Preseason Prediction...

[elonhoops4life]

I am very excited for the upcoming season. With most players coming back from such a strong finish last year and adding new Freshmen and Grad. Transfers such as 4 Star Torrence Watson from Missouri and the 6-11 Andrew Junkin from Mississippi St. I believe the Phoenix will be a much better team this year than last. Taking into consideration as well that most teams lost star players to the transfer portal such as the CAA player of the year leaving Northeastern for Michigan St. James Madison losing a couple of there top players to transfers as well as other teams like Drexel,etc. Not to mention Charleston lost their entire team but maybe one or two players. I think the Phoenix are in a good position to make a push to the CAA Finals once again. I would be stunned if we are not a preseason top 3 team in the Conference. What do you guys think. Where do you see the phoenix being picked in the conference this upcoming season?

[elon_phan]

Good analysis. The Mississippi State transfer should be a big help. I agree things look positive for the Phoenix. Let's hope the team builds on the late season success.

[ncjon]

Here's how I would rank them at this point:

1. Northeastern - Loses all-CAA soph Tyson Walker to transfer, but returns the rest of its rotation and adds Notre Dame grad transfer Nikola Djogo and UAB transfer Tyreek Scott-Grayson and BilL Coen is one of the best coaches in the league.

2. JMU - loses leading scorer and CAA POY Matt Lewis to graduation/turning pro, but returns the rest of its rotation, brings in a solid recruiting class and has arguably the best returning coach in the league.

3. Drexel - They've got an upper class heavy roster, including all-CAA PG Cam Wynter, returning. I'm still skeptical of Coach Spiker, but this is probably his best chance roster-wise for a breakthrough.

4. Elon - We know the deal here. I'm expecting a big jump, assuming the guys with injuries make good recoveries.

5. Towson - A really deep team coming back. At the moment they're overcommitted.

6. W&M - Really young team this season. Should show some improvement, but still relying on a bunch of sophomores.

7. Hofstra - New coach Speedy Claxton takes over after they had an interim last year and a bunch of roster turnover. Another one with a bunch of questions. They've got five incoming transfers but the roster is still thin.

8. Delaware - Brings back all of its seniors for the extra year including all-CAA first teamer Dylan Painter and third teamer Ryan Allen.

9. College of Charleston - New coach Pat Kelsey is really, really good but that's a total rebuild after basically all the players left. He's brought in Bucknell's leading scorer in John Meeks, a couple DII players and JUCO and still has a bunch of open scholarships. A ton of unknowns so they're going to get ranked near the bottom in the preseason.

10. UNCW - Still a wreck.