Explorers, Hawks picked for middle of A-10 pack

BROOKLYN - A year ago at Atlantic 10 Media Day, La Salle coach John Giannini was everybody's favorite interview, still illuminated in the glow that was the Explorers' run to the NCAA's Sweet 16 with three tournament wins, looking forward to what seemed like another NCAA berth. Saint Joseph's Phil Martelli was still a great interview, but his team was picked nowhere in particular after a 2012-13 season that seemed filled with promise but ended ingloriously. The Hawks were not taken particularly seriously last October.

Yesterday at the Barclays Center, Giannini allowed several times he was still "angry" at what went down last season when the Explorers finished 15-16. He promised it won't happen again this season. And he said his seniors have promised him it won happen again.

"I'm not going to let them forget that," Giannini said. "You know when we need to say we have a good team, when we hear our name on Selection Sunday. Last year this time, everyone was telling us we had a good team. We thought we had a good team. We didn't."

Martelli left the Barclays Center last March with his A-10 champions after the Hawks (24-10) beat VCU for title on a glorious Selection Sunday. The Hawks coach said he did not let the feeling go until his seniors graduated in May and now looks forward to a 2014-15 season that has more mystery than anything.

"We lost great teammates," Martelli said. "We won a championship because we had great teammates . . . That same idea of being a great teammate has stayed with our team."

The Hawks will have very solid senior point guard Chris Wilson running a show that lost those three terrific seniors (Langston Galloway, Halil Kanacevic, Ron Roberts) but will feature a sensational sophomore forward DeAndre Bembry (voted first-team all-league), several veterans, including Isaiah Miles and Javon Baumann, who will get their first chance at serious minutes, and a freshman class that includes highly touted forward James Demery from Greenville, N.C.

"We have really good guard play in Chris and DeAndre," Martelli said. "What we're going to need is to get these guys experienced and comfortable sooner rather than later. What we don't have is, we don't shoot the ball real well. So far, we're pretty good defensively. Some of that is going to be trial-and-error. If the games are going to be called the way they were last year, we don't want to foul."

La Salle lost its three guards who won a ton of games and got the Explorers back where they had not been in decades. Tyreek Duren and Sam Mills were there when it was bad and were gigantic in the turnaround. Tyrone Garland arrived for one glorious season and was part of another that did not play out for his team as anybody imagined.

Now, senior bigs Jerrell Wright (second-team all-league) and Steve Zack (third-team) are back for one final run with fewer familiar names and some newcomers to watch, including transfers Cleon Roberts and Jordan Price, redshirt freshmen Amar Stukes and Tony Washington, and true freshman Johnnie Shuler.

Giannini isn't at all sure of lineups or rotations at this point and does not seem overly concerned by it.

"I think our kids just want to win," he said. "I think they like each other and respect each other. I think they'll support whatever I do . . . I truly feel comfortable starting any of our guys right now."

But he does not want anybody feeling "comfortable."

VCU was a unanimous pick to win the league, getting all 28 first-place votes from a panel of the league's head coaches and media members.

La Salle was picked seventh, SJU eighth in what is now a 14-team league with the addition of Davidson.

Martelli was wandering around the building with a crutch. He recently had surgery for a torn meniscus. He decided to have it at 5 a.m. on the first day of practice. He went to practice and did what he usually does, getting in the middle of drills, coaching his team up. When the medication wore off, he wished he hadn't.

The SJU coach was looking forward to seeing the highlight video from last season. "We'll be on this year," Martelli said just before the tape was shown at lunch.

After this year, who knows, really? Predictions are based on recent history. The next bit of history will be made between mid-November and mid-March.

(First place votes in parentheses, followed by points total and last season's record)

1. VCU (28) 392 — 26-9

2. George Washington 343 — 24-9

3. Dayton 339 — 26-11

4. Massachusetts 294 — 24-9

5. Richmond 261 — 19-14

6. Rhode Island 253 — 14-18

7. La Salle 221 — 15-16

8. Saint Joseph's 201 — 24-10

9. Saint Louis 181 — 27-7

10. St. Bonaventure 130 — 18-15

11. Duquesne 94 — 13-17

12. Davidson 84 — 20-13

13. George Mason 82 — 11-20

14. Fordham 65 — 10-21

Note: Davidson competed in the Southern Conference last year.

2013-14 NCAA teams (6)

Elite 8: Dayton

Third round: Saint Louis

Second round: George Washington, UMass, Saint Joseph's, Virginia Commonwealth

First team

Jordan Sibert, Dayton Sr. G 12.2 points

Patricio Garino, GW Jr. G/F 12.1 points

Kendall Anthony, Richmond Sr. G 15.9 points

DeAndre' Bembry, SJU So. F 12.1 points

Treveon Graham, VCU Sr. G/F 15.8 points

Briante Weber, VCU Sr. G 9.4 points

Second team

Dyshawn Pierre, Dayton Jr. F 11.2 points

Kevin Larsen, GW Jr. F 11.4 points

Jerrell Wright, La Salle Sr. F 13.3 points

Cady Lalanne, UMass Sr. C 11.3 points

E.C. Matthews, URI So. G 14.3 points

Third team

Jon Severe, Fordham So. G 17.3 points

Kethan Savage, GW Jr. G 12.7 points

Steve Zack, La Salle Sr. C 8.8 points

Gilvydas Biruta, URI Sr. F 10.6 points

Youssou Ndoye, St. Bona. Sr. C 10.2 points

All-defensive

Patricio Garino, GW Jr. G/F

Steve Zack, La Salle Sr. C

Hassan Martin, URI So. F

Alonzo Nelson-Ododa, Richmond Jr. F

Briante Weber, VCU Sr. G