NCAA Basketball: Way-too-early Big 5 power rankings for 2019-20

#6 – Saint Joe’s

Like most St. Joe’s fans, I was excited about a new era on Hawk Hill heading into 2019-20. Martelli amassed what was, at times, tremendous talent on his roster, but his inability to find consistent results with that talent led to his termination last month. Last year’s Hawks team was projected to do plenty of damage, with Charlie Brown and Fresh Kimble returning after injury-plagued seasons to join up-and-comers like Taylor Funk and Pierfrancesco Oliva. If I had done this ranking last April, I wouldn’t have hesitated to rank St. Joe’s second to Villanova heading into last season. But, last year’s campaign didn’t pan out quite according to plan; they finished tenth in the Atlantic 10, finished 0-4 in Big 5 play, and Martelli was promptly fired after the season.

The good news for St. Joe’s was that their best players, the ones that were expected to lead the Hawks to the tournament in 2019, had eligibility remaining beyond last season. They also expected to welcome talented newcomers, with Delaware transfer Ryan Daly and Roman Catholic High School star Hakim Hart set to join the roster this upcoming season. The hope was that the ceiling was high for next year’s team, given a new coach could get the most out of the strong team Martelli had built.

Unfortunately for Billy Lange, the Sixers assistant coach hired to replace Martelli, he won’t have the chance to compete with that roster. Since Martelli was terminated, five players have left the program or entered their name into the transfer portal, and their three incoming freshmen, including Hakim Hart, de-committed from the program. Hart’s now committed to the University of Maryland, last year’s leading scorer Charlie Brown declared for the NBA draft (perhaps a year sooner than he might have had Martelli been retained), and second-leading scorer and veteran leader Fresh Kimble will play his final year of eligibility for Chris Mack at Louisville.

With starting point guard Jared Bynum, Lorenzo Edwards, and Troy Holston also entering the transfer portal, and Pierfrancesco Oliva’s injury almost certain to prevent him from playing come November (if he can continue his basketball career at all), St. Joe’s has a total of three scholarship players healthy and ready for tip in November. Lange did recently land his first recruit, UCF transfer Myles Douglas, but he’ll need a waiver to be eligible for next season.

The question right now isn’t about how the Hawks will stack up with the Big 5 or A10, it’s about how they’re going to manage to put a complete roster together in time for the coming season.