2020 Atlantic 10 Offseason Thread

glabedz

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Well. We have a long way to go until A-10 basketball starts up again, but we're all going to be bored for awhile, so what better time than now to start chatting hoops for next season. There are going to be a lot of moving parts between now and next November, but we can start speculating about each team and the strength of the league as a whole. I expect there to be a lot more tournament-caliber teams but fewer powerhouse(s). The top 6 or 7 could be extremely fluid. I'll take a shot at where I think the A-10 standings could rank, assuming no one significant transfers (although that's inevitably going to happen).

1. Richmond
2. Saint Louis
3. Dayton
4. St. Bonaventure
5. Davidson
6. Duquesne
7. Massachusetts
8. Rhode Island
9. VCU
10. George Washington
11. George Mason
12. Saint Joseph's
13. La Salle
14. Fordham
 
Here's how T-Rank has 2021 Projections as of right now.

30. Richmond
32. Saint Louis
55. Davidson
74. St. Bonaventure
80. VCU
82. Duquesne
88. Massachusetts
90. Dayton
94. Rhode Island
116. George Mason
139. Saint Joseph’s
141. Fordham
144. La Salle
233. George Washington

Would be surprised to see Dayton that low, but also have to keep in mind they will lose the most talent of any team (Toppin, Landers, and Mikesell are 3 huge blows). Still, the Flyers return Crutcher, Watson, and Chatman among others. The big key will be finding a reliable post threat. I think this gets it right in that Saint Louis & Richmond should be the 2 teams duking it out for 1st place. Also, not so shocked to see Davidson in 3rd. Despite losing JAG, I think the Wildcats bring in the A-10's best recruiting class next year.
 
Here's how T-Rank has 2021 Projections as of right now.

30. Richmond
32. Saint Louis
55. Davidson
74. St. Bonaventure
80. VCU
82. Duquesne
88. Massachusetts
90. Dayton
94. Rhode Island
116. George Mason
139. Saint Joseph’s
141. Fordham
144. La Salle
233. George Washington

Would be surprised to see Dayton that low, but also have to keep in mind they will lose the most talent of any team (Toppin, Landers, and Mikesell are 3 huge blows). Still, the Flyers return Crutcher, Watson, and Chatman among others. The big key will be finding a reliable post threat. I think this gets it right in that Saint Louis & Richmond should be the 2 teams duking it out for 1st place. Also, not so shocked to see Davidson in 3rd. Despite losing JAG, I think the Wildcats bring in the A-10's best recruiting class next year.

Also, going to be very interesting to see who emerges from that middle-of-the-pack of St. Bonaventure, Duquesne, Massachusetts, and others. I think we have to keep in mind "just because you get a year older doesn't mean you'll necessarily get better." VCU showed that to be true this season. We can't just assume the Bonnies & Dukes will be tournament teams because they don't lose any pivotal pieces.
 
Here's how T-Rank has 2021 Projections as of right now.

30. Richmond
32. Saint Louis
55. Davidson
74. St. Bonaventure
80. VCU
82. Duquesne
88. Massachusetts
90. Dayton
94. Rhode Island
116. George Mason
139. Saint Joseph’s
141. Fordham
144. La Salle
233. George Washington

Would be surprised to see Dayton that low, but also have to keep in mind they will lose the most talent of any team (Toppin, Landers, and Mikesell are 3 huge blows). Still, the Flyers return Crutcher, Watson, and Chatman among others. The big key will be finding a reliable post threat. I think this gets it right in that Saint Louis & Richmond should be the 2 teams duking it out for 1st place. Also, not so shocked to see Davidson in 3rd. Despite losing JAG, I think the Wildcats bring in the A-10's best recruiting class next year.
Gotta say, as a bills fan, I haven’t been this excited for a team in a while. Goodwin and French will continue to be huge pieces, Perkins has shown he will be a go-to guy on offense. While some of the younger guys like Yuri, Jimerson, Hargrove, and Bell Jr. all looked more than capable of growing into solid players in year 2. Watch out 👀!
 
Gotta say, as a bills fan, I haven’t been this excited for a team in a while. Goodwin and French will continue to be huge pieces, Perkins has shown he will be a go-to guy on offense. While some of the younger guys like Yuri, Jimerson, Hargrove, and Bell Jr. all looked more than capable of growing into solid players in year 2. Watch out 👀!

I think such an underrated part about SLU next year too is the return of Gibson Jimerson. He was shooting 42.9% from three before he got injured and really spaced the floor nicely for the Billikens. I assume Fred Thatch will be back too, giving the Billikens an awesome array of returnees led by 2 seniors who have already made an impressive mark on this program. SLU-UR next year is gonna be must-watch T.V.!
 
Haven't spent much time thinking about next season yet, but a couple quick thoughts:

- I don't understand why Davidson is projected 55th in the T-Rank. Personally, I have very little optimism for them next season. Will they actually be better without Jon Axel?
- Fordham will still be the worst team, but I could see GW being absolutely awful without Armel Potter facilitating their offense. Jameer Nelson's improvement will be absolutely crucial for the Colonials to have any chance at a successful season.
- IF Thatch and Jimerson return fully healthy, SLU could be the most talented team next year.
- Dayton is extremely tough to predict, but I think they will have the best player in the A10 next year, and should have a chance at contending for another title.
- UMass is sneaky, but I'm not quite sure they're ready to make the jump just yet.
- VCU won't get any worse losing all their seniors, but I'm not sure how much better they will get either.
- Rhode Island will drop off pretty hard without Dowtin and Langevine, even though Fatts was the star this year, those seniors were really important.

All this makes me sound very pessimistic about the upcoming season, but I think the league will be pretty solid. Richmond, Saint Louis, Duquesne, St. Bonaventure, and UMass are set to return just about everyone.
 
Haven't spent much time thinking about next season yet, but a couple quick thoughts:

- I don't understand why Davidson is projected 55th in the T-Rank. Personally, I have very little optimism for them next season. Will they actually be better without Jon Axel?
- Fordham will still be the worst team, but I could see GW being absolutely awful without Armel Potter facilitating their offense. Jameer Nelson's improvement will be absolutely crucial for the Colonials to have any chance at a successful season.
- IF Thatch and Jimerson return fully healthy, SLU could be the most talented team next year.
- Dayton is extremely tough to predict, but I think they will have the best player in the A10 next year, and should have a chance at contending for another title.
- UMass is sneaky, but I'm not quite sure they're ready to make the jump just yet.
- VCU won't get any worse losing all their seniors, but I'm not sure how much better they will get either.
- Rhode Island will drop off pretty hard without Dowtin and Langevine, even though Fatts was the star this year, those seniors were really important.

All this makes me sound very pessimistic about the upcoming season, but I think the league will be pretty solid. Richmond, Saint Louis, Duquesne, St. Bonaventure, and UMass are set to return just about everyone.

It's going to be an interesting season for sure. I'd put the O/U right now at 2 teams good enough to go dancing (Richmond & Saint Louis), and someone else is going to have to emerge from the pack to prove worthy of making the Big Dance. To your point on Davidson, they have some solid freshmen coming in, and though the loss of JAG hurts, I wonder how much it will free up Kellan Grady on the offensive end. Still concerned about the frontcourt more than anything, but Nelson Boachie-Yiadom started playing a lot better toward the end of the season.

Don't really know what to think about the Bonnies either. They were pretty uninspiring this season, IMO. Granted, Osun Osunniyi wasn't healthy for a good portion, but some of their A-10 losses were ugly, and despite the Rutgers win, the non-con slate was one to forget. I'm not convinced they're a top 4 A-10 team next year solely because they get 1 year older. Duquesne is kind of similar. Good season overall, but you're going to have a tough time convincing me this is an NCAA Tournament squad in 2021; a lot of good pieces and talent from top-to-bottom, but I just don't know if this team is good enough to build an OOC schedule and win enough meaningful games to make the Big Dance.

Agree that Dayton is the biggest question mark. Could finish top 3 or outside of the top 8. I agree this year's team is more than Obi Toppin, but it's SO hard to overstate the importance of Ryan Mikesell and Trey Landers -- both of which were seniors who made smart plays and knew how to win games. Is Rodney Chatman ready for a more pronounced role? Can Ibi Watson evolve as more than just a shooter? Can the frontcourt keep up with the likes of Marcus Santos-Silva, Grant Golden, Hasahn French, Osun Osunniyi, etc... questions I don't have answers to.
 
It's going to be an interesting season for sure. I'd put the O/U right now at 2 teams good enough to go dancing (Richmond & Saint Louis), and someone else is going to have to emerge from the pack to prove worthy of making the Big Dance. To your point on Davidson, they have some solid freshmen coming in, and though the loss of JAG hurts, I wonder how much it will free up Kellan Grady on the offensive end. Still concerned about the frontcourt more than anything, but Nelson Boachie-Yiadom started playing a lot better toward the end of the season.

Don't really know what to think about the Bonnies either. They were pretty uninspiring this season, IMO. Granted, Osun Osunniyi wasn't healthy for a good portion, but some of their A-10 losses were ugly, and despite the Rutgers win, the non-con slate was one to forget. I'm not convinced they're a top 4 A-10 team next year solely because they get 1 year older. Duquesne is kind of similar. Good season overall, but you're going to have a tough time convincing me this is an NCAA Tournament squad in 2021; a lot of good pieces and talent from top-to-bottom, but I just don't know if this team is good enough to build an OOC schedule and win enough meaningful games to make the Big Dance.

Agree that Dayton is the biggest question mark. Could finish top 3 or outside of the top 8. I agree this year's team is more than Obi Toppin, but it's SO hard to overstate the importance of Ryan Mikesell and Trey Landers -- both of which were seniors who made smart plays and knew how to win games. Is Rodney Chatman ready for a more pronounced role? Can Ibi Watson evolve as more than just a shooter? Can the frontcourt keep up with the likes of Marcus Santos-Silva, Grant Golden, Hasahn French, Osun Osunniyi, etc... questions I don't have answers to.
Dayton's front court situation is really uncertain heading into next year. I think Jordy Tshimanga has the chance to be a solid player in the conference, but based on watching him foul seemingly constantly, I don't see him playing more than 20 minutes per game. Moulaye Sissoko redshirted this year and will probably back him up at the 5, so hopefully he's ready to contribute after a year of practice. Last year at the exhibition game in November he looked really raw, but physically he looks like he's one of the strongest centers in the conference.

The bigger question is who will play the 4, since the three guys leaving Dayton are the only three that really played that position this year. I think the guy to watch is Zimi Nwokeji, a 6-7 freshman who was originally committed to Florida State. He actually enrolled at UD in January and got to practice with the team during the second semester, so hopefully he will come into next year with more experience than a typical freshman. There isn't much to go off of, but at least I can say in warmups before games this year I saw him throw down some nice dunks, and he also seemed to have a decent three point shot.
 
I know I’m a UMass fan so there’s bias here, but I’ll make the case for a double-bye.

- Mitchell *could* be the best player in the league. Even if it ends up being Goodwin or Crutcher or what have you, he’s at least on the short list no matter how you slice it.

- TJ Weeks back is huge. I know he’s not gonna keep shooting 48% from deep, that’s unsustainable, but he should still be in the low 40’s and was putting up 14.7 points. We lost more than a couple close games because Carl was cold and we just couldn’t get enough auxiliary shooting. Not saying those all become W’s but him being there goes a long way towards them.

- Freshman class is really good. Dominguez is 6’9” and can shoot the 3 - should get serious minutes from the jump, and a lot of people think Garcia is one of the most underrated PGs in this class. Noah Fernandes didn’t put up big numbers at Wichita but he was a highly sought after recruit that just didn’t fit there (I’m assuming the NCAA will pass the new immediate eligibility rules). And who knows what we might have with Cairo McCrory.

- Depth is more than adequate. Haven’t mentioned Carl, East, Samba, Preston, Dibaji, etc.

I know we still have things to work on - defense and team rebounding being two big ones - but we finished 7-5 over our last 12 and should be markedly better without 7 freshmen running the team. Not saying we’ll win the league, but I think we’re in the mix for top 4.

Look forward to hearing your rebuttals on those UMass points, but here’s what I got for the whole league:

1. SLU
2. Richmond
3. Duquesne
4. UMass
5. Bonas
6. Dayton
7. Davidson
8. Rhody
9. Mason
10. VCU
11. GW
12. Saint Joe’s
13. La Salle
14. Fordham
 
I know I’m a UMass fan so there’s bias here, but I’ll make the case for a double-bye.

- Mitchell *could* be the best player in the league. Even if it ends up being Goodwin or Crutcher or what have you, he’s at least on the short list no matter how you slice it.

- TJ Weeks back is huge. I know he’s not gonna keep shooting 48% from deep, that’s unsustainable, but he should still be in the low 40’s and was putting up 14.7 points. We lost more than a couple close games because Carl was cold and we just couldn’t get enough auxiliary shooting. Not saying those all become W’s but him being there goes a long way towards them.

- Freshman class is really good. Dominguez is 6’9” and can shoot the 3 - should get serious minutes from the jump, and a lot of people think Garcia is one of the most underrated PGs in this class. Noah Fernandes didn’t put up big numbers at Wichita but he was a highly sought after recruit that just didn’t fit there (I’m assuming the NCAA will pass the new immediate eligibility rules). And who knows what we might have with Cairo McCrory.

- Depth is more than adequate. Haven’t mentioned Carl, East, Samba, Preston, Dibaji, etc.

I know we still have things to work on - defense and team rebounding being two big ones - but we finished 7-5 over our last 12 and should be markedly better without 7 freshmen running the team. Not saying we’ll win the league, but I think we’re in the mix for top 4.

Look forward to hearing your rebuttals on those UMass points, but here’s what I got for the whole league:

1. SLU
2. Richmond
3. Duquesne
4. UMass
5. Bonas
6. Dayton
7. Davidson
8. Rhody
9. Mason
10. VCU
11. GW
12. Saint Joe’s
13. La Salle
14. Fordham

I hear you on UMass. They were clicking pretty well at the end of the year. Weeks, indeed will be a huge return, but a lot of teams had serious injury to rotation players. Fernandes continues the Woodstock train. What is he, player #5 from Woodstock (plus Coach Bergeron.) Please tell us this is all legit.

Until the transfer window winds down, I'm staying with three tiers. My first tier is of teams with a lot of key players coming back. That is pretty much your top 5 plus Davidson. My next tier is teams with some very good players returning, and that is Dayton, Rhody, and VCU. The remaining five are teams that could improve through transfers, or could simply stay where they are.

Anyone think Crutcher might go pro? His stock is pretty good right now; it could go up with a solid year, or it could go down if Dayton is middle tier A-10. He might need a year in the G League, but he has the tools to make a solid pro.
 
I know I’m a UMass fan so there’s bias here, but I’ll make the case for a double-bye.

- Mitchell *could* be the best player in the league. Even if it ends up being Goodwin or Crutcher or what have you, he’s at least on the short list no matter how you slice it.

- TJ Weeks back is huge. I know he’s not gonna keep shooting 48% from deep, that’s unsustainable, but he should still be in the low 40’s and was putting up 14.7 points. We lost more than a couple close games because Carl was cold and we just couldn’t get enough auxiliary shooting. Not saying those all become W’s but him being there goes a long way towards them.

- Freshman class is really good. Dominguez is 6’9” and can shoot the 3 - should get serious minutes from the jump, and a lot of people think Garcia is one of the most underrated PGs in this class. Noah Fernandes didn’t put up big numbers at Wichita but he was a highly sought after recruit that just didn’t fit there (I’m assuming the NCAA will pass the new immediate eligibility rules). And who knows what we might have with Cairo McCrory.

- Depth is more than adequate. Haven’t mentioned Carl, East, Samba, Preston, Dibaji, etc.

I know we still have things to work on - defense and team rebounding being two big ones - but we finished 7-5 over our last 12 and should be markedly better without 7 freshmen running the team. Not saying we’ll win the league, but I think we’re in the mix for top 4.

Look forward to hearing your rebuttals on those UMass points, but here’s what I got for the whole league:

1. SLU
2. Richmond
3. Duquesne
4. UMass
5. Bonas
6. Dayton
7. Davidson
8. Rhody
9. Mason
10. VCU
11. GW
12. Saint Joe’s
13. La Salle
14. Fordham

I wonder if Massachusetts can put together a quality OOC schedule to the point it could compete for an at-large bid next year. I still think the Minutemen are a year away, but this past season's non-conference schedule was good enough to get them to that point. Think about next year's team with that same schedule: could beat a team like St. John's, Virginia, Yale, or Harvard and start getting some recognition.
 
I hear you on UMass. They were clicking pretty well at the end of the year. Weeks, indeed will be a huge return, but a lot of teams had serious injury to rotation players. Fernandes continues the Woodstock train. What is he, player #5 from Woodstock (plus Coach Bergeron.) Please tell us this is all legit.

Until the transfer window winds down, I'm staying with three tiers. My first tier is of teams with a lot of key players coming back. That is pretty much your top 5 plus Davidson. My next tier is teams with some very good players returning, and that is Dayton, Rhody, and VCU. The remaining five are teams that could improve through transfers, or could simply stay where they are.

Anyone think Crutcher might go pro? His stock is pretty good right now; it could go up with a solid year, or it could go down if Dayton is middle tier A-10. He might need a year in the G League, but he has the tools to make a solid pro.

I'd really doubt Crutcher goes pro this year. He has the game, but I think an A-10 POY under his belt next season could get him into the 2nd round of the NBA Draft. I guess I never really considered his draft prospects this season. All the attention was on Obi Toppin, so he kind of flew under the radar in that regard. Probably has to get bigger and better defensively. He's quick and is a good scorer, but I'm not sure he has the pure strength and athleticism to turn heads of NBA scouts. Maybe a good offseason could get him closer in that range.
 
I'll play

1. Richmond
2. Saint Louis

3. Duquesne

4. Dayton
5. Umass
6. Rhody
7. Bonnies

8. Davidson
9. St Joes
10. VCU
11. George Mason
12. George Washington

13. La Salle
14. Fordham

I think Richmond and St Louis will get single digit seeds in march, along with the Dukes making it to.

I think SLU will have more of the national attention and higher ranking, but think Richmond will win the conference.

What will Daytons 5 look like? Crutcher - Ibi - Chatman - weird Florida guy - Jordy?

I just dont get the Davidson hype. JAG is too much of a miss for the team to see much improvement.

Umass could be the real deal. Still feel like they may be too young, but we'll see, wouldn't surprise me at all to see them with 21+wins

Will VCU be playing on Wednesday night in brooklyn!?

Overall, I think we can all agree some of you teams(duquesne)need to step up your ooc.
 
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How many teams have a strong case to say they will have improved from this past season to next? My initial guesses below but would welcome additional thoughts:

Richmond - Returns everyone of consequence, another year of experience
Saint Louis - Same as Richmond, plus Jimerson and Thatch back
Saint Bonaventure - Seems like they bring everyone important back, plus hopefully have Osun for a full year
Duquesne - I would think they'll be better next year
UMass - Very young squad, could be a contender for the A10 championship IMO
Saint Joes
George Washington

Anyone I'm missing? Mason or Fordham perhaps?
 
How many teams have a strong case to say they will have improved from this past season to next? My initial guesses below but would welcome additional thoughts:

Richmond - Returns everyone of consequence, another year of experience
Saint Louis - Same as Richmond, plus Jimerson and Thatch back
Saint Bonaventure - Seems like they bring everyone important back, plus hopefully have Osun for a full year
Duquesne - I would think they'll be better next year
UMass - Very young squad, could be a contender for the A10 championship IMO
Saint Joes
George Washington

Anyone I'm missing? Mason or Fordham perhaps?

Richmond should be better, I don't think the starters will improve that much but Tyler Burton is going to be a star and having a good 6th man will help them out a lot.

I'm actually really down on Saint Louis compared to everyone else. They definitely could improve, but I'm not sure how much to expect from Jimerson and Thatch. I feel like their offense could be pretty mediocre if Javonte Perkins doesn't keep lighting it up as he did in conference play.

Bonnies should be better, I didn't really think they were quite as good as their record though. They went 8-0 against the bottom 4 teams.

I actually don't really think Duquesne will be better. I think it will be tough for Weathers to repeat his great season, and I think losing Steele will really hurt the Dukes on the rebounding end. However I do really like Sincere Carry, and I think he has a good chance of being an All-Conference player.

UMass has a really high potential, it's tough to say since it's still a young team but Tre Mitchell is a stud so if he gets more help they could be a dangerous team.

I'm not sure about GW since I think losing Armel Potter will really hurt, but if the transfer rule passes they have a couple pretty highly rated guys that could come in and contribute right away. Saint Joe's will be better, but I don't think they could really be much worse than last year haha
 
Richmond should be better, I don't think the starters will improve that much but Tyler Burton is going to be a star and having a good 6th man will help them out a lot.

I'm actually really down on Saint Louis compared to everyone else. They definitely could improve, but I'm not sure how much to expect from Jimerson and Thatch. I feel like their offense could be pretty mediocre if Javonte Perkins doesn't keep lighting it up as he did in conference play.

My reasoning for SLU being above Richmond is because SLU has a nice balance of Offense and defense.
That being said, Perkins was averaging 28 ppg at juco last year, so it was expected he would be a handful offensively, it just took him a bit. Javon Bess said he was the best player on the roster over the summer. Meanwhile over Summer coach Ford said Thatch was out best offensive player. So Thatch coming back brings a big punch. Also Jimerson was WELL on his way to be SLU's single season 3 point leader, as just a frosh.

My take, SLU and Richmond will both be T25 and top 6 seeds.
 
I'm actually really down on Saint Louis compared to everyone else. They definitely could improve, but I'm not sure how much to expect from Jimerson and Thatch. I feel like their offense could be pretty mediocre if Javonte Perkins doesn't keep lighting it up as he did in conference play.

Bonnies should be better, I didn't really think they were quite as good as their record though. They went 8-0 against the bottom 4 teams.

I don't want to derail this into a SLU discussion, but I don't really know that I follow the logic for your SLU concerns. While Thatch is an unknown, I feel like we know exactly what to expect from Jimerson. I don't know why we would expect Perkins to regress, if anything we'll benefit from a whole year of him shooting more consistently, since it took him a while to get acclimated. And even beyond those two, I think it would be reasonable to expect some offensive improvement from the 3 freshmen who got minutes: Hargrove, Collins and Jimmy Bell.

Bonnies are a tough one to place, but I'm high on then. That is a discouraging stat about their record. I guess it just feels like they have the game-changers (Lofton and Osunnyi) as well as the role players to be in the top-tier.
 
Richmond is one injury away from problems. Two injuries and its a disaster. Their bench is non-existent and they loss some experience with Wojcik leaving.
Duqusne is the same team but whoever pointed out the loss of Baylee Steele is right on. Rotroff does not bring the same skill set. They got off the dime great playing a nothing schedule and that translated to great in-conference confidence. Does Dambrot upgrade that schedule?
Davidson lost their engine in JAG. I know Grant thinks highly of Mennenga from New Zealand but he is a freshman and an international. Those guys usually need a year to catch up to speed. Just go back to Rob Loe at Saint Louis. Anyone know if Frampton will be back or the status of Pritchett? Their front court is very underwhelming.
Dayton returns four nice guards and the college game is predicated by guards. But that front line is the biggest unknown than anything else in the league.
I was never high on the Bonnies. They failed against every really big, physical team in the league. They don't have a go-to scorer. Jalen Shaw will give them two seven-footers on the front line but will Schmidt play that? Winston showed some promise but Vasquez, English and Welch need to do more and be more consistent.
Umass was definitely rising but McCall lost five guys to transfers. That seems to indicate the newcomers better be equals or better to continue the upward climb. Tre Mitchell is certainly POY materiel and Gasperini will add some veteran leaderships and stability. But he is new as well.
Don't sleep on VCU. Their backcourt will come in waves again and while their front court is individually blase, collectively Santos-Silva does it all, Douglass is a rim protector, Hasan Ward has a ton of upside, and their best recruit is 3.5 star PF Mikeal Brown-Jones. They are still short on a knock-down shooter from distance, Bones Hyland notwithstanding.
St. Joe's is intriguing. The only true PG on the roster is former Gonzaga Zag Greg Foster Jr. His presence should allow Brown to play 2G and Daly to move to SF. Does this help? Both Funk and Longpre are stretch fours and that might open the middle for the rest of the Joey's. What does Billy Lange employ?
Mason is a mess. Fordham is Fordham. And Geedubya is too young unless Lindo and Bishop get to play right away.
Which leaves Rhode Island --- truly a mess in Cox's third year. I expect Fatts to be back but unless those transfers play right away, Cox doesn't have a team to field what with all his transfers. Martin. Tate. Long. Toppin. That leaves Jermaine Harris, the most under achieving four star recruit I have ever seen, and Antwan Walker. How far has Rhodey fallen?

Yep, I'm a Billiken. Yesterday's signing of Lorentsson and Linsen have solidified an already strong lineup. The return of Jimerson is highly anticipated. Thatch remains an unknown with his medical condition. All will hinge on Goodwin and French pulling out of the draft, which I think will happen. And i didn't evenmention Perkins, Collins or Hargrave. April is a dizzy time in Billikenland. Of course, it has been before.
 
It's going to be an interesting season for sure. I'd put the O/U right now at 2 teams good enough to go dancing (Richmond & Saint Louis), and someone else is going to have to emerge from the pack to prove worthy of making the Big Dance. To your point on Davidson, they have some solid freshmen coming in, and though the loss of JAG hurts, I wonder how much it will free up Kellan Grady on the offensive end. Still concerned about the frontcourt more than anything, but Nelson Boachie-Yiadom started playing a lot better toward the end of the season.

Now that I've had more time to think about the offseason, I needed to come back to this post. Grant, I'm actually a lot more optimistic about Davidson than I was a few weeks ago. I like your point about Grady possibly being freed offensively, and I feel like this could be his best season now that it is finally "his team". I'm also a huge HJL fan, and I think he's talented enough offensively to be a good #2 option. The biggest question will be defense, but I don't really see it being any worse than last year.

Next year's class does look quite promising. One of my biggest questions is if one of the freshmen (probably Lanier?) runs the point. If one of them is ready to start from day 1, that would be huge because I think Collins & Grady would both be better suited off the ball. I also think the addition of Mennenga is nice because last year Davidson didn't really have a solid backup for Brajkovic at center. Bates Jones and NBY were decent role players but pretty undersized to play the 5, so Davidson should have some more post depth next year.

I haven't come up with full preseason rankings yet, but I have a feeling I'll be pretty high on Davidson. I could definitely see them in the 3-5 range.
 
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