Atlantic 10 Basketball: Top 5 rising seniors for 2018-19

5. Pookie Powell, La Salle

The La Salle Explorers will have a new look under head coach Ashley Howard. Howard becomes the head coach of La Salle after spending the past five seasons on the Villanova Wildcats coaching staff. After losing four seniors to last year’s roster, one player Coach Howard will rely upon heavily is point guard Pookie Powell.

Powell has been an impact player since transferring to the program from the Memphis Tigers after the 2014-15 season. Last season, he put up 16.9 points, 4.3 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game in 30 appearances, all starts.

He shot 31.6 percent from 3-point range as the Explorers finished with a 13-19 overall record and 7-11 in conference play. He didn’t earn any All-Conference honors given the final outcome, but that should change with new leadership. The culture change at La Salle should be noticeable in Powell’s case as their returning leading scorer.