Richmond

Dayton and Xavier have legitimate Top 25 hopes, while usual standard-bearers like St. Joseph's and Temple may have to make way for up-and-coming programs like Duquesne, La Salle, and Richmond.

 

CollegeHoops.net's Preseason High-Major All-America Team is led by Tulsa big man Jerome Jordan, a potential First Round NBA pick. Jordan, along with the likes of Luke Babbitt and Chris Wright, is part of an impressive forward crop in this year's High-Majors. BYU, Illinois State, Memphis, Nevada, and Tulsa are the only schools with multiple players on the list.

 

Dayton

Duquesne

La Salle

Richmond

Temple

Xavier

Other (Charlotte, St Joe's, UMASS, URI, etc)

Overall Rank: #61

Conference Rank: #4 Atlantic 10

 

2009 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship
Boardwalk Hall - Atlantic City, N.J.

Wednesday, March 11
Game 1 - #8 La Salle vs. #9 Saint Louis - 12:00
Game 2 - #5 Saint Joseph's vs. #12 Charlotte - 2:30
Game 3 - #7 Duquesne vs. #10 Massachusetts - 6:30
Game 4 - #6 Richmond vs. #11 St. Bonaventure - 9:00

This week's CollegeHoops.net High-Major Player of the Week is..

Brandon Ewing - Wyoming
2 Game Averages: 25.5 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 52% FG, 61.5% 3P

Ewing has been one of the top performers in the Mountain West Conference all season long and this week was a prime example of what he can do. The 22 points on Saturday at San Diego State were nice, but the Cowboys came up short in that contest. Wednesday night though was a surprise upset of UNLV with the senior dropping 29 points on 8-16 shooting, including 5-8 from beyond the arc.

Editor's Early Preview (12/15):

While Wake Forest might simply have too much talent for Richmond, the Spiders rarely find themselves trailing by double digits due to solid coaching and quality team play.  Wake received a lot of off-season publicity due to their hyped freshmen, but it has been a returnee (Jeff Teague) who leads the way. Wake is the favorite, but the score might be closer than you think.

Rob Carpentier's "Seven Day Stretch" is a whirlwind tour around every corner of college basketball nation:

Seven Day Savior (Team): Gonzaga

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: 

Tony Gaffney (Sr.), Massachusetts.  While others may have scored more points, no player helped his team any greater on both ends of the floor than did Gaffney.  For the week, Gaffney averaged a double-double (13 points, 13 rebounds per game), and also intimidated opponents by swatting away five shots per outing, including a nine block effort against Boston College.  A model of efficiency on the offensive end as well, the senior shot 67% in UMass’ two close defeats.