With conference realignment, some of our favorite conferences have watched themselves get picked apart, most notably, the Colonial.One conference worth following this season, will be the Metro Atlantic Athletic Confrence. Most likely a one-bid league with a soft bottom, the top teams will battle it out in what ought to be some great basketball, with an outside chance of stealing a bid next March.
The favorite will be a familiar name to many college basketball fans, he Siena Saints. Siena won the CBI Tournament last season and return all 5 starters. They are coached by Jimmy Patsos, a long-time Maryland assistant who had some success at Loyola(MD) before replacing Mitch Buonaguro. The Saints star player is G Rob Poole. Siene doesn't have a lot on the schedule but a win at UMass would be a nice get.
Expect Iona and Manhattan to contend again. Both are coached by two ofthe rising stars in the profession. Manhattan returns Steve Masiello who took the USF job before descrepancies showed up on his resume. He loses 3 key starters so they could be slow starters this year. Keep an eye on FROSH big man Jermaine Lawrence. Lawrence was a 4* who originally signed with Cincinnati.
Iona coach Tim Cluess is one of the better respected coaches in the game and his Gaels have been contenders since he took over in 2010. The Gaels are lead by G AJ English who is the conference pre-season player of the year. Iona can do it on both sides of the court and will definitely be there at the end of conference play.
St. Peter's is expected to be a contender this year as well. The Peacocks return 4 starters, including last year's leading scorers Marvin Dominique and Desi Washington. With their depth and experience, they should be in the mix.
It'll take a big in-conference season from someone for the MAAC to steal a bid. The top looks tough, so that seems unlikely but it's a really good conference that deserves some attention.
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