Awards, quotes and a little insight

Media days and preseason polls mean one thing: We're getting ever so close to the college basketball season tipping off. We take a deep dive into the media days, preseason polls and all-conference teams. And don't forget, more in-depth coverage of all of the leagues is available in The Almanac.

Let's get to the news.

STARTING FIVE

1. Inside scoop on the A-10

When you need dedicated coverage of Atlantic 10 basketball this season, no place will have better insight than the A-10 Insider, a joint podcast from The Field of 68 and the league itself.

The first episode below is 40 minutes of expert insight from Jeff Goodman and Rob Dauster, all stemming from impressions last week at A-10 media day and their thoughts on what's ahead for the season. But the chef's kiss? That's a one-on-one interview with Dayton coach Anthony Grant.

Grant's team is not only the pick to win the league but has just its second preseason AP Top 25 ranking since 1967. That's a credit to Grant, who has won 20+ games in three of his five seasons at Dayton, and the Flyers' bevy of talent, which includes all-league players DaRon Holmes and Toumani Camara. 

The A-10 Insider will run throughout the season. More information on that here.

2. Big 12 superlatives (from coaches)

The Big 12 was college basketball's best conference last season, and it looks like it'll retain that title for another year. Unlike the SEC, the Big 12 posted its preseason poll last week, so Wednesday's Big 12 media day was all about the coaches and players. Here are notable takeaways:

• Mike Boynton is still salty about Oklahoma State's postseason ban — especially since that seems to be a one-off penalty compared to other schools.

• Texas Tech coach Mark Adams is hopeful Utah Valley transfer Fardaws Aimaq will return to the court in January. The man nicknamed “Big Maple” underwent surgery for an injured foot last month.

• Kansas junior DaJuan Harris is no stranger to being an underdog. He's an underdog again after getting left off the Big 12 preseason awards list. Strange for a point guard that coach Bill Self called “the most underrated player in the country.”

• Baylor’s Scott Drew advocates for 128 team NCAA Tournament field.

• How will Self replace the shooting of Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun? Look no further than freshman Gradey Dick, who caught the attention of two Jayhawk legends.

• Kansas State first-year coach Jerome Tang says Florida transfer Keyontae Johnson is good to go! The 2020-21 SEC Preseason Player of the Year collapsed during a non-conference game against Florida State in Dec. 2020; he will finally make his return to the basketball court this season.

• Is addition by subtraction a thing in Morgantown? From coach Bob Huggins: "Obviously we are going to be a lot better. We had a bad last year. I think our guys have fantastic attitudes, their work ethic has been good. It wasn't so much that a year ago, I think we've gained in subtraction in some regards."

• A note about coaches: Refs will enforce them not going beyond their coaching box.

3. SEC media day takeaways

Day 2 of SEC media day focused on the men and opened with league awards and the preseason poll, so we'll break those down first.

All in all — very few surprises from a rankings perspective. There's a clear top three in Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee, but you could justify four or five different teams in the 4-9 range.

Unsurprisingly, reigning National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe reeled in SEC preseason POY honors, while Colin Castleton (Florida), Nick Smith (Arkansas), Sahvir Wheeler (Kentucky) and Santiago Vescovi (Tennessee) joined Tshiebwe on the SEC first-team. Alabama standouts Brandon Miller and Jahvon Quinerly slide onto the all-league second team. Miller is a potential NBA lottery pick and could be one of the SEC's top players. For Quinerly, he might sit out until league play while rehabbing from an ACL injury.

To the takeaways:

• John Calipari insists Oscar Tshiebwe's recent "minor procedure" on his knee isn't a big deal and remains on track to play in the season opener.

• Bruce Pearl isn’t worried about losing Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler. Instead, the Auburn leader said “how much better is Wendell Green and Zep Jasper, KD Johnson and Allen Flanigan, Chris Moore and Jaylin Williams, Dylan Cardwell and Babatunde (Akingbola.)”

• Pearl is delighted that former assistant Todd Golden is now coaching Florida.

• Could Colin Castleton shoot some 3s? He was 0-for-9 last season.

• Missouri coach Dennis Gates spoke highly of Kobe Brown’s progression.

• SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey expanded on his NCAA Tournament expansion take. Many took issue with his phrasing.

• Mississippi State coach Chris Jans is lukewarm on expansion.

• Perhaps the biggest news of the day didn't have anything to do with the 2022-23 season. John Calipari said Kentucky and Indiana have an agreement in principle to begin a series in 2025.

4. Handing out more league hardware

While the Big 12 and SEC stole the national headlines, the Mountain West, Horizon League, CAA and Missouri Valley released their preseason poll and awards.

Mountain West: San Diego State (unsurprisingly) captured 16 of 20 first-place votes and is the top-ranked Mountain West squad, narrowly ahead of Wyoming. The Cowboys are the only team to feature two players on the all-conference list — Graham Ike, who also received preseason conference player of the year honors, and point guard Hunter Maldonado.

Colorado State’s Isaiah Stevens still managed to make the all conference list despite not knowing when he’ll actually play this season. 

Colonial Athletic: No surprises here. Towson takes the preseason top ranking following their impressive 25-win season. It returns four of five starters, including all-league first-teamers Cam Holden and Nicolas Timberlake. Hofstra's Aaron Estrada won conference player of the year last year and is the favorite to re-capture the award once again. 

Mo Valley: Out is Loyola Chicago, which opens the door for the Drake Bulldogs to lead the Missouri Valley Conference in 2022-23. The Bulldogs have preseason player of the year Tucker DeVries and first-team guard Roman Penn, who played a pivotal role in bringing Drake to national relevance recently. 

The two conference newcomers, Belmont (6th) and Murray State (8th) arrive from the Ohio Valley, but both look slightly underrated. The two schools have top-five potential.

Horizon League: This is typically one of the most competitive top-to-bottom leagues, and that will be true again this season. Six teams received first-place votes; Northern Kentucky and Fort Wayne tied for first. Antoine Davis from Detroit Mercy garnered preseason player of the year honors.  We have more coverage on Davis here.

5. Don't ignore the Northeast Conference

Don’t fret, NEC fans — we've got thoughts about the league's media day and polls as well.

If you saw Bryant and Wagner handle NEC foes regularly last season, it won't be more of the same in 2022-23. Bryant left for the America East and Wagner lost head coach Bashir Mason along with program legend Alex Morales. That leaves the top spot open for a bit of history.

Joe Gallo’s Merrimack squad earned the top spot in the conference preseason poll for the first time. However, the Warriors can’t play in the NCAA Tournament due to the NCAA Transition rule for schools going up to the Division-I level.

The NEC First Team consists of five players from different schools. Merrimack's Jordan Minor headlines the list as the only member from the first-place Warriors. 

One interesting note: Long Island may be in flux, (it lost Ty Flowers, Isaac Kante, and Eral Penn, while coach Derek Kellogg was fired late in the offseason), but returning player Tre Wood said, "I like the fact that we are unknown. I think it gives us that underdog edge"

THE FAST BREAK

Links as you enjoy a day with NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL games.

• Eastern Michigan's Emoni Bates posted about his recent arrest and state of mind on Instagram.

• DePaul junior guard Caleb Murphy had wrist surgery on Tuesday. He's out at least six weeks.

• Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse signed a contract extension.

• UNLV snagged a 3-star prospect in guard Brooklyn Hicks.

• An Arizona couple was indicted for trying to extort Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner. They'd falsely accused him of sexual assault.

THE DTF PODCAST

The return of a rivalry

Now that John Calipari and Mike Woodson have "agreed in principle" to start a series in 2025-26, it's a great thing for college hoops fans. Games between traditional powers are terrific for the game, both for hardcore followers of those programs and casual fans.

But you know who might be more excited than anybody else? The DTF crew.

Subscribe to The Field of 68 on YouTube here and subscribe here to the DTF podcast.