Atlantic 10 Basketball: UMass, Duquesne surprises in latest power rankings

14. Rhode Island Rams (2-6)

It’s been a rough start for new head coach Archie Miller and the Rams, who have had some internal issues with GW transfer Brayon Freeman. After missing a couple of games, he’s back and averaging over 12.0 ppg. They’ll need him to produce at the same level he did for the Colonials a year ago but at least things have improved there. The leading scorer is Ishmael Leggett, producing 17.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, and 3.1 apg.

The issue for Rhode Island is that none of the other transfers, including a few former top-100 prospects out of high school, have done much so far. No one else on the team is averaging more than 7.0 ppg and they are near the literal bottom of the country in three-point shooting at just 25%. If that doesn’t improve by a large margin, they’ll be in the bottom tier the rest of the way.

13. Loyola-Chicago Ramblers (3-5)

The Ramblers may be the biggest surprise in all of Atlantic 10 Basketball, having lost five of six games, including losing all three of the Myrtle Beach Invitational. They’ve dealt with injuries but for a team that was supposed to have depth, having only one player average double figures until the last game (Phillip Alston), isn’t going to get it done.

The good news is that Sheldon Edwards and Marquise Kennedy are getting back into the fold, while freshman guard Ben Schwieger is second on the team with 10.3 ppg on 36% from deep. This is a roster that has taken a while to adjust but they have a chance to rise up the conference ladder in the next couple of weeks, with matchups against Clemson and Stanford coming up.