CAA Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2020-21 season

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 10: The Hofstra Pride celebrate winning the CAA Men's Basketball Tournament - Championship college basketball game against the Northeastern Huskies at the Entertainment & Sports Arena on March 10, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

2 of 11

Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images /

10. UNC Wilmington Seahawks

Less than five years after back-to-back conference crowns, the UNC Wilmington Seahawks are officially hitting the reset button. C. B. McGrath was fired during his third season with the team after starting CAA play 0-6. After Rob Burke led the team on an interim basis, Takayo Siddle is now stepping into the head coaching role.

This will be Siddle’s first time as a head coach, but this is not his first time with the Seahawks. He served as an assistant from 2014 to 2017 under Kevin Keatts, the glory years of UNC Wilmington basketball, before moving with Keatts to be an assistant at NC State for the last three years.

Siddle is a great fit for this team, but it will probably take time to get the Seahawks going in the right direction. They’ve already taken their first hit of the season, with senior guard Jay Estime set to miss the season because of a torn ACL, the second straight year a knee injury has derailed Estime.

Last year’s two leading scorers return in Jaylen Sims (11.8 points per game) and Ty Gadsden (10.6 points per game). The team’s most important player, however, might be sophomore guard Shykeim Phillips. He appeared on the CAA All-Rookie team last season after averaging 9.5 points and 1.6 steals per game; his development will determine how quickly the Seahawks can get back into the conference contender conversation.

Home/NCAA Basketball News