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) /

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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – MARCH 22: De’Riante Jenkins #0 of the Virginia Commonwealth Rams reacts against the UCF Knights in the second half during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

1. VCU Rams (Tier-1)

There would be no justification for putting any team other than the Rams in the top spot. They went 16-2 in A10 play last season (and most of those games weren’t even close), and they should essentially be an older, more connected version of that same team next year. The only two players of any consequence from last year’s roster that the team will be without are Sean Mobley (transfer) – 4.2 points, 2.5 rebounds per game – and Michael Gilmore (graduated) – 2.8 points per game.

With basically everyone coming back, it’s not difficult to imagine the Rams matching or even surpassing their win total from last year. Their defense should continue to rank in the nation’s top ten for efficiency, and in terms of experience and chemistry, all four of last year’s top scorers will be upperclassmen.

The most surprising of all of them was undoubtedly Marcus Santos-Silva, the big man who averaged 10 points and 7.4 boards per contest and who came through with an outrageous 26 point, 22 rebound performance against Rhody in the A10 Tournament. He was expected to be strong coming into the season, but he wasn’t supposed to be one of the team’s top producers. Now, he has a chance to become a bona fide star and to earn himself a place on the first team all conference.

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Combine Santos-Silva’s bullishness in the post with a (hopefully fully healthy) Marcus Evans-led backcourt, and that already has the makings of an A10 title contender. Add in role players like De’Riante Jenkins, Issac Vann, and Vince Williams, and it becomes very tough to see any teams overtaking the Rams, even in an improved A10.

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