Conference Winner: Rhode Island
Here I thought I was going to be all sneaking and spring
Rhode Island on everybody but it turns out that everybody and their mom is
ahead of the curve. I also suspect there will be a follow up on my
comments from Kurly singing the praises of the Rams. That being said I
will keep this short and sweet. A top level soon to be moving to bigger
program coach, Dan Hurley. A stud NBA prospect, E.C. Matthews. A
top of the line transfer, Kuran Iverson, from Memphis. I figured the
casual fan may be on Dayton-again but to me the Rams are the class of the A-14,
er, A-10
At-Large: Dayton
Last year’s darlings sported nobody taller than 6’6” but
they were still able to advance to the Sweet Sixteen based on pure hustle and
defense. This year they bring in some freshman height and return star
point guard, Scoochie Smith. I love saying Scoochie. I believe the
Flyers to be a no doubt NCAA Tournament team but their ceiling is going to be
based on what their freshman can bring. I have faith in Archie Miller
that he will get nothing but the best from them and be a lock come
February. And then be coaching in the ACC come June.
At-Large: Davidson
Man there are some great coaches in this league. The
Wildcats were predicted to finish last in their first year in the A-10 last
year and instead went out and won it. The lose their top player from last
year, Tyler Kalinowski, but return everybody else. Leading this team is
Jack Gibbs who will rival E.C. Matthews as player of the year. Some teams
I would fade after a year of exceeding expectations but Bob McKillop is a coach
you trust. He will have this team prepared and ready for a return trip to
the dance.
At-Large: VCU
Shaka Smart finally got “Smart” and took the money and the
Texas job. So, what’s left? Plenty. Will Wade steps in to
further the Havoc that Smart played with for the past 5-6 years. Mo
Allie-Cox is a great player and there will be plenty of run and gun up and down
tempo from this squad. No, they aren’t as good as the last couple of VCU
teams but this team is still viable to sneak into the dance based on smart
scheduling and a tough conference.
Others worth watching:
Richmond, see Mooney, Chris
George Washing, see Lonergan, Mike
No comments:
Post a Comment