Quality of A10 next year

[UR80sfan]

There are a bunch of way too early top 25 preseason rankings out that also included honorable mentions. Most of these I don't believe completely factor in the transfer portal or NBA draft yet. Currently the top half of the A10 looks very strong. Dayton in predicted as a top 20 team in most polls and honorable mentions, which I assume are top 40/50, have included Saint Louis, Loyola Chicago, VCU and Davidson. If the A10 is actually that strong it could see 3 or 5 teams make the NCAA.

So what does this mean for U of R? It is difficult to predict because we have so many new players competing for minutes. I am very bullish on all three transfers and would not be surprised if at least 2 were starting by conference play. Transfer success is much easier to predict than high school recruits. The big unknown are last year's freshman, which was a strong recruiting year. Some of these guys could be surprising good and already know our system.

I feel pretty good about this team and give us a 75% chance of being in the top 100, 60% chance of making either the NIT or NCAA and a 25% of making the NCAA. If Burton can take it to another level, Quinn puts up numbers like last year, Roche shoots 40% from 3s, Bigelow shoots 3s like he did his freshman year and a couple of the rising sophomore or other members of the team step it up, we have a small chance at having a top 25 team.

 

[Eight Legger]

Dayton is the best team in paper. SLU is good too but I'm not as bullish on them as some others are. Loyola will be good. I don't know enough about some of the comings and goings of the others just yet to say much else, but we should be firmly in the mix for a finish somewhere between 3-7.

 

[SpiderDad75]

Dayton is the best team in paper. SLU is good too but I'm not as bullish on them as some others are. Loyola will be good. I don't know enough about some of the comings and goings of the others just yet to say much else, but we should be firmly in the mix for a finish somewhere between 3-7.

Agree that Dayton is the best on paper and if they remain healthy could be Top 25 type of team. SLU is prob next and I'm not sure about Loyola bc I think they lost some key pieces but I don't really follow them like that. I'm hoping for a top 5 spot in the conf. but will def depend if our guys accept their bigger roles and produce.

 

[97spiderfan]

And let's just be real, VCU is gonna be a player. I know they lost Williams and Ward, but they recruit really well and Rhodes always has them playing well. I hate saying that but it is just fact at this point.

 

[SpiderDad75]

And let's just be real, VCU is gonna be a player. I know they lost Williams and Ward, but they recruit really well and Rhodes always has them playing well. I hate saying that but it is just fact at this point.

Absolutely…as the kids say…no lies detected 😀

 

[32counter]

Atlantic 10 Concludes Spring Meetings

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Atlantic 10 Presidents Council, Athletic Directors and head Men’s and Women’s Basketball Coaches recently concluded their annual spring meetings. The meetings began the week of May 9 for Athletic Directors and coaches, and concluded Thursday, June 9 with the Presidents...

atlantic10.com

“…The conference members agreed that all institutions will provide education-related benefits, per the recent Alston decision, for student-athletes at the maximum allowable amount of $5,980 per year in the sports of men’s and women’s basketball. Institutions may use their discretion in deciding to provide these benefits in other sports according to their individual campus policies.

The 2022-23 budget was approved, which included a $375,000 supplemental distribution to the league’s membership for on-campus mental health and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The budget also includes an additional $50,000 to each member institution to upgrade video equipment to enhance the A-10 ESPN+ streaming broadcasts production across all sports. Lastly, the Presidents Council approved an additional supplemental distribution of $1.8 million to the membership in unrestricted funds…”

 

[SFspidur]

Dat Bona number...lol

 

[SFspidur]

Now that I look at it, I think Rothstein needs some math help. Bona's only returner is Ndjock-Tadjore, who scored 4 of Bona's 2309 points last year. That would be 0.2%. Still incredible though.

 

[Eight Legger]

Rothstein needs some help in a lot of areas.

 

[SFspidur]

Because we can't get enough Rothstein, here's his A-10 "preview"..picks us 6th and I particularly love the random ordering of his list of bench guys. Picks Quinn as an under-the-radar transfer and Nelson as an impact freshman. Overall, not much respect for us, but I shouldn't be surprised given he calls this lazy overview a "soup to nuts" preview.

Atlantic 10 Offseason Breakdown

Summer time means a look ahead to next season! Each week moving forward, we will preview one conference in college basketball from soup to nuts. Check below for this week’s breakdown on the Atlantic 10. Atlantic 10 Offseason Breakdown Atlantic 10 Preseason Power Rankings1. Saint LouisProjected...

collegehoopstoday.com

 

[spider23]

My boy JR focused on p5 transfers it seems. Not much thought went into this.

UMass will be very interesting. They seemingly added a ton of talent in the portal, and if the coach is still motivated could be pretty good.

Tough league this year, I am looking for a top 3 finish.

 

[97spiderfan]

Because we can't get enough Rothstein, here's his A-10 "preview"..picks us 6th and I particularly love the random ordering of his list of bench guys. Picks Quinn as an under-the-radar transfer and Nelson as an impact freshman. Overall, not much respect for us, but I shouldn't be surprised given he calls this lazy overview a "soup to nuts" preview.

Atlantic 10 Offseason Breakdown

Summer time means a look ahead to next season! Each week moving forward, we will preview one conference in college basketball from soup to nuts. Check below for this week’s breakdown on the Atlantic 10. Atlantic 10 Offseason Breakdown Atlantic 10 Preseason Power Rankings1. Saint LouisProjected...

collegehoopstoday.com

I was excited to read that and than I was like, that is it. You literally just looked at the rosters and who is on them. I would say 6th is fair, given what we lost and what we think we have picked up in the portal. I can't see us much higher than that, given all of the change.

Looking at the rosters, VCU lost a ton. They have Ace back, which is huge, but the fact they are plugging in the two Michigan transfers (who didn't really have an impact at all at Michigan) as starters to me is pretty telling.

 

[8legs1dream]

I was excited to read that and than I was like, that is it. You literally just looked at the rosters and who is on them. I would say 6th is fair, given what we lost and what we think we have picked up in the portal. I can't see us much higher than that, given all of the change.

Looking at the rosters, VCU lost a ton. They have Ace back, which is huge, but the fact they are plugging in the two Michigan transfers (who didn't really have an impact at all at Michigan) as starters to me is pretty telling.

How do we know the Michigan guys are starting? Has anyone said that besides the knucklehead Rothstein?

 

[97spiderfan]

How do we know the Michigan guys are starting? Has anyone said that besides the knucklehead Rothstein?

You are correct. It was just in the Rothstein projections article, so who knows who will start.

I just find it ironic that VCU is rated so highly in a league returning a lot of talent, when VCU lost a ton of their talent (Vince Williams, Hason Ward, Curry). And just because VCU gets guys from Michigan, I think the assumption is VCU great: Michigan great, but the two guys they got, were bit players at Michigan. Interesting, that Tshonis is also transferring from VCU to Long Beach State. Tshonis was a big BCS transfer get for VCU from UW a year or two ago, but he didn't make much of a splash at VCU and now is off again.

I give Rhodes a ton of credit for his recruiting, but his work in the transfer market has been mediocre at best, so if there two transfers for Michigan are in the starting rotation conversation, than yeah I have some questions.

 

[Eight Legger]

Same, and that’s the drum I’m been banging all off-season. They may well end up a top-4 team, but they return the same amount of offense we do, and they don’t return their best all-around player … but we do.

I’d say one of those Michigan guys may be decent but the odds that they both are world-beaters seems pretty unlikely. Our transfers are much more proven and projectable than theirs are. We have a chance to continue our momentum from last year and our-perform them again.

 

[spider fan]

What I like about Rothstein (who by the way has an uncanny resemblance to spider23) is his listing of Key Losses and Key Newcomers...................just wonder outloud what one would have to do to be a Non Key Loss or a Non Key Newcomer? Guess it is all part of the culture of not hurting anyone's feelings........................

 

[urmite]

Yes, I think a lot of people overestimate P5 transfers. Sometimes transferring down works out (Loyer) , sometimes transferring up does (TJ).
They do have 2 injured players returning and 2 well thought of Freshmen. So a lot of potential, but what will all the new (not playing last year) guys do?

 

[plydogg]

Rothstein is too busy selling merch to give a damn about who is good besides the top names. He’s an absolute joke and a disgrace to anybody who loves college basketball

 

[Eight Legger]

Ply, you’ve done a 180 on Rothstein, and I love to see it!

 

[SFspidur]

Significant plydogg news.

 

[spider23]

I listened to an interview out there with the new Davidson Coach McKillop and JR. AFterwards JR was talking how he liked the "gravitas" of the big name coaching hires at umass and URI and what they add to the A10. They may work out, but I was thinking more "re-tread" than "gravitas"

 

[wr70beh]

Thanks to the portal, no one knows how anyone is going to play to start out or how long it's going to take to gel. This new method has made OOC pretty irrelevant when it come to conference play, IMO. It's a new world out there.

 

[spider23]

Another A10 preview, this time from Dayton beat writer:

A-10 offseason power ranking: Dayton, Saint Louis early conference favorites

A 52-second video shared on social media last week by the official Dayton Flyers basketball social media accounts whetted the appetite of the Flyer Faithful for the 2022-23 season.

www.daytondailynews.com

Like JR's review, not super deep. Also giving VCU a lot of credit for recruit rankings and the old rankings of the Michigan transfers. I forgot that Billups went there, that is a really nice national recruit they picked up.

A10 does seem like a pretty deep league. I know a couple of the Philly posters seemed to be pretty high on Lange at St. Joe's - but doesn't seem like he is getting a lot of traction.

I think Umass is the most intriguing to me. They have a lot of guys that had high rankings out of h.s. or in the portal from p5 programs.

 

[spider23]

Loyola, Umass and Davidson I feel like are real wild cards.

Davidson - lost two top level players in Luka and Lee. Can Matt pick up where his dad left off. Seems like it would be a smooth transition, but I see so many times these top assistants for big time coaches crash and burn when they mover over 12 inches on the bench. Some do well, like the Mark Few's protege at Arizona this year.
Loyola - they seemed to keep rolling after coaching change. New league. Will they keep rolling and challenge, or will the change take some adjustment.
Umass - as noted, kind of big name coaching hire - retooled the roster.

 

[Ferrum Spider]

Another A10 preview, this time from Dayton beat writer:

A-10 offseason power ranking: Dayton, Saint Louis early conference favorites

A 52-second video shared on social media last week by the official Dayton Flyers basketball social media accounts whetted the appetite of the Flyer Faithful for the 2022-23 season.

www.daytondailynews.com

Like JR's review, not super deep. Also giving VCU a lot of credit for recruit rankings and the old rankings of the Michigan transfers. I forgot that Billups went there, that is a really nice national recruit they picked up.

A10 does seem like a pretty deep league. I know a couple of the Philly posters seemed to be pretty high on Lange at St. Joe's - but doesn't seem like he is getting a lot of traction.

I think Umass is the most intriguing to me. They have a lot of guys that had high rankings out of h.s. or in the portal from p5 programs.

On paper I don't really like what VCU is bringing in other than the Billups kid who is going to be a stud and maybe that guard from UM if I am a VCU fan. They have that other highly touted recruit but I have seen plenty of those elite recruits not meet the hype for them and considering his offer list I have my doubts he's as good as advertised. The other recruit they had they think is going to be Larry Sanders 2.0 that chose between them and Radford. When's the last time VCU picked up a player from Radford as their other final choice? The only video I can find of him is making a standstill dunk in a layup line. He has a better chance of ending up as their own version of Kovein Dominus. Losing Vince Williams is going to hurt a lot also especially early on.

All that being said I still see VCU competing for an NCAA bid next year in a deep A10 conference. I think with the right breaks we can finish in the top 4 with the teams we play 2x in the A10 giving us a slightly easier path than the top teams.

 

[Eight Legger]

I like the respect we get here. First time I've heard anyone even mention us in the top 4, but I think we should expect to be there.

 

[spider23]

Agree EL, there is a lot to like about some of the teams below us like Loyola and Davidson, but as I see some glimpses of Quinn and Bigelow, the way they can fit and replace some elements we lost, and the experience they bring, and we bring back with 4th year Burton and 5th years Goose/Grace, I don't see why we can't challenge for regular season ship. Dayton and SLU bring back a ton of top talent, and I probably would pick them 1-2 also, but after that I feel like we have a shot to be better than everyone else. I think we can beat SLU and Dayton too if everything falls into place.

 

[SFspidur]

Derek Kellogg is back at UMass.

 

[Eight Legger]

And the run on hair gel in New England begins...

 

[SpiderK]

Derek Kellogg is back at UMass.

View embedded media

Kellogg will be well versed in cheating from the master himself.

 

[32counter]

Talk about a very good luck charm.

 

[SFspidur]

I like us to finish a bit higher than 8th, but pretty nice conference preview here...

Atlantic 10 Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2022-23 season

2022-23 should be a particularly competitive season in Atlantic 10 Basketball. Which teams should be viewed as the favorites to cut down the nets in March?

bustingbrackets.com

 

[spider23]

At least we are one spot ahead of Fordham

 

[spider23]

This guy is high on UMass. They may have the most talent in the league based on high school star rankings. Lot of pieces to mesh, and I don't think they have a lot of depth, a high ceiling if it l comes together.

 

[GKiller]

This guy is high on UMass. They may have the most talent in the league based on high school star rankings. Lot of pieces to mesh, and I don't think they have a lot of depth, uit a high ceiling if it l comes together.

yeah a strong umass is good for the league but seems like a big ask year 1. Could be but I’m in the Believe it when I see it category.

the Dread comment was different. First time I recall anyone referring to him as PG.

Those fansided sites take forever to load.

 

[RichmondNative]

I like us to finish a bit higher than 8th, but pretty nice conference preview here...

Atlantic 10 Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2022-23 season

2022-23 should be a particularly competitive season in Atlantic 10 Basketball. Which teams should be viewed as the favorites to cut down the nets in March?

bustingbrackets.com

Good article, but now yet another player listed as a point guard option - Dread. Wonder where these writers get their information?

In the intro to the article, the writer explains that he decided to go with straight rankings versus tiers, but he could see teams finishing all over the standings. It does seem like the league will have more balance overall and you can definitely see the affects of the transfer portal on many teams. I think I would put UR in its typical 6th spot before the ball gets tossed in the air, but hope things gel well and they finish in top 4.

 

[Long Island Spiders]

I like us to finish a bit higher than 8th, but pretty nice conference preview here...

Atlantic 10 Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2022-23 season

2022-23 should be a particularly competitive season in Atlantic 10 Basketball. Which teams should be viewed as the favorites to cut down the nets in March?

bustingbrackets.com

Thanks for sharing SF

I still don’t get why people are so high on George mason. I just don’t see it.

 

[97spiderfan]

Good article, but now yet another player listed as a point guard option - Dread. Wonder where these writers get their information?

In the intro to the article, the writer explains that he decided to go with straight rankings versus tiers, but he could see teams finishing all over the standings. It does seem like the league will have more balance overall and you can definitely see the affects of the transfer portal on many teams. I think I would put UR in its typical 6th spot before the ball gets tossed in the air, but hope things gel well and they finish in top 4.

Yeah, no idea where he got the Dread-PG thing. He probably is just looking at our roster, cause that is out of leftfield. As his ranking of Fordham at 9 and his statement that others are even higher than Fordham, than he is. Really? The rest of it was fairly accurate. I think 8 is low but he brought up some good points about all of the pieces we are having to replace.

 

[SFspidur]

Must have been looking at Torvik's computer predictions of Dread being a double-digit scorer.

 

[GKiller]

Must have been looking at Torvik's computer predictions of Dread being a double-digit scorer.

Honestly he might have. But I believe those are just placeholders for Torvik right now anyway.