Busting Brackets
Fansided

CAA Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2019-20

By Matthew Winick

SYRACUSE, NY - DECEMBER 04: Anthony Green #30 of the Northeastern Huskies dunks the ball as Elijah Hughes (R) of the Syracuse Orange defends during the first half at the Carrier Dome on December 4, 2018 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)
SYRACUSE, NY - DECEMBER 04: Anthony Green #30 of the Northeastern Huskies dunks the ball as Elijah Hughes (R) of the Syracuse Orange defends during the first half at the Carrier Dome on December 4, 2018 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images) /
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – DECEMBER 22: Kihei Clark #0 of the Virginia Cavaliers shoots between Nathan Knight #13 and Luke Loewe #12 of the William & Mary Tribe in the first half during a game at John Paul Jones Arena on December 22, 2018 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – DECEMBER 22: Kihei Clark #0 of the Virginia Cavaliers shoots between Nathan Knight #13 and Luke Loewe #12 of the William & Mary Tribe in the first half during a game at John Paul Jones Arena on December 22, 2018 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images) /

8. Drexel

2018-2019 Record: 13-19 (7-11) – 6th in CAA

Banking on an improved season from Drexel in 2019-2020 in banking on internal improvement. The Dragons had a decent year last season, with a relatively efficient offense, and solid playmaking. They didn’t wow in any categories, and weren’t as one-sided as a team like UNC Wilmington, yet they still finished significantly below .500 on the year.

Gone from last season is leading scorer Troy Harper, second-leading scorer and rebounder Alihan Demir, and leading three-point shooter Trevor John. Despite still having productive pieces from last season, that’s a whole lot to lose for a team that wasn’t even average last year. It’s easy to project their young pieces to improve this season, but the level of improvement will have to be astronomical to take a leap in the standings.

The Dragons may still be a fun team to watch this season. They have tons of youth and will likely still put up points as they did last season. However, their non-Conference schedule is rather pedestrian, and may not prepare their inexperienced players for CAA play. Should the players being pressed into higher usage roles perform well to start the season, this ranking may seem low.

7. William and Mary

2018-2019 Record: 14-17 (10-8) – 4th in CAA

Following the unexpected firing of Tony Shaver after last season, a mass exodus of William and Mary basketball players. Transferring out were Justin Pierce, Matt Milon, Chase Audige, and LJ Owens – the second, third, fourth, and fifth leading scorers from last year’s team. Including the graduation of their sixth-leading scorer, Paul Rowley, the talent was simply stripped from the Tribe squad.

Notice, however, that none of those players was their leading scorer. Nathan Knight, the All-CAA First-Teamer who averaged 21 PPG, 8.6 RPG and 3.5 APG while shooting an outstanding 58% from the field is still in tow. Considering he and Charleston’s Grant Riller are the only two members of the All-CAA First Team still playing in the league, and he’s an unbelievable starting block.

Admittedly, the rest of the roster is not up to par. New coach Dane Fischer was able to pull two grad transfers after the departure of so many of his players, and former Wisconsin Badger, 7’0 Center Andy Van Vliet could pair with Knight to make the best frontcourt in the CAA. At the end of the day, this roster may be one of the least talented in the league. Despite all of this, I’m not going to bet against one of the best Forwards in the country this season stealing a few games for William and Mary.