CAA Basketball: Hofstra headlines 2019 conference tournament
By Zac Voynow
Teams to Watch
The CAA tournament is basically a three-horse race.
Hofstra, led by star shooting guard Justin Wright-Foreman is without a doubt the best player in the very competitive CAA. Hofstra can beat you in a variety of ways, but their best game is getting out in transition will their talented guards. JWF, Eli Pemberton, and Desure Buie make up a fantastic backcourt that can score the ball at will and set up big men with easy buckets on the run in transition.
The reason why I believe Hofstra is such a dangerous team in March is due to their guard play. Guard play is what wins in college basketball, and Hofstra has that in spades. You can’t forget about Jaqcuil Taylor, who leads Hofstra in rebounding and field goal percentage. He’s averaging 8.2 points, and 8.6 rebounds while shooting a ridiculous 71.7% from the floor. He’s not a star player, but every great team has those guys who know how to properly play their role to help the team succeed.
College of Charleston is probably the second most dangerous team in the CAA. Led by stars Grant Riller and Jarrell Brantley, Charleston doesn’t really have a weakness. This a team that has two big scoring options, and not much else. That’s why I’m not super high on Charleston, but at the end of the day this Charleston team can take down some giants when Riller and Brantley are hitting on all cylinders. This duo is not only most likely the best duo in the CAA, but they’re also one of the best guard-forward duos in the nation. Like I mentioned before if JWF wasn’t having such an incredible season we’d probably see Charleston represent the CAA in the big dance.
The last top-tier team is Northeastern. Northeastern isn’t as flashy as Hofstra or Charleston, but they still find themselves with the second seed in the CAA tournament. They find ways to win games. Sometimes flashiness gets the attention, but fundamentals wins the day. There’s a solid possibility that’s how the CAA tournament will play out.
Northeastern has a couple of very good non-conference wins this season as well. They took care of Harvard by 10 points, and they beat Alabama by 16 earlier in the season. Vasa Pusica is a very fun player to watch for this Huskies team, but he’s not the only quality player on the roster. six players on Northeastern’s roster average at least 9.0 points per game. three are in double figures, and two are at exactly 9.9 per game. This is a team that spreads the ball around and doesn’t rely on one man to carry them to a win.
Because of that, Northeastern could end up winning the CAA. If they play Charleston and they effectively take Riller or Bratley out of the game, then I’d put my money on Northeastern. Hofstra is a bit different, but it’s the same idea.