2019-20 A-10 Predictions

[ace]

This guy’s going to be a fun one to watch this season.

But I really just like any reference to Hassan.

[Rhody83]

[adam914]

Absolutely, not making the tournament this year would be a huge disappointment.

[bigappleram]

2 realistic goals for this season...NCAA and break ryan center attendance records. Both linked to each other, but with our schedule if we win and aren’t in 6-7k range for all of the big games our fans suck.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

2 realistic goals for this season...NCAA and break ryan center attendance records. Both linked to each other, but with our schedule if we win and aren’t in 6-7k range for all of the big games our fans suck.

Scheduling doesn't mean much for our attendance. The casual fans we need to attract wouldn't know the difference between Texas Tech and New England Tech. Winning, on the other hand, means just about everything.

[bigappleram]

If you don't know the difference between Texas Tech and New England Tech then you aren't a casual fan...you are a corpse.
I would disagree, name value of opponents does matter to casual fans and to casual student fans, it doesn't matter to the hard core base who come regardless. Pretty sure Alabama will draw better than a game against NJIT, if we also are winning.

[PeterRamTime]

That Alabama game could really set the tone for the rest of the season.

I know people hate when you make a declaration like that, because it is a long season and one can always make up for a rough start with winning.

If we beat them in front of a bug crowd that will not only give the team confidence and a good resume win right off the bat, but give a lot of confidence to the fan base.

Also, I just REALLY wanna beat Bama because screw them.

The Maryland game is big too, but I'd be happy with just showing we can compete with them.
Not expecting us to go there and beat them.

I'm maybe expecting us to beat Alabama though.

I do NOT want those bastards screaming R**l T**e after the game.

[Ramulous]

In RI if you don't beat providence the casual fan doesn't care if you beat Alabama and LSU...like I say about political candidates and their voters....I would have a dollar from every stupid person in the world than a dollar from every smart person.....I would even subtract the smart money from the stupid money and I would still take it

[theblueram]

As long as we come out like we played at the end of the season, we'll be fine. If we come out like we started last year, oof.

[steveystuds06]

We have such a hard schedule beating PC, Bama, and Western Kentucky at home is extremely important. If we can steal one on the road and take care of business at home we are looking great come conference play.

[NYGFan_Section208]

If you don't know the difference between Texas Tech and New England Tech then you aren't a casual fan...you are a corpse.
I would disagree, name value of opponents does matter to casual fans and to casual student fans, it doesn't matter to the hard core base who come regardless. Pretty sure Alabama will draw better than a game against NJIT, if we also are winning.

Wouldn't mind seeing NJIT. They were 22-13 last year, plus, I just like saying the name Enn-Jit.

[RF1]

Ken Pomeroy ranked all the D1 programs starting from the 1996-97 season until the present (follow link in tweet below). He used his ratings data for all these seasons to compile his list. Per his words, this is not designed to be a ranking of the best teams but a ranking of the programs most attractive to a job-shopping coach which are not exactly the same thing.

URI is at #94

Other A-10 schools
73 VCU
79 Dayton
84 St Joe's
91 Davidson
93 St Louis
97 GW
100 Richmond
104 UMass
116 George Mason
117 St Bonaventure
131 Lasalle
167 Duquesne
208 Fordham

Other New England schools of note
19 UConn
53 PC
78 BC
141 Vermont
160 Harvard
172 Northeastern
189 BU
215 Holy Cross
269 Brown
336 Bryant (was not D1 for all of these years)

[PeterRamTime]

Ken Pomeroy ranked all the D1 programs starting from the 1996-97 season until the present (follow link in tweet below). He used his ratings data for all these seasons to compile his list. Per his words, this is not designed to be a ranking of the best teams but a ranking of the programs most attractive to a job-shopping coach which are not exactly the same thing.

URI is at #94

Other A-10 schools
73 VCU
79 Dayton
84 St Joe's
91 Davidson
93 St Louis
97 GW
100 Richmond
104 UMass
116 George Mason
117 St Bonaventure
131 Lasalle
167 Duquesne
208 Fordham

Other New England schools of note
19 UConn
53 PC
78 BC
141 Vermont
160 Harvard
172 Northeastern
189 BU
215 Holy Cross
269 Brown
336 Bryant (was not D1 for all of these years)

Hard to argue with that. Although, I think we can confidently say our program is more attractive than St Joesephs now.

[Rhody74]

Hammond gets some love:

[TruePoint]

This URI class does not have a clear, highly-ranked consensus stud like the class did last year with Harris, but it seems like depending on who you talk to each of Long, Hammond and Toppin get some love for being the most exciting or best prospect in the class - which is a pretty good statement about the balance of the class.

[Rhody83]

Lol. You have to read the original tweet/question and then A10s response

[luke]

Agree TP . We all know how little player ranking mean ( See Loftin SBU ) Toppin's brother wasn't on anybody's radar before last season and now
he may be the favorite for player of the year . Maybe Jacob can come with similar surprises in his bag of tricks . Again , who knows on Long and
Hammond either ( Star potential ? ) and then there's Sheppard and Walker who have D1 experience and Johnson with Juco experience . Hope they can all fit in quickly . Who becomes the odd men out ? Two or three of these guys will probably see significant bench time unless they are able to push past the
assumed returning starters or returning rotation guys which would mean a new star had emerged . Can't wait to see the new half of the team to see what we have .

[Billyboy78]

Everyone is saying that we have so many players coming back. We have 6. We also have 6 players I have never seen play, so I have no idea what to expect. While the returning 6 are key players, when 50% of the team is new, that's a lot. In other words, I think it's a little early to have expectations, one way or another.

[RhodyRams12]

Everyone is saying that we have so many players coming back. We have 6. We also have 6 players I have never seen play, so I have no idea what to expect. While the returning 6 are key players, when 50% of the team is new, that's a lot. In other words, I think it's a little early to have expectations, one way or another.

I agree. With all of the newcomers, new roles for existing players, and the extremely challenging out of conference schedule, I’m expecting a rocky start to the season.

[reckless jake]

Everyone is saying that we have so many players coming back. We have 6. We also have 6 players I have never seen play, so I have no idea what to expect. While the returning 6 are key players, when 50% of the team is new, that's a lot. In other words, I think it's a little early to have expectations, one way or another.

I agree with this take...

Right now there are a lot of unknowns...

Will Jermaine Harris be healthy? Will he play more minutes? Have more impact? No one really knows.
Will Fatts be more mature and play within himself?
Will Martin be more consistent on both ends of the floor?
What will we get out of Walker and Sheppard?
Will we shoot better as a team?
Will we avoid those mental lapses in our focus and effort that cost us last season?

It's a team with lots of potential and a season full of promise, but nothing is given. We're playing a rugged OOC schedule and the top teams in the A10 have improved as well.

It could be a fun season, but it could also be a frustrating one.

Go Rhody.

[Rhody83]

Everyone is saying that we have so many players coming back. We have 6. We also have 6 players I have never seen play, so I have no idea what to expect. While the returning 6 are key players, when 50% of the team is new, that's a lot. In other words, I think it's a little early to have expectations, one way or another.

Agree that we haven’t seen 6 players play for Rhody but Rhody has never had (and wont have) a 12 man rotation.
All five starters return from last year. How many other teams in the A10 have all 5 starters back? Bill Koch posted the stats - they return more than 80% of the minutes & more than 86% of the scoring.

Looking at the two best recent years - in 17-18 season 8 players had 12+ minutes; in 16-17 season 9 players has 12+ minutes (Akele at 12.7 & Cyril as Fr at 13.2). You need 8-9 players averaging 10+ minutes. Guaranteed (without injury) 6 of those 8-9 players are the returning players who made up 80+% of the minutes last year. So you have 2-3 unknown players and 2 have played D1 college (Sheppard & Walker).
I
I agree there are questions - will Harris become and impact player and will Fatts improve his offensive efficiency are the two big ones I have.

I don’t get the Tyrese Martin question. To me he had a very good Fr year. Comparing his Fr year to Terrell’s:
Terrell - 31 starts, 27 mins, 37% FG, 9.2 ppg, 2.4 rebs, 1.5 ast
Martin - 19 starts, 27 mins, 42% FG, 8.1 ppg, 5.2 rebs, 1.0 ast

[rhodyruckus]

Ken Pomeroy ranked all the D1 programs starting from the 1996-97 season until the present (follow link in tweet below). He used his ratings data for all these seasons to compile his list. Per his words, this is not designed to be a ranking of the best teams but a ranking of the programs most attractive to a job-shopping coach which are not exactly the same thing.

URI is at #94

Other A-10 schools
73 VCU
79 Dayton
84 St Joe's
91 Davidson
93 St Louis
97 GW
100 Richmond
104 UMass
116 George Mason
117 St Bonaventure
131 Lasalle
167 Duquesne
208 Fordham

Other New England schools of note
19 UConn
53 PC
78 BC
141 Vermont
160 Harvard
172 Northeastern
189 BU
215 Holy Cross
269 Brown
336 Bryant (was not D1 for all of these years)

I appreciate what he is doing, in dumping all his historical data into this compilation. However, I can't think of many schools that have close to the same basketball infrastructure nevermind overall administration, since 1996-1997. To emphasize this point Boston College is ranked #78, I'm sure almost entirely due to the moderately successful Al Skinner era.

More appropriate if he truly wants such a list to be used in coaching or scholarship decisions, is to make it a 10-year ranking or since 2005 at the earliest. Due to the heights of the late 90s combined with the Jerry D era and aftermath, it would probably come out as a wash for our program.

[Rhody83]

[ramster]

Compared to National Perception?

So he thinks he is going out on a limb with teams like Gonzaga? Oregon? Virginia? Quite the risk taker.

[Rhody83]

I think he is saying that he has these rated higher than they are in the national polls.

[NYGFan_Section208]

It's good to get on "lists"...no bad pub there.

[luke]

Yeah, gotta love it and it is good for team confidence going forward that there are high expectations from more objective sources .

[TruePoint]

ramster I am confused by your confusion about this guy’s tweet

[ramster]

ramster I am confused by your confusion about this guy’s tweet

Let me try to clarify. This Tweeter Guy - Lukas Harkins, posts a bunch of teams that he is high on as compared to "National Perception". He doesn't say how much higher, just that he is higher. O k
The schools from the NBC Preseason Poll in Red are schools Mr Harkins is so high on. My point is he certainly does not need to go very far out on the Risk Tree Limb to mention Villanova, Virginia, Florida, Gonzaga or Oregon who are all in the Top 15. Oregon had a massive recruiting year being ranked 4th overall but also brought in a tremendous group of Transfers - I'd say the best overall haul of any school.

Yes, he mentioned Rhode Island, great. But it seems like anybody can tweet things these days and we don't even know what their credentials are - just if Rhode Island is mentioned then WOW!

A little research on my own shows this is a 22 year old kid at Butler University. Little wonder he also lists fellow Indiana schools Purdue and Notre Dame.

Maybe one day Harkins will become the next Dick Vitale.

Cracks me up here how posters diss and don't like long term Projo writer Bill Reynolds but a 22 year old unknown seems to get instant cred. Oh well, back to work

1. MICHIGAN STATE"
2. KENTUCKY
3. DUKE
4. KANSAS
5. VILLANOVA
6. LOUISVILLE
7. MARYLAND
8. VIRGINIA
9. TEXAS TECH
10. FLORIDA
11. GONZAGA
12. SETON HALL
13. NORTH CAROLINA
14. UTAH STATE
15. OREGON
16. ARIZONA
17. SAINT MARY’S
18. XAVIER
19. LSU
20. BAYLOR
21. MEMPHIS
22. AUBURN
23. TENNESSEE
24. VCU
25. OHIO STATE
JUST MISSED
26. DAVIDSON
27. CREIGHTON
28. WASHINGTON
29. COLORADO
30. MARQUETTE

Notre Dame, Purdue, Dayton , Rhode Island, Alabama, Ole Miss, Houston, New Mexico State, Iowa State

[Rhody83]

[ramster]

Blue Ribbon Predictions

ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
F-Obi Toppin, SO, Dayton
F-Cyril Langevine, SR, Rhode Island
G-Kellan Grady, JR, Davidson
G-Jon Axel Gudmundsson, SR, Davidson
G-Marcus Evans, SR, VCU

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jon Axel Gudmundsson, SR, Davidson

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Ryan Daly, JR, Saint Joseph’s

ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE BLUE RIBBON FORECAST

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

http://www.atlantic10.com/

[NYGFan_Section208]

Blue Ribbon Predictions

ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
F-Obi Toppin, SO, Dayton
F-Cyril Langevine, SR, Rhode Island
G-Kellan Grady, JR, Davidson
G-Jon Axel Gudmundsson, SR, Davidson
G-Marcus Evans, SR, VCU

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jon Axel Gudmundsson, SR, Davidson

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Ryan Daly, JR, Saint Joseph’s

http://www.atlantic10.com/

No JD, interesting...

[phipsiGD'11]

I love Jeff and think he is an unbelievable talent and is underrated but I sadly think I agree with Ramster. Only way Jeff makes All A-10 is if we shock everyone and are A-10 regular season Champs. I dont think that's a knock on Jeff either, he's been an amazing player and leader at the most pivotal period in recent history, without him last year would have ended much differently. The A10 just has tremendous guards right now and the league has it's anti-URI bias

[phipsiGD'11]

And to follow up on the URI bias, I wouldn't be surprised if they stiffed Cyril for Santos-Silva.

[RF1]

Street & Smith

[RF1]

Three Man Weave A-10 2019-20 Preview

Screenshot_2019-09-21 A-10 2019-20 Preview — Three-Man-Weave.png

https://www.three-man-weave.com/3mw/a-1 ... 20-preview

[TruePoint]

Blue Ribbon Predictions

ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
F-Obi Toppin, SO, Dayton
F-Cyril Langevine, SR, Rhode Island
G-Kellan Grady, JR, Davidson
G-Jon Axel Gudmundsson, SR, Davidson
G-Marcus Evans, SR, VCU

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jon Axel Gudmundsson, SR, Davidson

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Ryan Daly, JR, Saint Joseph’s

http://www.atlantic10.com/

No JD, interesting...

Only five guys can be on the first team. If they did a second team, he’d probably be the first guy on it. I’m not at all surprised that people have JAG, Grady and Evans ahead of Jeff at this point, but it’s not like it’s out of the realm of possibility he has a better year than one or all of them. He’s great. They’re also great. I wouldn’t take it as an insult as a Rhody fan, but if he uses it as motivation that wouldn’t make me mad, either.

[TruePoint]

Spoiler alert for all predictions from now until the season starts: VCU, Davidson and Dayton 1-3 in some order, URI 4, then it’s a dart throw.

[rhodyruckus]

Blue Ribbon Predictions

ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
F-Obi Toppin, SO, Dayton
F-Cyril Langevine, SR, Rhode Island
G-Kellan Grady, JR, Davidson
G-Jon Axel Gudmundsson, SR, Davidson
G-Marcus Evans, SR, VCU

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jon Axel Gudmundsson, SR, Davidson

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Ryan Daly, JR, Saint Joseph’s

http://www.atlantic10.com/

No JD, interesting...

Only five guys can be on the first team. If they did a second team, he’d probably be the first guy on it. I’m not at all surprised that people have JAG, Grady and Evans ahead of Jeff at this point, but it’s not like it’s out of the realm of possibility he has a better year than one or all of them. He’s great. They’re also great. I wouldn’t take it as an insult as a Rhody fan, but if he uses it as motivation that wouldn’t make me mad, either.

Also people should keep in mind that Jeff's secondary stats like A/TO and efficiency could wind up being off the charts but if Grady puts up over 20 PPG and JD averages 15-17, the voters will probably weigh the counting stats more. Even if say a pro team scouting department with their analytics experts would consider Jeff the better overall player and prospect.

[SandorClegane]

Its important to acknowledge that predictions are based solely off last years stats/results. Therefore if you have a guy who makes 1st team A10 last year, they almost NEVER drop him down for next years predictions. Jeff has a good chance to make 1st team, so does Fatts. But Rhody has to be at the top of the A10 to knock some of the other big name players off the list.

[Rhody15]

Very hard to put Jeff on the first team over those 3 guards.

[Rhody83]

Its important to acknowledge that predictions are based solely off last years stats/results. Therefore if you have a guy who makes 1st team A10 last year, they almost NEVER drop him down for next years predictions. Jeff has a good chance to make 1st team, so does Fatts. But Rhody has to be at the top of the A10 to knock some of the other big name players off the list.

Fatts has no chance of making first team as a Jr with the Guards listed on the first & second team predictions.

[RF1]

URI targeting NCAA Tournament return

https://www.providencejournal.com/sport ... ent-return

[theblueram]

URI targeting NCAA Tournament return

https://www.providencejournal.com/sport ... ent-return

The expectations have been set. Nice piece Bill.

[Rhodymob05]

NCAA or bust

[CTRamfan]

Coach is setting the bar high................

[reef]

Great article indeed , high expectations let’s hope we meet them

[ramster]

Andy Katz's 2019-20 A-10 predictions

Player of the Year: Kellan Grady, Davidson
Freshman of the Year: Tre Mitchell, UMass
Underrated: Kyle Lofton, St. Bonaventure
BIG DANCE: Predicting the 2020 NCAA tournament bracket less than 50 days to opening night
Five important non-conference games

1. Rhode Island #79 at Maryland #6, Nov. 9
2. VCU #18 vs. Purdue #17, Destin, Fla., Nov. 29
3. LSU #26 at VCU #18, Nov. 13
4. Davidson #42/#23 in CBS vs. Marquette (not Ranked yet in Madness 144 but top 35 TBA), Orlando Invitational, Nov. 28
5. Dayton #51 vs. Colorado #62, Chicago, Dec. 21


Ranking in 144 Madness or in CBS Top 26

Bold prediction: The A-10 will be a bid stealer on Selection Sunday. Davidson and VCU are the favorites, but Dayton, St. Bonaventure, URI and Richmond will all be viable automatic qualifying candidates by winning the A-10 tournament.

https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-me ... M_ID=31600

[bigappleram]

We will be playing a secret scrimmage vs BC on 10/20

[Rhody74]

We will be playing a secret scrimmage vs BC on 10/20

So much for the secret.