Temple picked as Atlantic 10 favorites
NEW YORK – Three-time defending Atlantic 10 Conference champion Temple was voted as the favorite to repeat again in a vote of the league's head coaches and selected media members. The results were announced today at A-10 media day.
The Owls received 19 first-place votes and had 350 points. Xavier (325) and Richmond (311) each received three first-place votes and were picked to finish second and third in the league, respectively. Dayton was listed first on one ballot and finished with 310 points to place fourth in the preseason poll.
Rhode Island (233) was selected fifth followed by Saint Louis (223), Charlotte (218), Duquesne (172) and La Salle (133). George Washington (130) placed 10th in the voting followed by Massachusetts (126), Saint Joseph's (91), St. Bonaventure (80) and Fordham (28).
Temple's Lavoy Allen (11.5 ppg last season) was picked to again land on the all-conference first team. Four of the five players on last year's first team were named to this year's preseason first team including the reigning A-10 Player of the Year in Richmond's Kevin Anderson. Other members of the first team are Dayton's Chris Wright (13.7 ppg), Duquesne's Damian Saunders (15.0 ppg) and St. Bonaventure's Andrew Nicholson (16.4 ppg). Saunders was named the Defensive Player of the Year after finishing first in the league in steals (2.8 spg) and blocked shots (2.9 bpg) and second in rebounding (11.3 rpg).
The A-10 Preseason Second Team consists of Temple's Juan Fernandez (12.6 ppg), Tu Holloway (12.1 ppg) of Xavier, Rhode Island's Delroy James (13.2 ppg), Charlotte's Shamari Spears (16.0 ppg) and Fordham's Chris Gaston (18.0 ppg), last season's rookie of the year.
The Third Team was also represented by five different schools with La Salle's Aaric Murray (12.2 ppg), Dayton's Chris Johnson (11.9 ppg), Chris Braswell (9.5 ppg) of Charlotte, Cody Ellis (10.5 ppg) of Saint Louis and George Washington's Lasan Kromah (11.8 ppg).
The Preseason All-Defensive team consists of Anderson, Allen, Nicholson, Saunders and Xavier's Dante Jackson. The five members of the A-10 Preseason All-Rookie team include Dayton's Juwan Staten, Xavier's Jordan Latham, Saint Louis' Rob Loe and Saint Joseph's teammates C.J. Aiken and Langston Galloway.
Preseason Poll
(first place votes in parentheses)
1 – Temple (19), 350
2 – Xavier (3), 325
3 – Richmond (3), 311
4 – Dayton (1), 310
5 – Rhode Island, 233
6 – Saint Louis, 223
7 – Charlotte, 218
8 – Duquesne, 172
9 – La Salle, 133
10 – George Washington, 130
11 – Massachusetts, 126
12 – Saint Joseph's, 91
13 – St. Bonaventure, 80
14 – Fordham, 28
First Team
Lavoy Allen, Temple
Kevin Anderson, Richmond
Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
Damian Saunders, Duquesne
Chris Wright, Dayton
Second Team
Juan Fernandez, Temple
Chris Gaston, Fordham
Tu Holloway, Xavier
Delroy James, Rhode Island
Shamari Spears, Charlotte
Third Team
Chris Braswell, Charlotte
Cody Ellis, Saint Louis
Chris Johnson, Dayton
Lasan Kromah, George Washington
Aaric Murray, La Salle
All-Defensive Team
Lavoy Allen, Temple
Kevin Anderson, Richmond
Dante Jackson, Xavier
Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
Damian Saunders, Duquesne
All-Rookie Team
C.J. Aiken, Saint Joseph's
Langston Galloway, Saint Joseph's
Jordan Latham, Xavier
Rob Loe, Saint Louis
Juwan Staten, Dayton