There is an absolutely loaded slate of Atlantic 10 action on NBCSN this weekend.
As it stands, Saint Louis is currently sitting all alone in first place in the conference at 5-0 with five teams just a game back of the Billikens, who beat St. Joseph’s on Friday night.
Four of those five teams will be in action on NBCSN, including Dayton, who pays a visit to St. Bonaventure in what is the game of the day. The action heats up in Olean, N.Y., at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, after Richmond visits Davidson and URI takes on La Salle and right before UMass heads south to Richmond to pay a visit to VCU and the Siegel Center.
VCU, like Davidson, is a game out of first place.
On Sunday, the fourth second-place team will be in action, as Duquesne treks through the snow to the Smith Center to pay a visit to George Washington.
Here is the full schedule:
RICHMOND at DAVIDSON, Sat. 12:30 p.m. (NBCSN) (stream)
RHODE ISLAND at LA SALLE, Sat. 2:30 p.m. (NBCSN) (stream)
DAYTON at ST. BONAVENTURE, Sat. 4:30 p.m. (NBCSN) (stream)
UMASS at VCU, Sat. 6:30 p.m. (NBCSN) (stream)
DUQUESNE at GEORGE WASHINGTON, Sun. 4:00 p.m. (NBCSN) (stream)
2018-19 Atlantic 10 Preview: Turnover at the top creates wide-open league race
Beginning in September and running up until November 6th, the first day of the season, College Basketball Talk will be unveiling the 2018-2019 NBCSports.com college hoops preview package.
Today, we are previewing the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Since sending a combined 11 teams to the NCAA tournament in 2013 and 2014, the Atlantic 10 has put just 12 combined teams into the tournament in the four years since.
In those four years, the league has been the target of more powerful conferences.
First, in realignment and expansion. More recently in pilfering head coaches like Shaka Smart, Archie Miller and, this offseason, Dan Hurley.
The conference was fortunate to get three teams into the Dance last year after a fluky A-10 tournament title run.
That mark may be difficult to repeat this year unless the top of the league exceed expectations.
FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
1. Turnover at the top
Predicting the contenders of the A10 in recent years hasn’t been much of a chore with the likes of Rhode Island, VCU, St. Bonaventure and Dayton fixtures at the top. This year doesn’t promise the same continuity. Rhode Island is down four starters and a head coach, VCU is still finding footing in the wake of Shaka Smart and Will Wade’s departure, the Bonnies lost their backcourt and Dayton is rebuilding since the loss of Archie Miller. The top crop this year features some familiar names that look to be back on an upswing like St. Louis and George Mason along with traditional contenders St. Joseph’s and Davidson, but the league doesn’t have any heavyweights and may be without much depth either.
Travis Ford (Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
2. Built Ford tough?
St. Louis has gone 29-37 overall and 15-21 in the two years since Travis Ford took the helm after eight years leading Oklahoma State, but this would seem to be the season when things could take a major leap forward. The Billikens are adding transfers Traimaine Isabell, Jr. (Missouri and Drexel) and Dion Wiley (Maryland) along with four-star recruit Carte’Are Gordon to a core that already included Javon Bess (all-A-10 defense), Hasahn French (all-A-10 rookie) and Jordan Goodwin (11.5 points and 7.5 rebounds).
Ford’s teams have always played defense, and he got the Billikens to buckle down on that end last year after struggling to do so in his debut season, but if St. Louis is going to win the A-10 and make some noise nationally, it’ll have to improve on offense. They went from being one of the worst offenses in the country in 2017 to merely poor last year based largely on hitting the offensive glass — a good idea when you’re one of the weakest shooting teams in the country. If the Billikens can hold the line defensively and make big a leap on the other end, they’ve got the talent to be quite good.
3. Davidson’s next star(s)
Every sweet-shooting guard Davidson ever has, from now until eternity, will likely have the unfortunate fate of being compared, or at least mentioned in relation to, Steph Curry. Such is life when an under-the-radar recruit evolves into a transformational, generational player under your watch. Fair or not, expect to hear plenty of Curry talk when it comes to sophomore Kellan Grady. The 6-foot-5 guard shot 37.2 percent from 3-point range and had a true-shooting percentage of 61.1 percent while scoring 18 points per game.
Grady, obviously, isn’t Curry, but he’s a damn good player with a potential NBA future. Before that, though, he’ll be tasked with helping get Davidson back to a second-straight NCAA tournament and compete for its first league title since 2015. He won’t be doing it alone, though, as Jon Axel Gudmundsson is back after a sophomore campaign in which he shot 40.6 percent from beyond the arc. They’ll both need to be at their best to replace Peyton Aldridge and the 21 points he scored every night.
4. Rhode Island rebuild
Dan Hurley took Rhode Island from eight wins in his first season of 2012-13 to a combined 51 wins and two NCAA tournaments the last two years. Now, though, he’s gone, off to Connecticut to try to return the Huskies to prominence, and so, too, are four starters off last year’s squad. Rhode Island bet on itself when finding Hurley’s replacement, promoting David Cox, who spent four years on Hurley’s staff (including two as associate head coach), to the first chair.
Cox also helped preside over a recruiting class that will be carrying a heavy load, but is well-regarded. It’s highlighted by top-100 forward Jermaine Harris and three-stars Dana Tate and Tyrese Martin. Returning guard Jeff Dowtin should help lead the way after averaging just under 10 points per game as a role player and lone returning starter, but the Rams have quite a bit of work ahead of them replacing the likes of Jared Terrell and E.C. Matthews.
Phil Martelli (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
5. How high can healthy Hawks fly?
St. Joseph’s finished the year on a tear, winning seven of its last nine games and nearly upending Rhode Island in the A10 tournament. That, along with a fourth-place finish in the regular season standings, is an admirable season, but one in which the Hawks couldn’t have helped but wonder what might had been if Lamarr Kimble and Charlie Brown, who combined to play one game last season, had been healthy.
Both are now back to a team that sustained minimal losses from a season ago. Kimble, who broke his foot one game into the season, averaged 15.5 points per game as sophomore wile Brown put up 12.8 as a freshman before a broken wrist robbed him of 2017-18. Their return along with four starters, including Taylor Funk (11.8 ppg), means St. Joe’s has championship aspirations and eyes on its third NCAA tournament in six years.
PRESEASON ATLANTIC 10 PLAYER OF THE YEAR: KELLAN GRADY, Davidson
So now that we’ve previously established that Kellan Grady is not, in fact, Stephen Curry, let’s talk about what exactly he is.
Grady was a fringe top-100 recruit in the 2017 class, and picked Davidson over other A10 programs and more than a handful Power 5 offers. The decision to follow in his idol’s footsteps – the Boston native picked up NBA league pass as an 11-year-old to follow Curry’s rookie season – paid off in a major way during his own rookie campaign. He went for more than 20 in his first two games (hitting seven 3s in his debut), erupted for 30 on Christmas Day against Akron and then 39 in a three-OT thriller against St. Bonaventure. He did all that while playing aside A10 player of the year Peyton Aldridge, who, while being an excellent player, took 30 percent of Davidson’s shots while on the floor. His departure means more looks for Grady. That could mean that Grady’s stay at Davidson is one year shorter than Curry himself.
THE REST OF THE ATLANTIC 10 FIRST TEAM
JOSH CUNNINGHAM, Dayton: A former top-150 recruit who began his career at Bradley, blossomed in his junior year, averaging 15.6 points and 8.4 rebounds while shooting 64.6 percent from the floor.
OTIS LIVINGSTON, George Mason: The 5-foot-11 point guard from New Jersey put up 17.3 points per game last year for the Patriots.
LUWANE PIPKINS, UMass: The Minuteman went from 10.2 ppg as a freshman to 21.2 ppg as a sophomore thanks in large part to shooting 42.6 percent from 3-point range.
JAVON BESS, St. Louis: The Michigan State transfer emerged as a major contributor last year and could be even better with an improved team around him.
FIVE MORE NAMES TO KNOW
JEFF DOWTIN, Rhode Island
CHARLIE BROWN, St. Joseph’s
CARTE’ARE GORDON, St. Louis
JON AXEL GUDMUNDSSON, Davidson
GRANT GOLDEN, Richmond
Josh Cunningham (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
BREAKOUT STAR
Carte’Are Gordon is the rare top-75 recruit to call the A-10 home, which makes him interesting enough, but Gordon’s ability to do stuff like render a backboard to mere smithereens means there’s a decent chance your Twitter feed features a healthy helping of Gordon highlights, especially if St. Louis is the class of the conference.
COACH UNDER PRESSURE
Fordham isn’t exactly a traditional power or a program with exactingly high hoops standards, but the Rams have gone in the wrong direction the last two years under Jeff Neubauer. He posted a 17-win season after taking over for Tom Pecora, who had five-straight losing seasons, in 2016, but the Rams regressed to 13 wins in 2017 and down to nine last year. The recipe for improvement – unless you’re at Duke or Kentucky, which is decidedly not the case here – does not include eight freshmen on the roster, as Neubauer has this season.
ON SELECTION SUNDAY WE’LL BE SAYING …
The Atlantic 10’s trouble continued without strength beyond the top, limiting it to three NCAA tournament teams if all goes well.
I’M MOST EXCITED ABOUT …
While the league may not have its historical depth, there’s plenty interesting with St. Louis, George Mason, St. Joe’s and others, but the excitement the A10 generates this year is going to come from Kellan Grady. He’s a potential superstar.
FIVE NON-CONFERENCE GAMES TO CIRCLE ON YOUR CALENDAR
Dec. 22, St. Louis vs. Florida State
Dec. 29, George Mason vs. Kansas State
Dec. 8, St. Joseph’s vs. Villanova
Dec. 29, Davidson vs. North Carolina
Dec. 8, Dayton vs. Auburn
Otis Livingston II (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
PREDICTED FINISH
1. ST. LOUIS: Year 3 under Travis Ford should bring the level of success the Billikens were hoping for when they became Ford’s post-Oklahoma State landing spot. With a solid group of returners meshing with talented newcomers, St. Louis should be the class of the Atlantic 10.
2. ST. JOSEPH’S: Phil Martelli’s group was competitive last year despite losing two of its top players for essentially the entire season. WIth Lamarr Kimble and Charlie Brown back and healthy, however, the Hawks should be in position to be more than a fly in the ointment – they should be among the A10’s best.
3. DAVIDSON: Replacing A10 player of the year Peyton Aldridge is no easy task, but coach Bob McKillop has a potential first-round draft pick in Kellan Grady, but also dynamic backcourt mates Jon Axel Gudmundsson and KiShawn Pritchett. There are frontcourt questions, but none loud enough to doubt the Wildcats much.
4. GEORGE MASON: Otis Livingston and Jaire Grayer (son of former NBA player Jeff) give the Patriotsa significant one-two scoring punch and Virginia transfer Jarred Reuter could help solidify a defense that struggled.
5. UMASS: It was a struggle for Matt McCall’s team in his first season in Amherst, but things are looking up in Year 2. Luwane Pipkins can get buckets with the best of them, but the Minutemen will need to clean up the defense to really make an A10 run.
6. ST. BONAVENTURE: The Bonnies won 13-straight to end the regular season and get an at-large bid before knocking off UCLA in the First Four last year, but the losses of Jaylen Adams and Matt Mobley means they’re due for a step back this season.
7. RICHMOND: The Spiders limped to the finish line last year, dismissed second-leading scorer De’Monte Buckingham and lost Khwan Fore to Louisville, but Grant Golden should be one of the best in the conference and keep the Spiders competitive.
Mike Rhoades (Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
8. VCU: Star guard Marcus Evans suffered a second Achilles tear this summer, but is still hopeful to play this season. With his health in doubt, however, the Rams could be in for bumpy ride in Mike Rhoades’ second season.
9. DAYTON: Josh Cunningham leads a group of four returning starters that should make things better for Anthony Grant in his second season with the Flyers, though frontcourt issues could hold them back.
10. RHODE ISLAND: The Rams welcome a solid recruiting class and David Cox represents stability on the coaching staff, but Rhode Island’s losses are simply too much to suffer without ensuing struggles.
11. DUQUESNE: Keith Dambrot is counting on five Division I transfers to get things off the ground in his second season in Pittsburgh after a 13-year run at his alma mater Akron.
12. GEORGE WASHINGTON: Yuta Watanabe exhausting his eligibility would have been a tough blow by itself, but Jair Bolden transferring to South Carolina makes this an especially tough hill to climb for coach Maurice Joseph in Year 3.
13. LA SALLE: Ashley Howard had heaps of success across town on Jay Wright’s national championship staff, but he’s got a significant rebuild job ahead of him with the Explorers.
14. FORDHAM: Joseph Chartouny transferring to Marquette was a huge loss that will loom large for a Rams team that struggled mightily last year.
2018 College Basketball Coaching Carousel: Ranking the 12 best hires from the spring of 2018
As of today, the college basketball coaching carousel isn’t quite finished spinning — thanks at lot, Detroit and Chicago State — but for all intents and purposes, all the jobs that are nationally relevant are filled and have been filled for a couple of weeks, some for more than a month.
What that means is that it is time to look back on some of those big name coaching decisions.
Who made the best hires?
Did anyone make a head-scratching decision?
Who is guaranteed success?
Who is locked into failure?
Here are the 12 best hires of the carousel.
THE NO-BRAINERS
1. CHRIS MACK, Louisville
For my money, Mack is one of the ten best coaches in college basketball. He’s young, he’s a high-level recruiter, he understands how to run a program in that part of the country, he’s dealt with a passionate fanbase at a basketball school. This was the hire, and Louisville got it done.
1a. DAN HURLEY, UConn
Another homerun hire, and this one coming at a discount of sorts. Hurley picked UConn over Pitt, who offered a more lucrative contract, and Rhode Island, who offered him an extension with a bigger dollar figure. Dan, the son of legendary high school coach Bob Hurley and the younger brother of Bobby Hurley, picked the Huskies in part because of the fact that they were another school in the Northeast and in part because of the pedigree that comes with the UConn brand.
Whether or not the Huskies can actually return to the glory of the Calhoun years is up for debate, but Hurley is the guy to do it. He’ll recruit better than Kevin Ollie did and he should be able to coach up the players he lands better than Ollie did the last four seasons. I don’t expect UConn to once again because a top 5-10 program in college basketball, but I do think that Hurley is the guy that can get them back to being a perennial top 25 team and an annual AAC contender.
(AP Photo/Stephen Dunn)
THESE ATHLETIC DIRECTORS EARNED THEIR SALARIES
3. PENNY HARDAWAY, Memphis
I do not know if Penny is going to be a good college coach. He was a good high school coach, a good AAU coach and a great college and NBA player, but that doesn’t always translate. What I do know is this: He is going to be able to recruit the city of Memphis, which is something that Tubby Smith, his predecessor, was not able to do, because he already is landing Memphis kids. Getting talent matters. I think Tubby Smith is a better basketball coach than Josh Pastner, but Pastner unquestionably had more success at Memphis than Smith did. Penny will get talent.
But more importantly, Penny has reinvigorated a fan base. Memphis fans want to root for talented, local players. They’re going to do that with Penny — who is a Memphis native and alum — recruiting the kids he coached at East HS and with Team Penny. Gary Parrish, a Memphis radio host, said on the CBT Podcast on Monday that Memphis has already brought in enough money through donations and ticket sales to pay Penny’s salary and Tubby’s buyout for a year. College sports in a business, and at Memphis, business is finally good again.
4. JEFF CAPEL, Pittsburgh
I think Capel is a good coach and a very good recruiter who doesn’t get enough credit for the job he did at VCU or at Oklahoma before everything blew up in his face post-Blake Griffin. He was overdue to get another shot at a high-major gig, and Pitt was able to land him.
But, if I’m being frank, his presence this high on this list has a lot more to do with the fact that I believe Pitt is a bad job in the midst of what is going to be a long and difficult rebuild. The Pitt basketball program has no pedigree outside of the years that Ben Howland and Jamie Dixon were on campus. They’ve been to seven Sweet 16s in program history, and five of them came in a seven-year period from 2002-09. That was when the Panthers, who have no recruiting base to speak of, were pulling kids out of New York City with the pitch of being able to play in the Big East.
Now?
They’re in the ACC. That sale isn’t going to work, which means that Capel has to find a way to convince players to join a program that went 0-18 in the ACC last season. I’m not sure Pitt is a top ten job in the ACC. And they landed Capel. Good for them.
5. ASHLEY HOWARD, La Salle
Ashley Howard is a Philly native and a former La Salle assistant that has spent all but one year of his post-high school life playing or coaching at one of Philly’s college basketball programs. He knows that city as well as anyone, and has spent the last five years as an assistant on the staff of the most successful program in college basketball during that time, Villanova. This was the guy that La Salle needed to get, and they got him despite the fact that the athletic department is not in great shape financially.
Jamion Christian (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
6. JAMION CHRISTIAN, Siena
Christian went to two NCAA tournaments in six seasons at Mount St. Mary’s, finding a way to stay relevant despite losing transfers to bigger programs. He just turned 36 years old and has a bright future in front of him in this business. He’s had other offers and turned down other jobs, and eventually a better program than Siena was going to smarten up and pull the trigger. What makes the hire even more impressive is that Siena made it happen in the wake of an ugly breakup with Jimmy Patsos. This is the kind of hire that is going to lead to Siena getting back to NCAA tournaments … and having to find another head coach in five or six years.
7. NIKO MEDVED, Colorado State
The Rams landed themselves one of the better young coaches in the country who is a former assistant with the program and they did it without having to break the bank. In four years, Medved built Furman from a program that was left for dead to a conference champ for the first time in 26 seasons. In one season at Drake, he turned the Bulldogs from a team that was expected to be a joke to one that went 10-8 in the league. He’ll have a similar rebuilding task on his hands in Fort Collins, but he should be up for it.
8. JOE DOOLEY, East Carolina
East Carolina is a terrible job. It’s that simple. Terrible. They’ve been to the NCAA tournament twice in program history, the last time coming in 1993. Dooley knows all about this. He was an assistant on staff when they made the 1993 NCAA tournament despite finishing below .500 and just 4-10 in the CAA. He was also the head coach at the program from 1995-99. The best he did was a 17-10 mark, finishing tied for third in the conference. Now, the Pirates are in the AAC, a league that isn’t great but is well above the level of the program. And they were able to land Dooley, a former Kansas assistant that had a ton of success as FGCU the last five years, despite the fact that he knew he was taking a terrible job. Good for them.
AP Photo/John Minchillo
FINE, IF UNINSPIRING
9. TRAVIS STEELE, Xavier
Let me be clear on this: I do not think Travis Steele was a bad hire. I think he’s going to win at Xavier. I think he’s going to keep that program in and around the top 25, if not competing for Big East titles. This was the right hire. But he was always going to be the guy. This is what Xavier does. They promoted Sean Miller after Thad Matta left for Ohio State. He turned into a top ten coach in the country. After Miller left for Arizona, they promoted Mack, and ditto. Steele might end up on that same path. I wouldn’t be shocked. I just think that it’s more impressive to make a good hire at a bad job than it is to make the smart decision to hire from within when it’s the obvious move and what your program does.
10. TOM CREAN, Georgia
It’s not that I don’t think that Crean, the former Marquette and Indiana head man, is a good coach — I do — it’s that this hire is kind of a weird fit. Crean has spent the majority of his coaching career in the midwest, even if he did end up recruiting nationally more than he did within state borders by the end of his time at Indiana. Recruiting Georgia, and specifically Atlanta, is complicated, but it can be quite fertile if done correctly. Figuring out how to navigate the state will be the key to whether or not Crean outperforms his predecessor, Mark Fox.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
11. KERMIT DAVIS, Ole Miss
Kermit Davis is a good coach that had a tremendous amount of success at Middle Tennessee State and is familiar with the recruiting waters he’ll have to wade in at Ole Miss. I’m just not sure that I see the logic in Ole Miss firing the most successful coach that the program has ever had only to go out and hire a guy that basically does the same thing, just at 58 years old instead of 50.
12. DAVID COX, Rhode Island
This was probably the right decision for URI to make, given that Cox should keep some of the talent on the roster from departing. But he’s also going to be a first-year head coach taking over for a guy that made a program without much history nationally relevant. Those are big shoes to fill. We’ll see how it plays out.
Source: La Salle to hire former Louisville assistant Kenny Johnson
Kenny Johnson has been hired by Ashley Howard as an assistant at La Salle, making him the first coach that was fired as a result of the FBI investigation into corruption in college basketball to be hired once again.
Johnson, who had previously been on staff at Indiana and Towson, was caught up in the fall out at Louisville, where he was an assistant on staff under Rick Pitino from 2014-2017.
Johnson was not named in any of the FBI complaints, and a source told NBC Sports that he was not one of the unnamed Louisville coaches. He was, per the source, fully vetted by La Salle, and that they found no NCAA violations. The FBI has told Johnson that he is not a subject of their investigation at this time and that he has fully cooperated with authorities.
This is a hire that is not without risk. La Salle was not the only program to consider hiring Johnson this offseason — his recruiting connections run deep, particularly with Washington D.C. area kids — but they were the first to pull the trigger on clearing him to be hired. No one knows what else is on the FBI’s wiretaps, or where their investigation could lead if more people decide to cooperate.
Johnson coached at Indiana and Louisville, two of the biggest brands Adidas has on their payroll. It makes sense that schools would be scared off.
But I also think that this is a risk that is worth taking for a program like La Salle. Howard, a former Villanova assistant and La Salle alum, is getting a coach on the cheap that, frankly, has no business being at a middle-of-the-pack Atlantic 10 program. That’s big for a cash-strapped athletic department, and he should be able to pay them back by bringing talent into the program.
Johnson likely isn’t foolish enough to get caught breaking NCAA rules given the heightened amount of scrutiny that is going to be on him because of this investigation, and if anything from his past pops up La Salle can hide behind the fact that they did their due diligence, the FBI said he was not a subject of their investigation and, thus, they were lied to.
We’ll see how it all plays out, but it seems like the future of the La Salle basketball program is looking up.
On Thursday evening, the NBC Sports Network announced the more than 30 Atlantic 10 games the network will air during the 2017-18 season.
The full schedule includes three regular-season women’s games, as well as second round and quarterfinals coverage of the Atlantic 10 Tournament, which will take place at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. beginning on March 8. A10 games can also be streamed on NBCSports.com as well as the NBC Sports app.
The first game of the season to be aired on NBCSN will be a Big 5 clash between Temple and La Salle.
Here’s NBCSN’s full schedule:
Sunday, Nov. 26: Temple at La Salle, 5 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 9: Penn at Dayton, 3 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 16: Georgia at UMass, 3 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 23: Wagner at Dayton, 3 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 30: Fordham at VCU, 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 30: UMass at St. Bonaventure, 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 30: Davidson at Richmond, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 6: UMass at Dayton, noon
Saturday, Jan. 6: VCU at La Salle, 2 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 7: Davidson at George Mason, noon
Wednesday, Jan. 10: Richmond at Saint Joseph’s (women’s), noon
Saturday, Jan. 13: La Salle at Duquesne, 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 13: Saint Louis at George Mason, 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 13: George Washington at Richmond, 4:30 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 14: Davidson at Fordham, 3 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 14: Saint Joseph’s at UMass, 5 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 20: George Washington at VCU, 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 20: La Salle at Richmond, 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 20: George Mason at Duquesne, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 27: Duquesne at Rhode Island, noon
Saturday, Jan. 27: UMass at Fordham, 2 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 28: George Washington at St. Bonaventure, noon
Sunday, Jan. 28: Richmond at Davidson, 2 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 28: St. Bonaventure at Duquesne (women’s), 4 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 31: Fordham at Saint Louis (women’s), noon
Saturday, Feb. 3: George Mason at Richmond, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday,: Feb. 3: Duquesne at St. Bonaventure, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 3: George Washington at Dayton, 12:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 8: Atlantic 10 Championship Second Round (four games)
Friday, March 9: Atlantic 10 Championship Quarterfinals (four games)
March Madness 2017 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Preview, Bracket and Conference Postseason Awards
Atlantic 10 Player of the Year: T.J. Cline, Richmond
The 6-foot-9 senior forward was not only one of the most efficient players in the conference, he was the only player in the Atlantic 10 to rank top-5 in (18.6 PPG), rebounds (8.1 RPG) and assists (5.7 APG). He had a triple-double — 34 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists — against Duquesne and then recorded another one — 19 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists — in his final game at Richmond.
Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year: Archie Miller, Dayton
Last year, Dayton was in a three-way tie for first place. This season, the Flyers won it outright with a 15-3 conference record. Miller had to balance early-season injuries to Kendall Pollard and transfer Josh Cunningham, which shortended his frontline. Following a loss to VCU, which finished in second place, the Flyers went on a nine-game winning streak, capped with a win at home against the Rams.
First-Team All-Atlantic 10
T.J. Cline, Richmond
Jaylen Adams, St. Bonaventure: The senior guard was second in the conference in scoring at 20.8 points, and led the A10 in assists and 6.6 dimes per game.
Charles Cooke, Dayton: Also an all-defense selection by the A10 coaches, Cooke led the Flyers in scoring at 16.5 points per game to go along with his 5.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists a night.
Jack Gibbs, Davidson: The conference’s leading scorer at 22.0 points per game. The repeat selection registered a handful of 30-point games.
Marquise Moore, George Mason: At 6-foot-2, the senior guard averaged a double-double — 17.4 points and 10.5 rebounds per game — leading the A10 in rebounding at 6-foot-2. He was instrumental in an eight-win turnaround for the Patriots.
It’s been three years since the Atlantic 10 set a conference record by sending six teams to the NCAA Tournament. For the third straight year, the league is set to send half that amount, at best.
Rhode Island entered the season in the preseason top-25, but will likely remain on the bubble unless it makes it to Sunday’s tournament title game. Dayton won the league outright after overcoming early season injuries on the frontline. The Flyers are safe, as is VCU, who finished second to Dayton in the A10 standings this season.
The A10 wasn’t as strong as in previous seasons, but it could result in an eventful week in Pittsburgh. Will Dayton and VCU face off in a rubber match? Will Rhode Island secure its first NCAA Tournament bid since 1999? Or is there a bid stealer ready to make a run?
The Flyers topped the league for the second straight season; this time outright. After dealing with injuries early in the season, which played a role in a loss in a marquee home game against Saint Mary’s, followed by an upset loss to Nebraska, putting them on the wrong side of the Wooden Legacy bracket. However, Dayton enters Pittsburgh as winners of nine of its last 10. That span includes a win at Rhode Island and avenging a loss to VCU. Scoochie Smith, Charles Cooke and Kendall Pollard lead an experienced team with the league’s best offense, matched with a solid defense.
And if they lose?: VCU
The Rams finished second in the A10 and owns a win over Dayton. Like the Flyers, VCU has an experienced group led by seniors JeQuan Lewis and Mo-Alie Cox. Both meetings were decided by single digits. In both games, the Rams frontline, anchored by Cox and Justin Tillman, gave Dayton’s front court fits.
Will Wade (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Other Contenders:
Rhode Island: The Rams enter this year as the conference favorite. They certainly have the talent, and perhaps a sense of urgency kicks in as the Rams are still one the bubble.
Richmond: Led by A10 Player of the Year T.J. Cline, the Spiders head to Pittsburgh as winners of four in a row. However, Richmond is 0-2 against VCU this season, a team it could potential face in the semifinals.
Sleeper: St. Bonaventure
With Jaylen Adams and Matt Mobley, the Bonnies have two guards who can really light it up. While they finished the regular season 6-4, they did give both VCU and Dayton a tough test during meetings last month.
The Bubble Dwellers: One
Rhode Island: The Rams followed up a marquee non-conference win against a ranked Cincinnati team by losing four of their next six. A 21-win season, and a recent win over VCU, could keep URI on the right side of the bubble. However, a one-an-done performance this week could mean a long night on Selection Sunday.
Defining moment of the season: JeQuan Lewis takes a charge on in-bounds pass with 0.4 seconds remaining.
On Feb. 8, George Washington’s Yuta Watanabe hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left in a game against VCU. In lieu of going the length of the court for the next-to-impossible buzzer-beater, JeQuan Lewis drew a charge on Tyler Cavanaugh, sunk two free throws and the Rams left D.C. with the heist of a 54-53 victory. The previous game, a premature court storm by the St. Bonaventure fans, gave VCU a free throw, which helped force overtime.
VCU would have been on the wrong side of the bubble had it not won both those games, especially with Lewis’ quick thinking against the Colonials. Instead, the Rams are all but assured a seventh consecutive bid to the NCAA Tournament.
