Atlantic 10 Outlook 2020-2021 Season

[JimSidd]

Rothstein is reporting that Nick Sherod tore his ACL and is out for the year. I hate reading these types of stories. Tough break for Richmond.

[ramster]

Rothstein is reporting that Nick Sherod tore his ACL and is out for the year. I hate reading these types of stories. Tough break for Richmond.

Richmond message board....

https://richmond.forums.rivals.com/thre ... acl.12497/

[RF1]

Rothstein is reporting that Nick Sherod tore his ACL and is out for the year. I hate reading these types of stories. Tough break for Richmond.

Even worse this year as it was an extra year of eligibility that he will never get back.

[Jersey77]

Horrible news for this young man, he was a 5th year grad who missed almost all of the 2018-2019 season with a torn ACL. He may get a 6th year if he decides to stick around. He is a solid guard, one of the best shooters in the A10 (highest 3 point %) and will be sorely missed this season. Richmond should still be okay at guard with Francis and Gilyard, both are small and they will miss the size of Sherod.

[Rhody74]

Horrible news for this young man, he was a 5th year grad who missed almost all of the 2018-2019 season with a torn ACL. He may get a 6th year if he decides to stick around. He is a solid guard, one of the best shooters in the A10 (highest 3 point %) and will be sorely missed this season. Richmond should still be okay at guard with Francis and Gilyard, both are small and they will miss the size of Sherod.

Sherrod just announced on Instagram that his college career is over. Tough.

[Rhody74]

Bill Koch’s preview:

https://www.providencejournal.com/story ... 719098001/

[ramster]

[reef]

Oh yeah one of our top targets

[Jersey77]

Top 25 backcourt prediction, Richmond and Dayton included. Several schools including URI overlooked but will surprise:

https://bustingbrackets.com/2020/09/09/ ... -season/9/

[URIRecruitingInfo]

Anonymous Coach:

"In terms of talent, Rhode Island can 100 percent compete. There's no doubt their talent level is as high as anybody in the league. It's just going to depend on how those guys mesh. Not having summer school, not having a full offseason, are they going to be able to mesh all those personalities on the court?"

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... -win-title

[PeterRamTime]

Anonymous Coach:

"In terms of talent, Rhode Island can 100 percent compete. There's no doubt their talent level is as high as anybody in the league. It's just going to depend on how those guys mesh. Not having summer school, not having a full offseason, are they going to be able to mesh all those personalities on the court?"

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... -win-title

We may be more talented than anybody in the league. Not just as.

[Jersey77]

Ranking the best Guard/Big combo in A10 for 20-21, thoughts below:
RICHMOND- Francis or Gilyard/Golden
ST. LOUIS- Goodwin/French
ST. BONAVENTURE- Lofton/ Osunniyi
URI- Fatts/ Mitchell (maybe Harris)
UMASS - Pierre/Mitchell

[Rhodymob05]

Harris and twins area big boys, I expect our bigs to clear our that paint.

[RF1]

Matt Norlander at CBS Sports ranks all 357 D1 teams. Rhode Island is #116. The A-10 is as follows:

A-10 Rankings
#31 St Louis
#36 Richmond
#42 Dayton
#62 Davidson
#83 Duquesne
#85 St Bonaventure
#100 VCU
#116 URI
#133 UMass
#143 GMU
#176 LaSalle
#185 GW
#204 Fordham
#207 St Joe's

Link:
#1-68 https://www.cbssports.com/college-baske ... 21-season/
#69-200 https://www.cbssports.com/college-baske ... aches/amp/
#201-357 https://www.cbssports.com/college-baske ... 21-season/

[RF1]

Ken Pomeroy has released his preseason computer rankings. URI is at #98. The rest of the A-10 is as follows:

A-10 Kenpom Rankings
#45 Saint Louis
#49 Dayton
#62 Richmond
#76 St. Bonaventure
#80 Davidson
#84 Duquesne
#97 VCU
#98 Rhode Island
#112 George Mason
#125 UMass
#151 La Salle
#160 Saint Joseph’s
#166 Fordham
#193 GW

Link: https://kenpom.com/

[Rhodymob05]

Basically Ken pom thinks we suck and would be the 8th best team in the conference?

[SGreenwell]

Basically Ken pom thinks we suck and would be the 8th best team in the conference?

Since Kenpom is a stats guy, I think the word he would probably use is variance, because of all the new bodies on the URI roster. Yeah, they're talented, but even in the best case scenario with a normal off-season of practice, it can be hard to work in newcomers. While I think URI is more in the Top 6 of the conference, it also isn't hard to envision a scenario in which the new players don't work well together, or a couple transfers leave us with bad depth, and we finish in the lower third. (I would contrast this vs. last year - I didn't think our ceiling was particularly high, but I thought our floor was, because Dotwin, Fatts, Cyril was a really solid core.)

[Jersey77]

I pretty much dismissed our Kenpom ranking in the A10 because of all our transfers and the roster turnover (we are an unknown quantity for the most part). Based on our depth and talent, I would be surprised if we finished out of the top 5 and can possibly contend.

[PeterRamTime]

Basically Ken pom thinks we suck and would be the 8th best team in the conference?

Since Kenpom is a stats guy, I think the word he would probably use is variance, because of all the new bodies on the URI roster. Yeah, they're talented, but even in the best case scenario with a normal off-season of practice, it can be hard to work in newcomers. While I think URI is more in the Top 6 of the conference, it also isn't hard to envision a scenario in which the new players don't work well together, or a couple transfers leave us with bad depth, and we finish in the lower third. (I would contrast this vs. last year - I didn't think our ceiling was particularly high, but I thought our floor was, because Dotwin, Fatts, Cyril was a really solid core.)

Its pretty hard for me to envision us finishing in the bottom third. A disaster would have to take place, we are just too talented. We have a lot of brand new players, but most of them have experience at the college level.

Still could easily see some issues with their cohesion.

Feel pretty good about that with Fatts' ability to win games for us and Jeremy has been with us and is older. They can keep us afloat. Of course, fatts can go cold as an iceberg and we could sink.

[ramster]

Matt Norlander at CBS Sports ranks all 357 D1 teams. Rhode Island is #116. The A-10 is as follows:

A-10 Rankings
TBD St Louis
TBD Dayton
TBD Richmond
TBD Davidson
#83 Duquesne
#85 St Bonaventure
#100 VCU
#116 URI
#133 UMass
#143 GMU
#176 LaSalle
#185 GW
#204 Fordham
#207 St Joe's

Link:
#1-68 TBD
#69-200 https://www.cbssports.com/college-baske ... aches/amp/
#201-357 https://www.cbssports.com/college-baske ... 21-season/

A-10 Rankings -Top 144 Madness
#29 St Louis
#30 Richmond
#60 St Bonaventure
#65 Dayton
#72 UMASS
#80 Duquesne
#100 Davidson
#116 VCU
#138 URI

NR George Mason
NR LaSalle
NR George Washington
NR Fordham
NR St Joe's

https://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/18582

[ramster]

Basically Ken pom thinks we suck and would be the 8th best team in the conference?

All 3 Preseason Polls have URI slotted similarly

Will be interesting to see Lindy's, Blue Ribbon and others in the near future

URI Preseason Ranking in A10:
8th Ken Pom
8th CBS Sports
9th 144 Madness

[rhodylaw]

I see these predictions as the floor for this team. This is where the team ends up with with Fatts and average A10 talent. If the newcomers are as good as advertised, we will be back near the top of the league. I do not see a scenario (except injury to Fatts) that we fall below 8/9 in the league.

[Smokinjimit2]

I would say we will finish in the 4-5-6 place. There will be a lot of growing pains with all the new faces.

Teams will not want to play us come March.

[ramster]

Obadiah has the greatest contest among all 353 D1 College Basketball Boards

I hope he has the contest this season - we really need it the way this 2020 year has gone

Should be very interesting to see how posters predict the 2020-2021 SEASON.

[Billyboy78]

Obadiah has the greatest contest among all 353 D1 College Basketball Boards

I hope he has the contest this season - we really need it the way this 2020 year has gone

Should be very interesting to see how posters predict the 2020-2021 SEASON.

And there doesn't need to be any prizes. Just for the fun of it.

[ramster]

Obadiah has the greatest contest among all 353 D1 College Basketball Boards

I hope he has the contest this season - we really need it the way this 2020 year has gone

Should be very interesting to see how posters predict the 2020-2021 SEASON.

And there doesn't need to be any prizes. Just for the fun of it.

Completely agree!

No preseason or exhibition games this year either - so no sneak peaks before voting will make it all the more interesting.

[Rhody74]

Obadiah has the greatest contest among all 353 D1 College Basketball Boards

I hope he has the contest this season - we really need it the way this 2020 year has gone

Should be very interesting to see how posters predict the 2020-2021 SEASON.

Predictions should be all over the place. I’ll happily play but it will be a total guess.

[Rhodymob05]

Did the A10 just become the 3rd best conference in the country or something? I saw multiple projects of URI finishing top 3/4, all of a sudden were bottom half.

[ramster]

Interesting...........

Just posted by Rhody MBB on Twitter

[PeterRamTime]

Obadiah has the greatest contest among all 353 D1 College Basketball Boards

I hope he has the contest this season - we really need it the way this 2020 year has gone

Should be very interesting to see how posters predict the 2020-2021 SEASON.

And there doesn't need to be any prizes. Just for the fun of it.

Completely agree!

No preseason or exhibition games this year either - so no sneak peaks before voting will make it all the more interesting.

We will learn a lot right out of the gate against these guys...https://wgno.com/sports/stephen-f-austi ... nce-crown/

Just winning that game with all the new faces would make me feel pretty confident moving forward. If we aren't ready yet they can easily beat us.

[ramster]

[CamsRams]

[ramster]

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The Atlantic 10 begins its first-ever Virtual Men's Basketball Media Days Tuesday.
The week begins with the Preseason Poll and Preseason All-Conference teams announcment Tuesday morning, the first of multiple major announcements.

Highlights from each session will be share on the Atlantic 10's social media accounts, including @A10MBB on Twitter and @A10Conference on Instagram. The sessions will be conducted across three days.

• Tuesday Sessions - Davidson, George Mason, George Washington, Richmond, VCU

• Wednesday Sessions - Duquesne, La Salle, Massachusetts, St. Bonaventure, Saint Joseph's

• Thursday Sessions - Dayton, Fordham, Rhode Island, Saint Louis

A special session with Commmissioner Bernadette V. McGlade will be held Wednesday as well.

Please note, these media sessions are not open to the public, however content from each session will be shared on both social media and Atlantic10.com

A preview of each A-10 men's basketball team will also be posted through the week that will include interviews from the virtual media days.

https://atlantic10.com/news/2020/11/9/a ... esday.aspx

[ramster]

From A10MBB

[ramster]

URI Picked 6th A10 Preseason Poll released today



https://atlantic10.com/news/2020/11/9/m ... -poll.aspx

[Rhody74]

Not surprising but if I were a betting man I would would wager they’d finish better than sixth.

[rhodyruckus]

The top 4 are definitely legit but perennially with Duquesne I'm always of the mind "I'll believe it when I see it."

[rhodyruckus]

From A10MBB

Yikes, hopefully this year we can get ONE efficient shooter. Dowtin is the real surprise, but looking at the stats he dropped a full 4 percentage points from junior to senior year. To look on the bright side for Fatts, you can basically drop him straight down to even with Jalen Cobb to show where he was in 2018-19. If Fatts makes an improvement half of what he did from the previous season, he'll be at or above the line.

[Rhody74]

Bill’s a homer!

[Jersey77]

Bill’s a homer!

I agree and can see us somewhere between 3-5. I think there is a lot of pressure on this staff to build team chemistry, we certainly have the talent and depth, to be in the upper echelon of our conference.

[TruePoint]

Basically Ken pom thinks we suck and would be the 8th best team in the conference?

All 3 Preseason Polls have URI slotted similarly

Will be interesting to see Lindy's, Blue Ribbon and others in the near future

URI Preseason Ranking in A10:
8th Ken Pom
8th CBS Sports
9th 144 Madness

I think the most interesting will be the coaches. Not that we get a lot of love from the coaches normally, but they’re probably a little more familiar with all the roster turnover and the net result of it than guys that are ranking 345 teams.

[ramster]

[ramster]

Basically Ken pom thinks we suck and would be the 8th best team in the conference?

All 3 Preseason Polls have URI slotted similarly

Will be interesting to see Lindy's, Blue Ribbon and others in the near future

URI Preseason Ranking in A10:
8th Ken Pom
8th CBS Sports
9th 144 Madness

I think the most interesting will be the coaches. Not that we get a lot of love from the coaches normally, but they’re probably a little more familiar with all the roster turnover and the net result of it than guys that are ranking 345 teams.

Coaches not far off from the KenPom, CBS and 144 madness ranking URI at #6.
Davidson, UMASS and VCU are all very capable teams this year and could easily finish ahead of URI.

PRESEASON POLL
1. Richmond (19) 380
2. Saint Louis (7) 364
3. Dayton (2) 318
4. St. Bonaventure 307
5. Duquesne 278
6. Rhode Island 246
7. Davidson 229
8. Massachusetts 192
9. VCU 175
10. George Mason 133
11. George Washington 113
12. Saint Joseph’s 85
13. La Salle 80
14. Fordham 40

[ramster]

Bill’s a homer!

I agree and can see us somewhere between 3-5. I think there is a lot of pressure on this staff to build team chemistry, we certainly have the talent and depth, to be in the upper echelon of our conference.

Predicting URI 3rd is a huge optimistic reach imho.
Seems to be giving low credibility to teams returning majority of started including Dayton, St Bonaventure, Duquesne, Davidson, UMASS. George Mason has some good talent returning as well.



PRESEASON POLL
1. Richmond (19) 380
2. Saint Louis (7) 364
3. Dayton (2) 318
4. St. Bonaventure 307
5. Duquesne 278
6. Rhode Island 246
7. Davidson 229
8. Massachusetts 192
9. VCU 175
10. George Mason 133
11. George Washington 113
12. Saint Joseph’s 85
13. La Salle 80
14. Fordham 40

[Jersey77]

Bill’s a homer!

I agree and can see us somewhere between 3-5. I think there is a lot of pressure on this staff to build team chemistry, we certainly have the talent and depth, to be in the upper echelon of our conference.

Predicting URI 3rd is a huge optimistic reach imho.
Seems to be giving low credibility to teams returning majority of started including Dayton, St Bonaventure, Duquesne, Davidson, UMASS. George Mason has some good talent returning as well.



PRESEASON POLL
1. Richmond (19) 380
2. Saint Louis (7) 364
3. Dayton (2) 318
4. St. Bonaventure 307
5. Duquesne 278
6. Rhode Island 246
7. Davidson 229
8. Massachusetts 192
9. VCU 175
10. George Mason 133
11. George Washington 113
12. Saint Joseph’s 85
13. La Salle 80
14. Fordham 40

It will be a crap shoot among all these upper tier A10 teams, and although Richmond and St. Louis appear to be the cream of the crop, they are certainly not a lock for 1 and 2. No team will run away with it like Dayton did last year. It has been a long time since I remember this conference so deep and hopefully it shows when the post season bids go out.

[ramster]

I agree and can see us somewhere between 3-5. I think there is a lot of pressure on this staff to build team chemistry, we certainly have the talent and depth, to be in the upper echelon of our conference.

Predicting URI 3rd is a huge optimistic reach imho.
Seems to be giving low credibility to teams returning majority of started including Dayton, St Bonaventure, Duquesne, Davidson, UMASS. George Mason has some good talent returning as well.



PRESEASON POLL
1. Richmond (19) 380
2. Saint Louis (7) 364
3. Dayton (2) 318
4. St. Bonaventure 307
5. Duquesne 278
6. Rhode Island 246
7. Davidson 229
8. Massachusetts 192
9. VCU 175
10. George Mason 133
11. George Washington 113
12. Saint Joseph’s 85
13. La Salle 80
14. Fordham 40

It will be a crap shoot among all these upper tier A10 teams, and although Richmond and St. Louis appear to be the cream of the crop, they are certainly not a lock for 1 and 2. No team will run away with it like Dayton did last year. It has been a long time since I remember this conference so deep and hopefully it shows when the post season bids go out.

FWIW
Dayton was picked preseason to finish 3rd last season. Nobody saw the season Dayton had coming in advance except maybe for the Coach who voted the line 1st place vote that Dayton received. Even then I doubt that person saw Dayton becoming 3rd in the Country.

VCU has 19 1st place voted while Davidson got 8.

Last year Dayton showed anything can happen and mid majors should not be taken lightly.

1. VCU (19) 381
2. Davidson (8) 359
3. Dayton (1) 341
4. Rhode Island 283
5. St. Bonaventure 280
6. Richmond 248
7. Saint Louis 225
8. Duquesne 196
9. George Mason 185
10. La Salle 133
11. Umass 103
12. George Washington 93
13. Saint Joseph’s 65
14. Fordham 48

[Jersey77]

Predicting URI 3rd is a huge optimistic reach imho.
Seems to be giving low credibility to teams returning majority of started including Dayton, St Bonaventure, Duquesne, Davidson, UMASS. George Mason has some good talent returning as well.



PRESEASON POLL
1. Richmond (19) 380
2. Saint Louis (7) 364
3. Dayton (2) 318
4. St. Bonaventure 307
5. Duquesne 278
6. Rhode Island 246
7. Davidson 229
8. Massachusetts 192
9. VCU 175
10. George Mason 133
11. George Washington 113
12. Saint Joseph’s 85
13. La Salle 80
14. Fordham 40

It will be a crap shoot among all these upper tier A10 teams, and although Richmond and St. Louis appear to be the cream of the crop, they are certainly not a lock for 1 and 2. No team will run away with it like Dayton did last year. It has been a long time since I remember this conference so deep and hopefully it shows when the post season bids go out.

FWIW
Dayton was picked preseason to finish 3rd last season. Nobody saw the season Dayton had coming in advance except maybe for the Coach who voted the line 1st place vote that Dayton received. Even then I doubt that person saw Dayton becoming 3rd in the Country.

VCU has 19 1st place voted while Davidson got 8.

Last year Dayton showed anything can happen and mid majors should not be taken lightly.

1. VCU (19) 381
2. Davidson (8) 359
3. Dayton (1) 341
4. Rhode Island 283
5. St. Bonaventure 280
6. Richmond 248
7. Saint Louis 225
8. Duquesne 196
9. George Mason 185
10. La Salle 133
11. Umass 103
12. George Washington 93
13. Saint Joseph’s 65
14. Fordham 48

Ramster, good argument for not taking pre-season polls too seriously. I wouldn't get too worked up (one way or another) on the pre-season all A10 teams either.

[PeterRamTime]

Predicting URI 3rd is a huge optimistic reach imho.
Seems to be giving low credibility to teams returning majority of started including Dayton, St Bonaventure, Duquesne, Davidson, UMASS. George Mason has some good talent returning as well.



PRESEASON POLL
1. Richmond (19) 380
2. Saint Louis (7) 364
3. Dayton (2) 318
4. St. Bonaventure 307
5. Duquesne 278
6. Rhode Island 246
7. Davidson 229
8. Massachusetts 192
9. VCU 175
10. George Mason 133
11. George Washington 113
12. Saint Joseph’s 85
13. La Salle 80
14. Fordham 40

It will be a crap shoot among all these upper tier A10 teams, and although Richmond and St. Louis appear to be the cream of the crop, they are certainly not a lock for 1 and 2. No team will run away with it like Dayton did last year. It has been a long time since I remember this conference so deep and hopefully it shows when the post season bids go out.

FWIW
Dayton was picked preseason to finish 3rd last season. Nobody saw the season Dayton had coming in advance except maybe for the Coach who voted the line 1st place vote that Dayton received. Even then I doubt that person saw Dayton becoming 3rd in the Country.

VCU has 19 1st place voted while Davidson got 8.

Last year Dayton showed anything can happen and mid majors should not be taken lightly.

1. VCU (19) 381
2. Davidson (8) 359
3. Dayton (1) 341
4. Rhode Island 283
5. St. Bonaventure 280
6. Richmond 248
7. Saint Louis 225
8. Duquesne 196
9. George Mason 185
10. La Salle 133
11. Umass 103
12. George Washington 93
13. Saint Joseph’s 65
14. Fordham 48

Anything can happen, but last years Dayton team was more of an anomaly than anything. The A-10 hasn't had a guy as good as Obi Toppin since Lamar probably and sorry but he had more firepower behind him.

I'd say we are likely to see a crapshoot at the top of the league. Nobody will he as good as Dayton was last year, but we are pretty certain that this year's top 6 is much more formidable than what last year's Dayton team was up against. Can't see anybody really performing head and shoulders above the rest. I think if anything its kind of foolish to hand the first place bid to Richmond or Saint Louis. I mean, Dayton lost Obi, Landers and Mikesell, but they still have Crutcher, Watson, Chatman and Cohill. Add in Big Tshimanga and Florida transfer Chase Johnson with a couple talented young guys down low and they will still carve people up. To me they should still be a favorite. Their guards are still obviously better than what SLU and Richmond has.

If there's one team that could really shock people like Dayton did it's got to be us. If our talent gels and we knock down threes at a proficient rate we could win the regular season title. Emphasis on knocking down threes...

But look, we arguably have more talent than anybody. That talent is dispersed with multiple guys at every key position on the floor with power five level size, length and athleticism, with Fatts topping it off with the ability to play at an All-American level.

We will have the personnel to get back to that stifling Dan Hurley Era Rhode Block defense and we have guys with better three point percentages on the floor than we have previously had under Cox. Just up to him to put it all together.

Not expecting us to be the best team in the league though. I think being ranked at 6th makes sense. Everybody ahead of us basically brings back everybody from teams who were good last year. We have so many new pieces with a coach thats still unproven.

[section(105)]

......just saw this, URI Alumni engagement, via registration, for ZOOM gathering of both men’s and women’s coaches for pre-season discussions, 11/20. 5 PM......came from Alumni Association.....

[Ramulous]

Wow