Atlantic 10 Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2020-21 season

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 17: Hasahn French #11 of the Saint Louis Billikens celebrates a basket against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies during their Atlantic 10 basketball tournament Championship game at Barclays Center on March 17, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /

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VILLANOVA, PA – DECEMBER 01: Saul Phiri #13 of the La Salle Explorers (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

12. La Salle Explorers

Just like George Washington, it is tough to see the Explorers finishing better than 9th in a best-case scenario. I really like their coach Ashley Howard because of how good he is at getting the most out of his players and really allowing everyone to get an equal opportunity on that team.

The problem is Howard’s players don’t really compare with the rest of the conference’s best players. David Beatty, Ayinde Hikim, Sherif Kenney, and Scott Spencer are all solid pieces on this team. The return of Jack Clark should help with the departure of Ed Croswell (transferred to Providence) but, it will be tough to keep up with the rest of the conference.

One factor to the Explorers’ potential success this upcoming season could be their decent freshman class. Jhamir Brickus is a pure scorer out of the backcourt and big man Tegra Izay is a strong interior defender. If they can step up and become another reliable scoring option, that would go a long way towards spacing the floor and allowing for other guys to operate from beyond three.

Don’t be shocked to see La Salle finished with a few more wins than projected, however, it will be difficult to place the Explorer in the top 6 or 7 in the conference. I would love to see guys like Sherif Kenney and Scott Spencer step up and lead this team with a good seeding going into Brooklyn. I do trust Ashley Howard and hope to see La Salle perform well but it won’t be easy.

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