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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BALTIMORE, MD – MARCH 07: Justin Wright-Foreman #3 of the Hofstra Pride drives to the basket past Devontae Cacok #15 of the North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks during the Colonial Athletic Conference Championship college basketball game tournament at Royal Farms Arena on March 7, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD – MARCH 07: Justin Wright-Foreman #3 of the Hofstra Pride drives to the basket past Devontae Cacok #15 of the North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks during the Colonial Athletic Conference Championship college basketball game tournament at Royal Farms Arena on March 7, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

3. Hofstra

2018-2019 Record: 27-8 (15-3) – 1st in CAA

Hofstra’s terrific 2018-2019 season ended in disappointment when they lost to Northeastern in the CAA Championship game. They were led by Division 1’s leading scorer Justin Wright-Foreman. Arguably the greatest player in Hofstra history, he used his senior season to propel himself to an NBA draft selection. Hofstra also loses leading rebounder and Senior leader, 6’10 Jacquil Taylor. Despite tons of talent behind those two, it remains remarkably hard to replace 35.6 PPG and 12.8 RPG in just two players.

Leading the way this season is second-leading scorer and preseason First-Team All-CAA Eli Pemberton, as well as starting point guard Desure Buie. They create a strong foundation, yet both will need to take big steps forward to try to replicate the production of the nation’s leading scorer and the 7th best scoring offense in the country. However, it’s behind those two where the questions loom. Size is especially an issue – losing Taylor for a roster that was already thin on size is a major issue. They bring back only 10.7 minutes a game of players over 6’8 on the roster.

There’s no doubt that the building blocks are in place for Hofstra to have another strong season in the CAA. They bring back some experience and production from what was an unquestioned success last year. Their ceiling could be quite high if their inexperienced bigs play well, and Pemberton and Buie take on an increased offensive load. Despite this, there are still some holes in this roster, and they have more to prove than other teams above them. They could very well blossom into CAA Champions a year after expected, and no one would be overly-shocked.