By Ed Morrone
1) Hofstra: The table has been set for the Pride. Despite an unproven frontcourt, they bring back two of the conference’s best players in Loren Stokes and Antoine Agudio. They won’t run away with it, but expect to see Hofstra celebrating down in Richmond come March.
2) Drexel: The team that nobody is talking about in the CAA. Drexel returns four starters, including first team All-CAA performer Dominick Mejia. The Dragons are a dangerous bunch.
3) George Mason: Last year’s Cinderella darling will bring back a solid core, but the losses of Jai Lewis, Lamar Butler and Tony Skinn will prevent the Patriots from repeating any magic. However, don’t sleep on this bunch-head coach Jim Larranaga’s mission is to prove last year was not a fluke.
4) Old Dominion: The team that ended Hofstra’s season in consecutive years, the Monarchs sustained heavy losses in Alex Loughton and Isiah Hunter. However, ODU does bring back solid players in Arnaud Dahi, Drew Williamson and Valdas Vasylius.
5) VCU: Coach Jeff Capel took over for Kelvin Sampson at Oklahoma, which would normally be a cushing loss. But VCU made one of the best new hires in college basketball by bringing in Anthony Grant, an assistant on Florida’s national championship team last year. The Rams lose Nick George, but bring back solid backcourt players in B.A. Walker and Jesse Pellot-Rosa.
6) UNC-Wilmington: After all Mason did last March, most people forget that the Seahawks are the team that actually won the CAA Tournament. A repeat is not in the cards, as UNCW lost its head coach (Brad Brownell), best leader (John Goldsberry) and its best returning player (T.J. Carter) is banged up.
7) Towson: The Tigers have the most talented backcourt that nobody knows about. Senior Gary Neal led the conference in scoring last year, and Tim Crossin will build on a solid freshman season.
8) Georgia State: The Panthers are in transition mode, but with solid players such as Rashad Chase and Justin Billingslea, head coach Michael Perry has this program headed in the right direction.
9) James Madison: The Dukes return the CAA Rookie of the Year in Juwann James and somehow pried Abdulai Jalloh away from St. Joe’s, but they are years away from contending.
10) Northeastern: Talk about a tale of two seasons-the Huskies lost their coach and best returning player (Shawn James) to Duquesne as well as last year’s CAA Player of the Year in Jose Juan Barea. It’ll be a long first season for new head coach Bill Coen.
11) William & Mary: They must put something bad in the water down in Williamsburg: for the second straight year, the Tribe lost a standout player. This time, it was Calvin Baker, who left for Virginia.
12) Delaware: Even with Harding Nana, there wasn’t much to look forward to for Delaware basketball, so you can imagine how despondent things are looking without him down in Newark.