We’re just 59 days away from the official start to the 2014-15 college basketball season,
1. DeAndre Bembry (Saint Joseph’s) – Bembry collected a nice bit of hardware to start his college career, winning Co-Rookie of the Year honors in the conference while picking up an A-10 tourney championship trophy to boot. In the process the 6’6 freshman showed a ton of flash and threw down easily one of the best dunks of the season: an A-10 tournament final posterization of one of the conference’s best shot-blockers, VCU’s Mo Alie-Cox (go to the 0:51 mark of the video below, but believe me, it was even more ridiculous in person).
2. Briante Weber (VCU) – Havoc’s poster child will attempt to swipe the NCAA all-time steals record his senior season after grabbing an insane 121 this past year. What makes Weber so exciting, and our No.2 player on this list, is that ability to excite on both ends of the floor. He’s the engine that drives VCU’s fast-paced attack and a constant threat to turn any play into a VCU fast break. His defensive abilities will write most of his headlines but the 6’2 guard’s 45 1/2-inch vertical also helps provide a ton of the highlights. Fun to watch the full 94 feet of court he plays on.
3. Kendall Anthony (Richmond) – You’d be hard-pressed to found a pound for pound more exciting player than the 5’8 140lb Anthony. The rising senior is a likely First Team All-Conference selection after averaging 15.9 points per game this past season, points that can come in a real flurry. Anthony’s percentages took a bit of a dip his junior season but look for the Richmond guard to put up big numbers while finishing his career with the Spiders this upcoming season, and enjoy the show.
4. Hassan Martin (Rhode Island) – There has been a lot of attention focused on Rhody’s youth movement including one of the A-10’s best incoming recruiting classes, but it’s Martin that may have the best ability to bring a crowd to it’s feet. The 2013-14 All-Rookie selection led the conference in blocks and can finish with authority on offense. Connecting at a 53.6% clip from the field while blocking 9.51% of shots on D, Martin should provide three more years of excitement for Rhode Island fans as they hope to watch their program get back to the promised land in the form of their first NCAA tournament appearance since all the way back in 1999.
5. Terry Larrier (VCU) – “But he hasn’t even played one game!”…yeah yeah, whatever. Larrier is a freak athlete with size (6’8) and handles and will be injected into VCU’s running and gunning system. That is a recipe for excitement and having seen the guy play previously I’m telling you…he will find his way to SportsCenter this year (and to be honest, I’ve probably got him too low on this list). The No.43 recruit according to ESPN in the 2014 class, Larrier comes to the A-10 as its highest rated recruit and should compete for a starting spot from the day he steps on campus. He is an alley-oop threat on every play, so don’t blink.
