At the (media) Summit

Good morning. If you’re in central Florida, we’re thinking of you. Stay safe.

1. A new power in the Summit League?

For the first time ever, Kansas City is the preseason pick to win the Summit League. While nobody is hanging banners for preseason awards, it’s a credit to coach Marvin Menzies to elevate the program to these types of expectations — in his third season.

Not that Menzies is listening too closely.

“In a normal landscape the preseason polls were probably a bit more accurate,” he told Rob Dauster and Jeff Goodman during Field of 68 coverage of Summit League media day. “Last year we were picked eighth and took second. You guys know we have to go out and play the games, I don’t mean to have the boring politically correct answer but it is true.”

That was from a portion of our media coverage, which was so expansive, it stretched into two live streams. Here’s part one.

And here’s a link to part two. And if you don’t have three hours to kill, here are some notable quotes:

• Oral Roberts coach Russell Springmann on roster construction during the portal era: “I don’t know if you could build for longevity anymore. (Dayton coach) Anthony Grant told me that on the road at Peach Jam. You really have to coach that group for nine or 10 months and then more than likely starting over.”

• North Dakota State coach Dave Richman on who to watch this season: “I’m anticipating a Rocky Kreuser-type format for [Noah Feddersen]. It took about a year and a half for Rocky to see what we saw. Noah needs to continue on shifting that mindset. Noah’s a dude, but he has to have that mentality every day in practice, putting eyes on the rim. He’s really figured out that offensive glass piece. He’s an elite defender for his size. The versatility he brings defensively, it’s just shifting that mindset to being a dude, a dog on the offensive side.”

• Denver guard DeAndre Craig made a bold claim: “I got the best Croc collection in the country.”

• St Thomas (Minn.) has incredible resources. From coach Johnny Tauer: “We’re eligible from the tournament a couple years from now and have a 185 million dollar arena that’s being built now.”

That’s a former D-III school. Wow.

Here are the full preseason poll predictions:

1. Kansas City

2. South Dakota State

3. North Dakota State

4. St Thomas (Minn.)

5. Oral Roberts

6. North Dakota

7. South Dakota

8. Omaha

9. Denver

And the All-Summit league selections:

First Team: Issac McBride (Oral Roberts), Kaleb Stewart (South Dakota), Treysen Eaglestaff (North Dakota), Amar Kuljhovic (North Dakota), Kendall Blue (St Thomas), and Jamar Brown (Kansas City)

Second Team: Oscar Cluff and Kalen Garry (South Dakota State), DeAndre Craig (Denver), Marquel Sutton (Omaha), and Jacari White (North Dakota State)

And if you need more Summit League analysis, I just did my league transfer trades last week. Read up!

2. How did the MAAC and Ivy predictions shake out?

The Summit League wasn’t the only conference busy discussing predicted finishes and all-league teams.

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