A 2018-2019 Atlantic 10 MBB Summer Poll
In the nice Rhode Island summer weather, I have made my first Atlantic 10 men's basketball poll for the 2018-2019 college basketball season:
1. Rhode Island - Why change what happened last season?
2. Davidson - Kellan Grady can carry the Wildcats a long way and I always say not to bet against Bob McKillop.
3. Saint Joseph's - Charlie Brown and Lamarr Kimble return from injuries and Taylor Funk is an outstanding perimeter shooter. The Hawks made it to the semifinals of last season's Atlantic 10 tournament even with so many injury problems.
4. Saint Louis - Travis Ford's success in recruiting is all building into a top-four finish in the conference standings this season. The same team from last season returns with an extra year of experience and they add in ESPN top-100 recruit Carte'Are Gordon and Fred Thatch Jr.
5. VCU - Mike Rhoades now has Marcus Evans at his disposal, a guard that is capable of winning the Player of the Year award for this season. Additionally, these (other) Rams return a solid core of young talent that includes De'Riante Jenkins, Issac Vann, and Sean Mobley.
6. UMass - Luwane Pipkins has Player of the Year potential and Matt McCall returns a group of very young but talented players. The Minutemen's success is basically hanging on what happens with Rashaan Holloway.
7. Saint Bonaventure - I would expect a good amount of ups and downs from the Bonnies this season after losing Jaylen Adams and Matt Mobley to graduation. Transfer Jalen Poyser is eligible to play this season.
8. Richmond - The Spiders made some unexpected noise last season but they lost Khwan Fore and De'Monte Buckingham after they both transferred away from the program. Grant Golden, Nick Sherod, and Jacob Gilyard still gives them a young core to work off of.
9. Duquesne - Keith Dambrot returns the same team from last season, including 2018 all-rookie team selection, Eric Williams Jr. Additionally, the Dukes add in center Gavin Bizeau, who could make a major impact on this team.
10. Dayton - After Darrell Davis' graduation, Kostas Antetokounmpo leaving for the NBA Draft, and Xeryius Williams transferring, this once highly regard MBB program looks to be in shambles. Outside of all-conference talent Josh Cunningham, the Flyers have so much to figure out.
11. George Mason - Otis Livingston II was one of the best guards in the Atlantic 10 last season. However, the Patriots pulled off an abnormal amount of conference wins last season whenever a game came down to the final couple of possessions or so. Their luck could very well run out this season.
12. La Salle - The Explorers will need to start rebuilding under their new head coach, Ashley Howard and they will have to do it without having B.J. Johnson anymore.
13. George Washington - The Colonials lose A-10 Defensive Player of the Year Yuta Watanabe to graduation and they bring back an unimpressive group of players (and incoming recruits).
14. Fordham - I mean, it's Fordham...
I am interested to hear all of your thoughts on how the teams in the Atlantic 10 will stack up in the preseason polls for the 2018-2019 college basketball season. Be sure to let me know on Twitter (@LoveRI401) or on the forums of this website.
Drink up and enjoy the summer Rhode Island MBB fans, the college basketball season will be back before you know it.
