Atlantic 10 Basketball: 2021-22 storylines and questions heading into league play

Most Important Players

Many of the top teams in the A-10 were carried in the non-conference by stellar performances from improved players, but to win the conference, they will need big numbers from some established stars.

Luka Brajkovic, Davidson 

Brajkovic has spent the last four seasons as Davidson’s overlooked, steady hand in the low post, putting up at least 10.0 ppg and 5.0 rpg in each of his seasons. The second half of the Alabama win was a great reminder of his value, as the Austrian shot 6-7 for 13 points, taking advantage of an unclogged paint, while the defensive was focused on slowing Davidson’s three-point assault.

At its best, Davidson’s offense is led by Hyunjung Lee and Foster Loyer, as the nation’s #2 three-point shooting team fires a barrage from beyond the arc. But on nights when the Wildcats go cold, they have very few reliable ways to score from inside the arc and will need to lean heavily on Brajkovic in the low post and offensive glass to keep Davidson away from a damaging loss.

Kyle Lofton, St. Bonaventure

The three games Lofton missed with injury taught us that St. Bonaventure can still maintain a strong offense without him, but not one capable of getting the big wins the Bonnies are shooting for.

Great Lofton performances have been the signature of some of the best wins of the last two years (23 points, 6 assists in 2021 A-10 Title Game; 17 points, 7 assists vs Boise St; 22 points vs Clemson) but he has shot poorly in four of the last five Bonnies losses (the other he didn’t play in) dating back to last year, going 11-45 from the field in those games. Lofton is on a path to another First Team All-Conference but maintaining that level of excellence is a necessity for St. Bonaventure’s biggest games.

Grant Golden, Richmond

On paper, Golden, the elder statesmen of college basketball, is putting up his best season, as his scoring and shooting percentages are up and his assists and rebounds are steady from last season, but as a veteran leader, he will be judged by whether or not Richmond can finally grab that elusive NCAA Tournament bid.

For years, the Spiders’ offense has always been at its best when Golden channels his inner Nikola Jokic and slices up defenses with high and low post assists.  This year, more of those assists are leading to jumpers, which is wonderful much of the game, but tougher to accomplish in crunch time, where Richmond has been dreadful.

Richmond needs to start finding more layups in their set offense again, behind their Fulcrum (Golden) and Maestro (Jacob Gilyard). A proxy stat to monitor in this regard, Golden’s frontcourt partner and cutter extraordinaire Nathan Cayo has had to navigate a more crowded paint and has seen decent dips in scoring (12.2 ppg to 8.0 ppg) and field goal attempts (8.8 to 6.2). The signature of Richmond’s offense for years has been Golden finding a wide open Cayo for an easy 2 points.

Ace Baldwin, VCU

Baldwin is back ahead of schedule from a gruesome Achilles injury to supplement VCU’s elite defense (he was 2nd in A-10 in steals last year) and lift up the Rams’ putrid offense.  Playing limited minutes in his first 3 games back, Baldwin has shown a multitude of ways to contribute.

He’s been scoring (10 ppg, tied for 2nd on team), getting to the foul line (16 free throw attempts), and getting back in the distribution business (5 assists in 2nd game, 9 assists in 3rd game).  Baldwin also snagged a Briante Weber-esque six steals in 19 minutes in his return game.  Most importantly, he “aced” the eye test, looking as quick and explosive as before the injury.

D’Shawn Schwartz, George Mason

There is no denying that Schwartz is a big-game performer. Last year at Colorado he shot 56.5% from the field and scored 12.5 ppg in the team’s biggest games (NCAA Tournament, PAC-12 Title Game, Ranked Opponents). He scored 8.5 ppg on 37.3% fg % in all other games.  If you need any other proof from his Colorado career, Schwartz also inflicted more pain on Dayton fans in 2019-20 than any other human being.

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This year, Schwartz has had 2 of his 3 20-point games on the road in upsets over Power 5 teams Maryland and Georgia. And while Schwartz has become a more consistent player this season, he’s still had 4 single-digit scoring games, games that represent 4 of George Mason’s 5 losses. When Schwartz has been at his best, George Mason has looked like a better-than-average A-10 team.