All-in on media days

Sometimes, you have an ideal day for college basketball news. Like Tuesday. I get to discuss the Atlantic 10’s media day, and then dive into preseason polls from just about every mid-major conference out there. That’s a dream day, at least for me.

(Rob Dauster is writing Thursday’s Daily, and since he wrote the SEC coverage for The Almanac, I left all that media day coverage for him. You can look forward to that tomorrow.)

Let's get to the news!

1. Everything you need to know about the A-10

The Atlantic 10 was on its game on Tuesday, showcasing its coaches and some of its star players at its annual media day. And for the second straight season, The Field of 68 was in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn preview the season, banter with coaches, and more.

You can watch a full recap of it below.

Not in the mood to stare at Dauster and Jeff Goodman yet? That’s cool. The A-10 preseason poll also dropped on Tuesday, and it was everything you’d expect from a hoops-centric league … with maybe one exception. I’ll get to that in a minute.

Once again, coaches and select members of the media picked Dayton to win the league. The Flyers will look to make its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the Archie Miller days, led by preseason A-10 POY, DaRon Holmes II.

The biggest obstacle in Dayton’s way is health. If it wasn’t for injuries last season to guards Kobe Elvis, Malachi Smith and Koby Brea, the Flyers almost certainly would’ve been better than 22-12 overall. If those three stay healthy, and Robert Morris transfer Enoch Cheeks meshes, Dayton should be the class of the league.

Meanwhile, the rest of the poll looks like this. See if you can spot my grievance.

Most of it is what you’d expect except for Loyola-Chicago, which is picked eighth (!) in its second season with the league. To be blunt, that’s too low. Kenpom, Barttorvik and EvanMiya all project the Ramblers to be a Top 85 team — which is either the second- or third-best team in the A-10.

Sure, the Ramblers had an uneven introduction the A-10 last season, finishing 10-23 last in the conference standings. But eighth feels low for the Ramblers, who return standout forward Phil Alston and bring in transfers Greg Dolan (Cornell), Dame Adelekun (Dartmouth), Patrick Mwamba (Oral Roberts) and Desmond Watson (Davidson.) The noticeable trend? Drew Valentine wants to recapture the defensive identity the Ramblers had during Porter Moser’s days. Adelekun, Mwamba and Watson all bring high-level defensive ability to the Ramblers.

Anyway, rant over. Here are some notable quotes from media day:

• College hoops fans wondered if DaRon Holmes was a transfer candidate, but it never crossed his mind. “I don’t know where a lot of the transfer rumors came from. But I chose Dayton because it’s home. This is the place for me.”

• Was Utah State to VCU a lateral move? Nah. Coach Ryan Odom explains that “the tradition. I wanted to be a part of that. This is just one of those jobs… it’s special man.”

• What did Drew Valentine learn in Loyola Chicago’s first A10 season? “The resources you need to compete in this league, that’s the first thing. Then what your roster needs to look like in this league to compete. It’s different than the MVC.”

• Saint Louis coach Travis Ford on NCAA tourney expansion: “I’m all for it. Put me in the ‘for expansion’ column, definitely.”

• The Billikens have major point guard questions, but Gibson Jimerson spoke glowingly about freshman Cian Medley: “Yuri (Collins) came in as a freshman and played a lot and Cian has a chance to come in and play. With him it’s interesting because he’s very vocal for a freshman, which impressed me. He’s mature beyond his age.”

• George Mason coach Tony Skinn spoke to the difficulties of coaching, beyond the basketball side: “I remember just going from my press conference and looking on my board and I only had three guys on my roster. I think that was the most nerve-racking part, because the portal is just such a crazy thing, man.”

• Loyola Chicago’s Phillip Alston had a long journey to playing high-level D1 hoops. “In my freshman year during a preseason workout, I collapsed and went into cardiac arrest. I woke up, people doing CPR on me, AED machine, all that. Get to the hospital, run a bunch of tests and it turned out my heart is normal. After doing a bunch of tests, it turns out I was anemic and I must’ve had some ulcer sores and I must’ve had small bleedings that I couldn’t tell.”

• UMass coach Frank Martin provided insight on Bob Huggins current life: “He hasn’t had a drink since that day. One day he’ll speak about what transpired. It’s more complicated than the story that got out. And it’s sad. But he’s in great spirits. He’s lost weight… He’s in a great place right now”

Not enough about the A-10? There’s always the Almanac. Just $20 for complete previews on every team.

2. Assessing MVC and WAC preseason polls

Let’s dive into the plethora of preseason polls from leagues.

The Missouri Valley poll is interesting.

Many probably assumed Drake would run away with the number one ranking. That isn't the case. The Bulldogs received 24 first-place votes, just ahead of Northern Iowa, who received 19 first-place votes among coaches and media. Bradley was third.

The Almanac flipped Northern Iowa and Bradley, which makes more sense. Bradley nearly represented the conference in the NCAA Tournament, and brings back two all-league players in Malevy Leons and Duke Deen.

The love for Northern Iowa is surprising. The Panthers' depth was crushed by injury, with Nate Heise missing most of the year. All-Conference selections Bowen Born and Tytan Anderson return, but the team only won 14 games last season. Are there enough improvements to warrant nipping on Drake's heels in the preseason? I don't see it.

Still, KenPom has Northern Iowa at 98 and Bradley at 99, plus four more teams in the Top 150. The Mo Valley is more competitive than most figured; Drake won't wake up and win the league by five games.

As for the WAC, this one’s pretty close to what we have in The Almanac, with one glaring disparity.

The Almanac ranks UT-Arlington fourth and Utah Valley seventh. The poll basically flips the two teams. Here’s a comparison:

• Utah Valley thrived under Mark Madsen, but he’s now at Cal. It hired Todd Phillips from within, so building a new culture can still take time. Plus, it lost three of its most important players in Aziz Bandaogo, Le'Tre Darthard, and Trey Woodbury.

• On the opposite end, UT-Arlington, which the Almanac favors, appears on the upswing. Newly-minted coach KT Turner did some major work in the portal adding Phillip Russell (SEMO), Fred Pauls Bagatskis (Georgia Tech), Quaye Gordon (NMSU) and Fabio Basili (Louisville.)

Bias aside (buy the Almanac!), the Mavericks have an exciting core with loads of upside that could reach the WAC’s upper-half.

Grand Canyon is the overwhelming favorite in both polls. The Lopes return important cogs from last year's tournament team: Jovan Blacksher, Ray Harrison, and Gabe McGlothan. The WAC has quickly become Grand Canyon's league to lose, year in and year out.

3. A new team to rule the MAAC

The MAAC usually runs through New Rochelle, but this year is different. Coaches tabbed Rider as the favorite in its annual preseason poll.

The Broncs will look to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994. And the player who can lead the Broncos there? Preseason POY Mervin James, who didn’t have a linear path to college hoops.

Growing up in the Virgin Islands, James had to find ways to play basketball. "Every Sunday, my cousins would go to the basketball court early in the morning right before the sun came out and it got too hot. Say like 6:30 in the morning, they out running basketball," James told The Trentonian "Around that time, my mom wakes up to make breakfast for everybody, and then you hear all the noise from your house."

Overall, Rider's chances of winning the MAAC appear better than ever — it's the only team with multiple players on the preseason All-MAAC first team, James and Allen Powell, paired with the addition of UMass transfer TJ Weeks. (Our guy John Fanta has more; he was on site for a MAAC preview show.)

Don't discount Iona's chances, though. The college basketball world is well aware of Tobin Anderson's coaching feats — and his Gaels have three players on All-MAAC teams: Osborn Shema (first), Joel Brown (3rd), and Idan Tretout (3rd.) Going from Tim Cluess to Rick Pitino to Anderson is tough to compete with. FWIW, The Almanac has Siena as the team to beat. Rider is 5th.

Also, Tobin is no fan of potential tournament expansion: “I hope they don’t touch the NCAA Tournament. Let’s not water it down.” Anderson said. Preach, Tobin, preach.

4. No surprises for the Ohio Valley and Ivy

If you’re looking for a surprise conference winner, it probably won’t be in the Ohio Valley. Not with Morehead State ready to roll.

Morehead State dominated the preseason poll. Coach Preston Spradlin returns conference player of the year Mark Freeman and has breakout candidate Drew Thelwell.

The Eagles missed out on the 2023 NCAA Tournament despite winning the league by three games. Expect them to roll again this season, and to be heavy favorites in the conference tourney.

The Ivy’s true home-and-home league schedule usually creates some tension toward the end of the season. Not sure that’ll be the case this season.

Yale took home 14 of the 16 first place votes, while one of last year’s March Cinderellas, Princeton, received the other two.

It’s no surprise Yale is the top preseason team after winning 21 games and finishing 65th in KenPom. The Bulldogs return a majority of it’s lineup, headlined by leading-scorer Matt Knowling and point guard Bez Mbeng. In all, the Bulldogs return four starters, with a clear expectation of earning that NCAA Tourney berth. The Almanac has much more insight available; Ivy League grads should be able to afford $20.

5. Sun Belt goes big, while Big South has a BIG

First off, props to the Sun Belt for staging its media day event at the Superdome. It’s awesome an awesome way to showcase teams.

The Sun Belt is usually up for grabs, and this season is no exception. Five teams grabbed first-place votes in the preseason coaches poll, though James Madison is the clear favorite with seven votes. (The Almanac agrees.)

But if it’s anything like last season, we could see some surprises. Southern Miss was voted 13th of 14 Sun Belt teams in 2022-23 and won the league outright.

James Madison features a strong core of breakout star Terrence Edwards and Boston College transfer TJ Bickerstaff. Coaches view the Dukes as the hardest team to prepare for, mostly for their speed (and maybe because last season was their first in the league).

Four other teams garnered first-place votes and six others received 100+ points in the preseason poll. If you’re not ready for Sun Belt mayhem, I suggest you buckle up and prepare yourself.

A league with significantly less variance is the Big South. Especially right now.

To nobody’s surprise, UNC Asheville was voted as the overwhelming favorite to win the conference. It features Drew Pember, who I view as one of the two best mid-major players in America. He’s the obvious pick for preseason POY.

Also, I would place a vote for UNC Asheville’s Mike Morrell as the most honest coach in America. “These preseason awards, we as coaches can say whatever we want, we know they mean nothing.” Morrell said. “They’re just for the media and for our fans. We’re all sitting here, looking at our watches trying to figure out when we have practice next.”

I would love some clarity on High Point receiving a first-place vote. It lost it’s two best players and coach, but still received a first-place vote?

Story time with Steve Alford

Let’s do a palate cleanser to close out today. Nevada coach Steve Alford took some time last week to compare his time as a star at Indiana to today’s college hoops environment — which eventually just morphed into telling funny stories from his time as a Hoosier. Enjoy.

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Links as you wonder if the House will ever have a new Speaker.

• Dick Vitale’s fighting vocal cord cancer, but says he’ll be back for a Nov. 28 game between Kentucky and Miami.

• The Big 12 expanded, and now it’ll go to a 20-game league schedule next season.

• If you ever needed 24,000-word MAAC preview, this is your link.

• NCAA President Charlie Baker wrote an op-ed in The Athletic telling Congress why it should help with NIL.

Thanks for reading The Field of 68 Daily! If you have a news tip or feedback, email us at [email protected].