coming off a modest 17-win season, but with just one starter back it appears there are a lot of unknowns this year and the expectations are not all that high.

-UL Monroe has just one starter back and also appears to be in for a long/frustrating season.

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The Hoops HD Report: Big 12 Conference Preview

Posted on October 18, 2023 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for All of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

A full panel looks at a new 14 team Big 12 in the one and only year it will have this format. Teams like BYU, Cincinnati, and UCF are joining the league, but instead of it being the strong conference from top to bottom that we’re used to seeing, we discuss how the added teams may be weakening the league. Still, there are some top notch teams, including Kansas who is starting the season off ranked #1, Texas who is also very strong, and Baylor who is reloading. We feel Kansas State is another team that can, once again, exceed expectations, and we talk about whether or not Oklahoma can land inside the bubble. Check it out as we debate and discuss all the teams in the league.

And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…

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The Olympians: HoopsHD interviews Lindsay Schnell about 2004 Olympic gold medalist C. Vivian Stringer

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Jon Teitel

The NBA Finals date back to 1947 (when they were known as the Basketball Association of America Finals) and the very 1st NCAA tourney was held in 1939. Olympic basketball competition is even older: it debuted as a demonstration event in 1904 and the men’s version became a medal sport in 1936, with the women finally getting their chance to go for the gold in 1976. The United States has dominated Olympic basketball competition from the start: the men have won 16 gold medals in the 19 tournaments they have participated in during the past 87 years, while the women have won 9 gold medals in the 11 tournaments in which they have competed during the past 47 years. While we have to wait 1 more year until the 2024 Olympics in Paris, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will fill the void by interviewing as many prior Olympic players/coaches as possible. We continue our coverage by chatting with Lindsay Schnell about C. Vivian Stringer’s career, which included winning a gold medal and being inducted into the Women’s Basketball/Naismith Basketball Halls of Fame. Today is the 1-year anniversary of Rutgers announcing that it was renaming the court inside its basketball stadium in honor of Coach Stringer on October 19, 2022, so we take this time to remember her remarkable career.

In the 1960s Stringer sued her Pennsylvania high school for not allowing her to become a cheerleader because of her race (and won), and in 2019 she became the 1st African-American college basketball coach to win 1000 games: what role has race played in her life both on and off the court? Race has been the foundation of her career in so many ways. She is a pioneer both on/off the floor and has been adamant about creating opportunities for coaches of color (especially women). She did an event a couple of years ago with some other coaches and said that 1 thing she tried to impress upon other head coaches was to not just hire a young Black woman to recruit. She wanted them in the locker room: creating game plans, developing players, etc. She was passionate about advocating for people who looked like her. Dawn Staley is the face of women’s college basketball and says all the time that she would not be here without Coach Stringer. When Stringer was at Cheyney State she coached alongside a pioneer of the men’s game in John Chaney: they were not afraid to confront the uncomfortable truth and were a powerhouse coaching couple, which I assume was a huge influence on her life. Coach Chaney is revered across all sports, which is an impressive footnote on her own resume.

She was a 3-time national COY: what made her such a great coach? When you have sustained success at several schools it means that you are a good teacher of the game. Her recruiting showed the rare mix of being able to find kids who were overlooked while also building relationships with the players she did recruit. She sent a ton of players to the WNBA and had high standards for her players both on/off the floor.

She was known for her match-up zone defense (finishing top-5 in the nation in PPG allowed on several occasions) and very difficult non-conference schedules (including facing the #1 team in the nation in back-to-back games and facing multiple opponents each year who advanced to the Final 4): was it as simple as defense + competition = success or is there a lot more to it? Good defensive teams find ways to win because they find ways to hang around. She was fearless in her life and dealt with some really tough personal challenges: she tackled them head on and then talked about them. After dealing with the death of her husband and a child with special needs, scheduling a top-5 opponent was probably a walk in the park. Similar to Pat Summitt, she realized that was good for the game, and that fearlessness rubbed off on her players as well.

In 2004 she won an Olympic gold medal as an assistant coach for Team USA: what did it mean to her to represent her country, and what did it mean to her to win a gold medal? We would all agree that we need more Black women in prominent roles across our country. Seeing her in that position was good for both young coaches/players. Women’s basketball is dominated in the US by Black women so you also need people who look like that on the sideline. It is just 1 of many things on her resume that is so impressive.

In April of 2007 as head coach at Rutgers she set a Final 4 record by holding LSU to 35 PTS in the national semifinal game (despite not having a single senior on her roster), then 2 days later lost to Tennessee in the title game, then the next day syndicated radio host Don Imus referred to the Scarlet Knights as “nappy-headed hos”, followed 8 days later by New Jersey governor Jon Corzine almost getting killed in a car accident while heading to the governor’s mansion to host a meeting where Imus apologized to the team in person: what impact did that 12-day stretch have on her life (if any)? The impact on the women’s basketball community was to show how deeply embedded racism is in our country and how it is a never-ending conversation for Black women. She could have just reveled in her team’s success but confronted it head-on. Her willingness to speak out and recognize her platform to use it for good was important. I think about how many times she has been “the voice” in women’s basketball and she handled it (as always) with grace.

In the 2014 Women’s NIT title game Tyler Scaife scored 18 PTS including a coast-to-coast basket with 2 seconds left to give Rutgers a 2-PT win over UTEP: what did it mean to her to win a title? Anytime you can end your season with a win it is a positive and there is carry-over into the next season. Had they avoided the juggernaut that was UConn in 2015 I think they would have gone very far in that NCAA tourney. Some teams who get into the NIT just shrug their shoulders and get upset but she wanted her team to strive for excellence in every single game.

She made 28 NCAA tourneys and was the 1st coach (men’s or women’s) to lead 3 different schools (Cheyney State/Iowa/Rutgers) to the Final 4: how was she able to have so much success at so many different schools? It goes back to her being a great teacher of the game. She was a good X’s and O’s coach, which matters a lot. That gap of being a tactician is bigger in the women’s game than in the men’s game. She believed that her team could win and understood the advantages/disadvantages at each school while finding the positives. It is easy to forget the success she had because it was a while ago but the bottom line is that she is a powerhouse.

She remains the 5th winningest coach in women’s basketball history with 1055 wins and is the only women’s coach to spend 50 years on the sideline: why did she decide to stick around for so long (nobody else even has 45 years under their belt)? 1 important thing to note is that Summitt was taken from us at a young age: if she was still alive then I think she would still be stalking the Vols’ sideline. Basketball kept Vivian going: it gave her a reason to get out of bed. Her daughter received great care at the Iowa Children’s Hospital, which was a big factor in her moving to Iowa. In the 2021 NCAA tourney Rutgers almost beat BYU after being down by a large amount: I laughed because she was making yet another run and making other teams look foolish!

She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009: what did it mean to her to receive such outstanding honors? If you read her bio in the Naismith Hall of Fame, the 1st point they make is that she was a coal miner’s daughter. She grew up in a small town with parents who preached that you could achieve anything via hard work, which encapsulates all of her success. She belongs in both Halls and she has proved that you can work your way up from a humble background. When she was at an HBCU she took them to the Final 4, then made it back there at Iowa more than a decade later. Every time I heard her at a press conference/event I personally felt inspired: I can only imagine what her pregame speeches were like!

When people look back on her career, how do you think that she should be remembered the most? As someone who fought tirelessly for Black women to be in positions of power in a game that they dominated from a player perspective. She talked openly about players needing to see other Black women on the sideline balancing a career/family. Her family was an important part of every school she was at. I think about Staley building a powerhouse at South Carolina with 2 NCAA titles (and counting): she always says that she is here because of what Coach Stringer wanted for their sport. As we continue to go forward and see men/women of color get hired as coaches, it all goes back to Coach Stringer.

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Ohio Valley Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on October 18, 2023 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for All of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

OVC MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. Morehead State
  2. SIUE
  3. Tennessee State
  4. UT Martin
  5. SEMO
  6. Tennessee Tech
  7. Little Rock
  8. Western Illinois
  9. Southern Indiana
  10. Lindenwood
  11. Eastern Illinois

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL OVC:

-Keenon Cole – Lindenwood
-KK Curry – UT Martin
-Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. – Tennessee State
-Mark Freeman – Morehead State
-DeAntoni Gordon – Little Rock
-Jayvis Harvey – Tennessee Tech
-Kinyon Hodges – Tennessee State
-Damarco Minor – SIUE
-Ray’Sean Taylor – SIUE
-Drew Thelwell – Morehead State
-Shamar Wright – SIUE

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-Morehead State was the first place finisher last year by three full games but missed out on the NCAA Tournament after falling in the OVC semifinals to SEMO. They did go on to the NIT and managed a big upset road win at Clemson, so with three starters back the expectations are once again high and they are the near-unanimous preseason favorite. Morehead State has had three straight 20+ win seasons and appears to be in position to make it four straight this year. Mark Freeman/Drew Thelwell were both double-digit scorers a year ago and both can score from the outside. They also have some key transfers coming in, particularly Riley Minix who was a standout forward at NAIA school Southeastern, so this team has the pieces to once again run away from the pack.

-On January 18th of last season SIUE was 14-5, had won a very impressive six out of seven, and appeared to be the only decent looking team in the OVC that would have been able to earn an NCAA Tournament seed better than #16. From that point on the bottom fell out and they ended up finishing just .500 in the league. I still cannot get past how good they looked early on, and with three starters back including Ray’Sean Taylor, who averaged over 17ppg last year, I think this team can challenge Morehead State. This is not a program that has experienced a whole lot of success, but Coach Brian Barone has them going in the right direction.

-Tennessee State heated up down the stretch last year and ended up finishing in a tie for 3rd, and is getting quite a bit of love this preseason despite having just one starter back from a year ago. They are tasked with replacing Jr. Clay, who was one of the best players in the league last year. They do have some good looking transfers coming in with a fair amount of D1 experience, so while their roster was overhauled I think we will see them near the top of the standings.

-UT Martin looked pretty solid in the first half of conference play, but then went into a bit of a tailspin where they lost five of their last eight games. Still, it was a huge turnaround with 19 total wins after three consecutive years of winning fewer than ten, and I think their program has taken a huge step forward. Just two starters are back so they are relying on some incoming transfers to keep them in the top half of the league this year.

-SEMO finished the regular season just 10-8 and had to play in the opening round of the OVC Tournament, but they managed to win four games in four days, including knocking off Morehead State in the semifinals for the second time last season, and ended up capturing the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. They did lose their top two players who transferred out and like a lot of teams in this conference they are looking to rebuild their roster.

-Tennessee Tech had a decent year last year where they went 11-7 during the conference regular season, and it was likely the best year Coach John Pelphrey has had since he took over, but this team still has a long way to go. Jayvis Harvey returns at guard so the Golden Eagles to appear to have a solid backcourt, but the frontcourt and just overall depth could be an issue.

-Last year Little Rock was a very unimpressive 6-12 in league play and they had just eight overall D1 wins. What is unbelievable about their season a year ago is that 8 of their 12 OVC losses were by 6 pts (two possessions) or less. I have never seen a team almost win so many games. DeAntoni Gordon is the only returning starter so it could be another frustrating year for the Trojans.

-Western Illinois is new to the league, and while they don’t have the richest tradition when it comes to basketball, I don’t see them finishing quite this low. Chad Boudreau takes over as head coach after being an assistant last year and is tasked with replacing their top player along with two other starters, but Quinlan Bennett/Jesiah West are both solid players, and the typical level of competition in the OVC is a little more manageable than what is at the top of the Summit League. There is no Oral Roberts, South Dakota State, or North Dakota State. There is no group of teams that anyone looks at and thinks, “We will be lucky if we win one of those six games.” I do not think they will finish as high as SIUE/Morehead State, but I do think they will finish better than 8th.

-Southern Indiana had a fairly successful debut season as they begin the transition to D1, but the second/third years are usually the hardest. It is a situation where a team’s key players from the previous year either graduate/transfer, and then they are hard to replace with D1-caliber players because guys just do not want to play for a team that is not postseason-eligible. Lindenwood will be dealing with the same issues.

-Eastern Illinois is picked to finish last. They were 5-13 in the league last year and were actually playing their best ball during the last few weeks of the season. Granted, their best ball still was not all that good…but they were getting better. Three starters are back and they have added some standout JUCO players. I would not just assume that this team will be the league’s doormat.

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Happy College Basketball Season (sort of) 2023-2024!!!!

Posted on October 18, 2023 by David Griggs

It is finally here!! The first open exhibition game that involves an NCAA Division One team is tonight!! We’ve got two college basketball teams that will be playing against one another!! Louisville will be taking on Simmons College. Now, as best we can tell, Simmons College won just two total games two years ago, but underwent a drastic improvement and was 14-13 last year! They are members of the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association, and are likely incredibly overmatched by a Louisville team that isn’t very good by D1 standards, but is probably still exponentially better than Simmons, it probably won’t be that exciting or that interesting, and as far as importance it is an exhibition game that means absolutely nothing.

But…IT IS COLLEGE BASKETBALL!!! With the exception of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we have some sort of a college basketball game every day from today until the day after Selection Sunday!!!

CLICK HERE for the full schedule of Open Exhibition Games

CLICK HERE for ALL of our Preseason Content, including Podcasts, Interviews, and Media Day Recaps

and…HAPPY COLLEGE BASKETBALL SEASON EVERYBODY!!!!! (sort of)

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