With Fouch back, Drexel looks to rebound from subpar season

BALTIMORE - Last season, Drexel was the preseason favorite to win the Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball title after taking the regular-season CAA title the year before. Out of the gate, however, the Dragons faltered, dropping their first two games in overtime. Eight games into the season, they were 2-6. They lost scorer Chris Fouch to a season-ending broken ankle in the third game and stumbled to a 13-18 record.

This season, with Fouch and two preseason all-CAA players, Drexel is picked second by a panel of league coaches, media members and media relations directors. How will the Dragons react?

"Our attitude is better," coach Bruiser Flint said yesterday during CAA basketball media day at an Inner Harbor hotel. "Some funky things happened to us last year, then we had a couple guys get hurt."

Fouch (1,194 career points) returns after receiving his second medical redshirt and being granted a sixth season of eligibility by the NCAA. Drexel's two first-team preseason selections are 6-6 junior Damion Lee (17.1 points per game last season) and 6-4 senior Franz Massenat (14.7 ppg).

Delaware's men are picked fourth. Last season, the Blue Hens (19-14) reached the CAA Tournament semifinals.

The Hens return guards Devon Saddler (19.9 ppg), a first-team all-CAA preseason selection, and Jarvis Threatt (13.0). Joining the Hens is senior Davon Usher, who averaged 18.8 ppg for Mississippi Valley State last season and was granted immediate eligibility.

"This will be a transition year for us," Delaware coach Monte Ross said. "We have a lot of unknowns. Losing Jamelle Hagins, the [CAA] defensive player of the year and our all-time rebounder, is a challenge for us."

Towson, winner of only one game two seasons ago, is the CAA preseason favorite. Leading Towson is 6-8 senior Jerrelle Benimon, last season's conference player of the year when the Tigers compiled a remarkable 18-13 turnaround record.

"We're embracing the expectations," Towson coach Pat Skerry said.

College of Charleston, in its inaugural CAA season after coming over from the Southern Conference, is the No. 3 choice.

Drexel's women's team also is picked second in the CAA. Top returnees from a team that compiled the best record in school history (28-10) and won the Women's NIT title are Meghan Creighton (5.9 ppg), from Archbishop Carroll, and Fiona Flanagan (5.4).

Delaware's women, minus the graduated All-America Elena Delle Donne, are ranked fifth. James Madison is the CAA women's favorite.

Media day was held in Baltimore because the CAA men's tournament is moving to the Baltimore Arena after 24 years in Richmond, Va.

"Baltimore is used to big events," CAA commissioner Tom Yeager said. "It has the NFL, major league baseball and a Triple Crown [horse] race, but it doesn't have March Madness."

"We're doing crabcakes and basketball [in March]," Towson's Skerry said.