A-10 Basketball: Way-Too-Early 2019-2020 Power Rankings

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 13: Maceo Jack #14 of the George Washington Colonials handles the ball against Carl Pierre #12 of the Massachusetts Minutemen in the second half during the first round of the 2019 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament at Barclays Center on March 13, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images) /

12 of 15

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 15: Tyrese Martin #4 and Jeff Dowtin #11 of the Rhode Island Rams celebrate against the Virginia Commonwealth Rams during their Atlantic 10 basketball tournament quarterfinal game at Barclays Center on March 15, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /

4. Rhode Island Rams (Tier-2)

Rhody fans should be ecstatic for the upcoming season. In what was supposed to be a rebuilding year in ‘18-19, the Rams finished a solid 9-9 in conference play, made a deep run in the A10 Tournament, and were the only team to beat both VCU and Dayton. Now, the big three of Cyril Langevine, Jeff Dowtin, and Fatts Russell will all be upperclassmen, and what had been the most highly-touted freshman class in the conference will have a year of experience under their belts. As far as incoming talent goes, JUCO transfer Jeremy Sheppard is a killer from three (44.2%), and Coach Cox once again found a way to reel in one of the A10’s most promising recruiting classes (second only to UMass according to 247Sports).

The Rams struggled mightily with consistency in Cox’s first season, but that was to be expected. They had graduated half of their roster from a season ago, undergone a coaching change, and had been relying on Freshmen to provide significant minutes. This season, there should be a much stronger sense of identity and confidence in the locker room, and it’s hard to see them losing to Fordham at home or by 34 points to Dayton (or anyone, for that matter) again. I have them in the fourth position for now because of how strong the top three are, but no one should be surprised if they finish even higher.

Home/Atlantic 10