Temple chosen 2nd in A-10 preseason poll

Temple was picked to finish second behind Xavier in the Atlantic 10 preseason basketball poll, released today at the league's media day in Brooklyn. The voting was done by a panel of head coaches and media members.

Xavier garnered 304 total points and 18 first-place votes to place first. Temple, which has won three of the last four Atlantic 10 tournaments, had four first-place votes and a total of 287 points.

The Owls finished at 14-2 last year in the A-10 and 26-8 overall.

Saint Louis was picked third with 239 points, followed by St. Bonaventure (217 points), defending A-10 champion Richmond (196 points) and Dayton (168 points). Saint Joseph's was picked seventh with 165 points, followed by George Washington (163 points), Duquesne (151 points) and Rhode Island (117 points) to complete the Top 10. Charlotte, Massachusetts, La Salle and Fordham rounded out the 14-team league.

Xavier senior guard Tu Holloway and St. Bonaventure senior center Andrew Nicholson were both named to the Preseason First-Team All-Conference team. Holloway, the defending A-10 Player of the Year, and Nicholson, last year's A-10 leading scorer and a postseason all-conference first-teamer, were both selected last week as preseason candidates for the prestigious Wooden Award.

Temple seniors Ramone Moore and Juan Fernandez were also selected to the Preseason All-Conference First Team. Moore was a second-team all-conference selection last season and Fernandez was named to the third team. George Washington's Tony Taylor, a second-team all-conference honoree in 2010-11, rounded out the first-team selections.

Seniors Chris Johnson (Dayton) and Kenny Frease (Xavier) were both named to the preseason all-conference second team. They were joined by juniors Mark Lyons (Xavier), Chris Gaston (Fordham) and Kwamain Mitchell (Saint Louis).

Seniors Scootie Randall, of Temple, and Charlotte's Derrio Green were both named to the third team. Green's teammate Chris Braswell and Saint Joseph's Carl Jones, both juniors, were also on the third team as was Duquesne sophomore T.J. McConnell.

Holloway, Nicholson, McConnell were also selected for the All-Defensive team. Senior Darrius Garrett (Richmond) and sophomore C.J. Aiken (Saint Joseph's) were also named to the all-defensive team.

There was a tie in the All-Rookie team voting, resulting in a six-member team. Jerrell Wright (La Salle), Cady LaLanne (Massachusetts), Alonzo Nelson-Odada (Richmond), Anthony Lee (Temple), Dezmine Wells (Xavier) and Justin Martin (Xavier) were all named preseason all-rookie.