I don't get how they can pick Fordham 11th. What have they done ever to be placed there? They just lost Nick Honor who was their best player to transfer. I could understand putting UMass ahead of us just based on the hype around their freshman class (and they bring back more production than Fordham) but picking Fordham above us is dumb. Even though St. Joe's has a depleted roster, I think Fordham should be probably be picked last until they show they can win. They have won a combined seven conference games in the past two seasons. Newbauer got off to a good start at Fordham, but it has been downhill ever since. I don't think he is necessarily an awful coach, but they were somehow even more ill-disciplined than us on offense with poor ball movement and I don't see how they improve in a more competitive A10 with Honor gone. While they do have other good teams (like Softball and Women's Basketball) I still think they are in the wrong league (more like the MAAC/Patriot). If we need the NY market, give me Iona or something at this point from a Men's Basketball perspective.

I don't see Steele making all-newcomer from a production standpoint, but he probably will start at the 5 for Duquesne. Chatman could make the team, but Dayton has too much talent that I think Chatman may not get as many opportunities as he did at Chattanooga. That said, the A10 returns so much talent this year, it's a bit harder to find new guys who will be really productive.

The all-defense list is solid.

All-sharpshooter I think describes how terrible the A10 was at shooting as a league last year, from deep or otherwise. You shouldn't be on that list if you shoot under 40% from the field overall, which both Frampton and Portley did last year. At least Frampton I guess made 38% of his threes, but his numbers actually looked similar to Terry's who I would not consider a sharpshooter. Portley's FG/3pt/FT line of 37/35/62 is actually quite terrible. Give me Maceo instead who put up similar to better numbers across the board if the standards are that low. De'Riante Jenkins of VCU is a better candidate as well.

The standings are more or less what I would have picked. Many are picking Dayton over Davidson, and while the Wildcats regressed somewhat last year, I don't know how you can pick so many unknowns at Dayton over a proven Davidson team given they bring everyone back and have a solid coach as well. There is no doubt Dayton has more talent, but I want to see the chemistry on the court first. 
 

If we finish a slow as 12th (which we won't) I will literally eat my GW cap! This team and this coach are significantly better than 12th.

We will be better than Fordham, George Mason and La Salle in addition to UMass and St. Joseph's. I have us finishing in the top 8 but it will be close.

Looking at Fordham's outlook, the reason they are slightly ahead of GW in terms of projections may be that Fordham's returning players are considered better(even without Nick Honor, who transferred to Clemson) than GW's returning players. They also wrote that Fordham has lost Nick Honor, Joseph Chartouny to Marquette, Chris Sengfelder to Boise State and Eric Paschall to Villanova in consecutive years, so you have to feel a little bad for them. Who is going to transfer out of Fordham this year!!

GW has been below average over the past few years and does not return a big-name player, so we shouldn't be surprised at the low projections. Someone here posted the Kenpom rankings for the A10, and GW was slotted 11th or 12th in those rankings too, so we should expect GW to be picked to finish in the bottom 4 or 5(10th-13th, I think St.Joe's will be the consensus last place team) by every outlet that covers college basketball. 

Sporting News also wrote that Jair Bolden will take over at point for South Carolina. South Carolina is picked to finish 10th(out of 14 teams) in the SEC though. It's going to be interesting watching Jair Bolden play for a guy like Frank Martin, who is "slightly unhinged"(LOL) during games. We remember J.Bolden being productive, but had a questionable shot selection and was a shoot-first, shoot-second, shoot-third, maybe pass after that, type of guard, what's going to happen when he tries that with Frank Martin?? It's possible that F.Martin Coached Up or SCARED the Shoot-First mentality out of Bolden, but it may be quite the scene on the sideline when F.Martin draws up a play for Bolden to pass, and Bolden instead misses an off-balance 3-pointer. HA! 


 

I got a copy of Athlon's, and they picked GW to finish 11th, they only did long write-ups on their projected top 4 A-10 teams, so there wasn't much on GW, only that Jamion Christian was "one of the more promising young coaches", mentions of holdovers Maceo Jack(11.5ppg), Mazzzulla(8.9ppg), Javy and Toro, and of course, Jameer Jr. being the son of the former St.Joe's star and NBA player. VCU, Davidson and Dayton are picked to make the NCAA Tournament, and VCU is ranked #24 in their top 25.

Athlon's ranks players for a bunch of categories, a few of them include current and former A10 players, VCU's Marcus Santos-Silva is ranked #2 in the nation among offensive rebounders. Obi Toppin is ranked #7 among dunkers, Georgetown guard Mac McClung is #1. Two former A10 players are on the Grad Transfers to Watch list,  St.Joe's LaMarr Kimble who is now at Louisville and former UMass guard Luwane Pipkins, now at Providence. 

Athlon's also has a bunch of lists for coaches. The Coaches on the Hot Seat list includes UMass coach Matt McCall(he's gone 24-41 and 9-27 in league play in his 2 years as coach), Fordham's Jeff Neubaer(he's finished in last place in the A10 in each of the last 2 years) , Richmond's Chris Mooney and Texas coach/former VCU coach Shaka Smart(he was 11-7 in his first year in the Big 12, but has gone 20-34 in Big 12 play since then). Maybe things will set up for Shaka Smart to the A10/the state of Virginia next season after he gets fired from Texas and Mooney gets fired from Richmond!! Despite what he did to Amir Harris and a couple of his teammates, Fred Hoiberg is considered one of the Top 4 Hires in the offseason. Former GW assistant Kevin Broadus is on the Retreads with a Second(or Third) Chance list as he begins his first year at Morgan State

PROJECTED FINISH
1. VCU
2. Davidson
3. Dayton
4.St.Bonaventure
5. Rhode Island
6. Saint Louis
7. Duquesne
8. George Mason
9. Richmond
10. UMass
11. GW
12. La Salle
13. Fordham
14. Saint Joseph's

ALL-A10 FIRST TEAM
Kellen Grady  JR  Davidson
Jon Axel Gudmunson  SR   Davidson   (Player of the Year)
Justin Kier  SR  George Mason
Cyril Langevine  SR  Rhode Island
Obi Toppin   SOPH  Dayton

SECOND TEAM
Jeff Dowtin   SR   Rhode Island
Hasahn French   JR  St.Louis
Jacob Gilyard    JR   Richmond
Osun Osunniyi   SOPH  St.Bonaventure
Marcus Santos-Silva  JR  VCU