Atlantic 10 Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2024-25 season

9. UMass Minutemen

2023-24 season record: 20-11 (11-7)

Compared to preseason expectations, the Minutemen were a nice surprise, earning a top-4 seed in the Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament. But they’re going to have to replace the top frontcourt duo in the conference, as both Joshua Cohen and Matt Cross (31.2 ppg and 15.1 rpg) went to high-major teams via the portal.

How UMass replaces those two will likely determine how well their final year in league play will go. The incoming bigs include Malek Abdelgowad, 13 ppg scoring forward Daniel Rivera, and JUCO shot-blocking transfer, Shahid Muhammad. Former ASU forward Akil Watson could be a breakout player to watch while returning big man Daniel Hankins-Sanford could be the focal point.

Last year’s backcourt was young but showed promise. Despite losing Keon Thompson, look for Rahsool Diggins (12.8 ppg) to be the go-to guy on the roster, while Jaylen Curry is expected to take a leap as a sophomore, as well as Jayden Ndjigue.

With this being the last season in the A-10, look for the Minutemen to have a target on their backs. If the backcourt can take over and lead the way, they should be good enough to be in the mid-tier. They’ll need to have one of the new bigs to have a big impact as well to somewhat offset Cross/Cohen.