Mid-major Basketball: Way-too-early top-50 power rankings for 2020-21

2. Richmond Spiders

2019-20 record: 24-7 (14-4 in Atlantic 10)

The Spiders were probably the biggest team surprise last season, doubling up in both total and conference wins from the year prior. At that time, their top players were all sophomores, which gives hope to the likes of St. Bonaventure and Belmont to take big leaps next season. It also helped that Blake Francis became the most valuable impact transfer overall, averaging 17.7 ppg after leaving Wagner.

He and the four key juniors (Nathan Cayo, Grant Golden, Jacob Gilyard and Nick Sherod) formed the most balanced and talented starting lineup in all of the A-10, even as good as Dayton. They just didn’t have an All-American on their roster like an Obi Toppin. As of now, three players are currently in the NBA Draft process. But all indications are that Richmond will return essentially their entire roster while adding Tulane sit-out transfer Connor Crabtree (7.1 ppg) to add even more depth off the bench.

Even if everyone does come back, it’s not a foregone conclusion that the Spiders will be as good as they were this past season. A year ago, there was a three-way fight between VCU, Davidson and Dayton as to who the best team in the Atlantic would be. We all know what happened with the Flyers, while Davidson struggled badly all season and the Rams fell off towards the last month of the regular season.

But what makes me optimistic about Richmond was how drastic a defensive improvement they made compared to a year ago. The balance on offense and defense (VCU had offensive woes) along with not having to rely on a single one or two players (Davidson didn’t have much outside of Kellan Grady and Jon Axel Gudmundsson) makes the Spiders much more likely to be more than a one-year wonder next season.