By all standards, last season was a rough one for Atlantic 10 Basketball. At the end of the non-conference schedule, it was clear that the league was likely getting just one bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. It ended up happening, as VCU defeated Dayton in the finals to represent the A-10 in the Big Dance, where they ultimately fell to Saint Mary’s in the Round of 64.
That takes us to the offseason, where all 15 programs have something to prove. It’s been a month and there has been a lot of roster movement, both good and bad for some teams. Here’s a look at where the teams currently stand a month into the offseason.
15. Rhode Island Rams
2022-23 season record: 9-22 (5-13)
It was a miserable return to the Atlantic 10 for Coach Archie Miller, who struggled with the incoming recruiting class. That includes Brayon Freeman, a talented scorer that never could get on the same page with the team. Ishmael Leggett was the lone bright spot on the roster but he transferred out to Pittsburgh, along with several others.
The hope is that this group of newcomers can exceed expectations. The top newcomer so far is Jaden House, who averaged 17.3 ppg at High Point. Luis Kortnight (10.3 ppg and 3.9 apg) comes from Quinnipiac and JUCO transfers, Always Wright and Tyson Brown, could be sneaky gets that become part of the rotation.
Rhode Island has certainly landed some players but all of them come from lower-lever conferences and outside of House, weren’t elite there. It’s obviously too early to tell how this group works out but right now, it’s the least talented in the league.