Atlantic 10 Basketball: 3 key takeaways from 2022-23 season Media Day
By Tyler Cronin
3. Drew Valentine Got A Big Vote Of Confidence From His Peers
In Loyola-Chicago’s first year in the A-10, the Ramblers were picked to finish 4th in the preseason poll, despite being a relative mystery. Not only is Loyola switching conferences but they also only return two of their top seven players in terms of minutes. The Ramblers bring back a few talented sophomores and add four accomplished transfers but the lack of chemistry puts tremendous pressure on the youngest coach in Division 1.
The Ramblers will lean on a defense that has been great across the board the last few years (Top 100 in efficiency five years straight) but no longer has their go-to stopper, former Missouri Valley DPOY Lucas Williamson, who led them to being a Top 20 defense nationally the last two years. But Valentine sees a veteran that could step up,
"“I’m looking for Marquise Kennedy to be that. He’s been a really good defender for us but he hasn’t had to take on that challenge but he’s looking forward to it. He’s got a goal to be A-10 DPOY.”"
Meanwhile, the other newcomer-laden mystery teams didn’t fare as well in their prognostication. UMass and Rhode Island were picked 8th and 9th respectively, despite the presence of two successful coaches in the aforementioned Martin and Archie Miller. Duquesne finished dead last in the previous season but Keith Dambrot retooled the entire roster and yet the Dukes still came in at 15th place.
Next. 6 potential A-10 breakout stars for 2022-23 season. dark
Loyola may prove to have the most talented roster of these four teams but all will only succeed if their coach has a great season and by putting Valentine (25 career wins) this far ahead of a trio of 200+ win coaches, the voters (15 coaches + 14 media members) have declared that they see Valentine’s career taking off soon.