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Atlantic 10 Basketball: 5 key questions and storylines for 2021-22 season

By Tristan Freeman

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 15: The Atlantic 10 logo on the court before the game between the George Washington Colonials and the Richmond Spiders at the Charles E. Smith Athletic Center on January 15, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 15: The Atlantic 10 logo on the court before the game between the George Washington Colonials and the Richmond Spiders at the Charles E. Smith Athletic Center on January 15, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) /
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Atlantic 10 Basketball Jordan Miller George Mason Patriots (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Atlantic 10 Basketball Jordan Miller George Mason Patriots (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

3. After losing a key player to the portal this offseason, which team (UMass, George Mason, and Rhode Island) is best equipped to still finish in the top half of the standings?

Bernstein

I believe Rhode Island is equipped to still finish in the top half of the standings. I think this team will turn a lot of heads this season especially after their poor performance last year. They are returning essentially all of their players and even building onto their depth with the addition of graduate student Ish El-Amin. The backcourt consisting of El-Amin, Jeremy Sheppard, and Ishmael Leggett will make it difficult to count Rhode Island out of succeeding this season.

Chapley

George Mason is going to be really interesting this year. A new head coach, some key major conference transfers, and a standout returning center mean this team could easily compete for a top half seed. I think the floor for this team is slightly above UMass or Rhody so I’ll take the Patriots.

Cronin

All three teams profile similarly with lots of quality depth but are in desperate need of a pair of players to emerge as all-conference caliber to guarantee a top-half finish. UMass has the best candidates to do so, with Noah Fernandes now taking control of the offense and TJ Weeks, who in a pair of small samples, looked like a possible NBA 3 and D wing in year 1 and a low major player in year 2.

If Weeks starts making contested 3s again and the Minuteman gets decent offense down low from Penn St transfer Trent Buttrick, then they can somewhat offset the loss of Tre Mitchell on that end, while massively improving their defense behind the return of Preston Santos and finish in the top 7.

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