Atlantic 10 Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2020-21 season

DAYTON, OH - FEBRUARY 28: Trey Landers #3, head coach Anthony Grant and Ryan Mikesell #33 of the Dayton Flyers celebrate winning the Atlantic 10 regular season championship following their win over the Davidson Wildcats at UD Arena on February 28, 2020 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

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SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 22: Kerry Blackshear Jr. #24 of the Virginia Tech Hokies drives with the ball against Hasahn French #11 of the Saint Louis Billikens (Photo by Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images) /

Tier 1: Saint Louis Billikens

The Billikens are the team most often being mentioned alongside Richmond as a potential trophy winner next March and for good reason. Just like the Spiders, they’ll be returning essentially every player of consequence from last year’s roster, and they have an abundance of star power at the top of their rotation. Jordan Goodwin and Hasahn French are both walking double-double threats, and Javonte Perkins emerged as one of the best scorers in the league over the second half of the season (19.9 points per game over his last 14 contests).

The Bills don’t play a particularly aesthetic brand of basketball – they’re almost the stylistic antithesis of the Spiders – but they crash the offensive glass, get to the line at a high clip (though their percentage there is atrocious), force a lot of turnovers, and hold their opponents to low shooting percentages (36th lowest in the country).

The depth that Coach Ford will have to work with is solid; Yuri Collins was one of the best Freshman assist-men in the nation, his classmates Terrence Hargrove and Jimmy Bell both experienced noticeable growth as the season progressed, and Fred Thatch and Gibson Jimerson will both be back after playing just six and ten games, respectively, this past year. Keep an eye on Jimerson, a 43% three-point shooter, as a possible breakout star in the conference.

Health issues kept the Bills from being good instead of great last season, but if they can find a way to avoid those and to revive their late-season momentum (won their last five games), they could easily end up with the top spot in the standings.

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