Atlantic 10 Basketball: Ranking of top 50 returning players for 2020-21 season

#50: Preston Santos, Forward (UMass Minutemen)

Santos was the consummate “glue guy” last season for a young UMass team that ended up surprising some people in the A10 standings. He’s not the type of player that’s ever going to put up 35 points in a game, but he knows where to be on the floor at all times, punches above his weight on the boards, can defend multiple positions and rarely makes bad decisions with the ball.

Another thing that’s particularly encouraging is how much he improved over the course of the season. His conference-play numbers don’t jump off the page, but he was extremely efficient in his 22.1 nightly minutes with averages of 6.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, and just 0.6 turnovers. His shooting form is far from pretty, but he can be relied upon to knock down open threes as well (45.7% from deep in conference).

He still has a ways to go in terms of his ball-handling and ability to create his own shot, so it will be interesting to see how he fits into what should be a much deeper UMass rotation next season, but it’s hard to see him riding the pines both because of how hard and how smart he plays.

#49: David Beatty, Guard (La Salle Explorers)

Playing 26.2 minutes per game for the Explorers last season, Beatty was rarely one of the most electric players on the floor, but he was usually a safe bet to put up double figures in a relatively efficient way each time out. On the season, he averaged a respectable 10.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, and he only improved as the year went on.

Over the course of the Explorer’s final 13 games, for example, Beatty eclipsed the 10-point mark on all but two occasions. In terms of efficiency, his numbers are pretty much what one would expect: not fantastic, but solid across the board — 41.5% from the floor, 33.3% from deep and 71.4% from the line. It’s tough to predict exactly how La Salle’s rotation will look next season, but Beatty is someone who Ashley Howard can continue to feel confident in giving close to 30 minutes per night.

#48: Maceo Austin, Guard (Duquesne Dukes)

Austin had an up and down freshman campaign, but he showed flashes of the legitimate A10 starter that he can eventually blossom into. On a Duquesne team that had one of the deepest backcourts in the A10, he found his way to 7.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while shooting a not-great-but-serviceable 40% from the floor.

He also reached double figures on eight separate occasions, including in close wins over George Mason and Davidson. The Dukes will still be deep in the backcourt this season, so Austin’s usage rate isn’t primed to undergo a dramatic increase, but if he can be even just a little bit more consistent and efficient across the board, he will likely end up as a double-digit scorer on a competitive squad.

#47: Chuba Ohams, Forward (Fordham Rams)

Ohams only played in 13 of the Rams’ contests last season, but there’s no doubt that he was one of the team’s best players during the time that he was available. He can score the ball decently well and is also one of the more reliable rebounders in the conference. As far as numbers go, he averaged 11.0 points and 8.4 rebounds per game while shooting 46.9% from the field last season.

With fellow big man Joel Soriano finishing the year playing as well as he was, it will be interesting to see what kind of chemistry the two of them will have on the block for the Rams moving forward. If everything goes well, they could make up a surprisingly good front court — almost certainly not enough to get the team out of the bottom 4 — but still, they might be able to steal a game or two from better teams that happen to be thin down low.

#46: Jermaine Harris, Forward (Rhode Island Rams)

With so many of the players from last year’s Rams’ roster no longer on the team, Harris is primed to see a significantly increased role in this upcoming season. He averaged just 17.7 minutes per contest last year, but for the most part, he was able to make valuable use of his time.

Averaging 5.3 points and 3.0 rebounds for what was a very competitive (except over the final few weeks of the season) Rams team, Harris was somewhat inconsistent, but he showed glimpses of what he could become in the post-Cyril Langevine era. There was a three-game stretch in December, for example, where he put up a combined 38 points while shooting 15/21 from the floor.

His season 41.2 FG% isn’t exactly what one wants to see out of a post player on paper, but he passes the eye test in terms of his athleticism and skill, so there’s hope that more consistent playing time will help him find his rhythm. If the incoming Mitchell twins (transfers from Maryland) aren’t granted waivers to play, Harris will be forced to play an extra critical role in the rotation, so keep an eye on him as a potential breakout candidate within the conference.