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

#35: Cameron Brown, Guard (Saint Joe’s Hawks)

Brown quietly had one of the most exciting seasons among A10 freshmen last year, and there’s reason to believe that he can eventually become a star for the Hawks. It took him a while to find his rhythm in his debut campaign, but he averaged 11.9 points per game in conference play and 13.7 over the course of his final seven contests.

His 31.7% season three-point shooting doesn’t jump off the stat sheet, but he has confidence pulling the trigger and a naturally aesthetic release, so that number should move into the mid-high 30’s this time around. He displayed that potential at various points in the season last year, going 4/6 from deep twice, 5/7 in one contest, and 5/9 in another. He’s also a decent rebounder given his 6’5” 210-pound frame, posting 4.3 boards per game for the year.

Saint Joe’s is a team that many are discounting because of how atrocious the last edition of the roster was, but they have the potential to sneak out of the bottom 4 this year, and a possible breakout season from Cam Brown is one of the main reasons why.

#34: Jameer Nelson Jr., Guard (GW Colonials)

The rising Sophomore son of the former Saint Joe’s star finished his first season with clear room for improvement in certain facets, but he made it evident that he can eventually become a star in Jamion Christian’s system. He played 31 minutes per game as a freshman, and he ended up averaging 10.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game on the year.

He did shoot just 25.0% from deep (42.1% overall), and he turned the ball over too often (3 times per game), but as a highly-touted freshman on a rebuilding team, the weight that Nelson had to carry would have been detrimental to many a developing player’s statistics. GW will probably be a middling team this season, but I expect that Nelson will improve in his decision-making and that his increased confidence running the offense will lead to more efficient numbers across the board.

#33: Carl Pierre, Guard (UMass Minutemen)

Pierre went cold for prolonged periods over the course of this past season, but he’s certainly good enough at his best to still deserve a spot in the top 35 of this list. While UMass fans didn’t get the 40+% long-ball shooter that Pierre was over the course of his first two campaigns, he still managed to finish the season looking solid on paper. 33.5% three-point shooting is still respectable, and he put up 12.1 points per game and could occasionally win games by himself when he was hot.

One thing that could go a long way towards gaining back some of the confidence and momentum that he had as an underclassman is the return of TJ Weeks, UMass’ other bona fide shooter, which will provide more amicable floor-spacing for the rest of the lineup. Pierre will be one of just two Seniors for UMass this season, and as a proven (even if shaky at times) A10 shooter, he’ll play an important role on a roster with an abundance of talent but little experience.

#32: Joel Soriano, Center (Fordham Rams)

Soriano improved significantly over the course of his freshman season, and by the end of the year, he was one of the very few bright spots on an absolutely dismal Fordham team. He averaged 4.8 points and 6.6 boards per game on the year, but over his final 10 games, those numbers made drastic leaps into double-double territory at 11.5 & 10.5, respectively.

Even on a bad team, it’s no easy feat for a freshman big to put up a double-double over a 10 game stretch. Fordham should still be pretty awful this year (you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t have them finishing in the bottom two of the A10 standings), but Soriano has a chance to emerge as one of the most reliable bigs in the league if he can keep his end-of-the-year rhythm going. He still has plenty of room to grow on the defensive end, but there’s plenty of time for that to happen.

#31: Yuri Collins, Guard (Saint Louis Billikens)

Collins is a player that Saint Louis fans should be extremely excited about moving forward, even with players like Hasahn French, Jordan Goodwin, and Javonte Perkins also on the roster. He had an up and down season as a Freshman, but he was rarely at 100% health, and he still managed to end up 35th in the country in assists per game.

His discipline lapsed at times, but that’s a common symptom of being a freshman A10 Point Guard, and the court vision and play-making abilities that he displayed were undeniable. On an SLU roster that should be absolutely loaded by A10 standards this season, Collins should thrive as a (hopefully) healthier and more mature version of the player that he was last year. If everything breaks right, he could easily end up as a top-10 assist man in the country this time around.