NEC preseason reactions

The coaches have spoken! Tuesday marked the second annual NEC media day (which continues to be excellent) and the release of the coaches pre-season rankings and all-conference team. After months of debate, here is what the coaches think:

1)      Wagner

2)      Robert Morris

3)      Bryant

4)      LIU-Brooklyn

5)      Central Connecticut State

6)      Mount St. Mary’s

7)      St. Francis Brooklyn

8)      Sacred Heart

9)      St. Francis (PA)

10)  Fairleigh Dickinson

The all-conference team looks like this:

Jason Brickman, PG, LIU

Kyle Vinales, G, CCSU

Dyami Starks, G, Bryant

Alex Francis, PF, Bryant

Jalen Cannon, PF, St. Francis Brooklyn

Chris: The coaches and I certainly don’t see things eye-to-eye on some aspects. To begin with, I’m not as high on Bryant as they are. If you haven’t checked out our NEC predictions on ColonialsCorner.com, I encourage you to click here and take a look. Bryant is taking anyone by surprise this year. Their record in their last ten games? 4-6. When the competition picked up and teams were prepared for a tough battle they didn’t fair well. I think they’ll be solid and this league is very deep, but I had them as my sixth overall team. The loss of Frankie Dobbs is going to be huge. Also, defense. You have to play it in the NEC. Only LIU, St. Francis (PA), and FDU had an adjusted defensive rating worse than Bryant last season. LIU might have gotten away with it but it wasn’t with a little luck in the way the NEC tournament played out.  

Also, maybe I’m crazy, but Mount St. Mary’s sixth? That team is loaded. The trio of Julian Norfleet, Rashad Whack, and Sam Prescott is trouble. Their backcourt is crazy loaded and their style of play is tough. They got really hot last year and I expect much of the same this season.

The only change I would make in the all-conference team is replacing Dyami Starks with Lucky Jones of Robert Morris. Jones is my player of the year. He went crazy shooting the ball last year and will be even more of a go-to guy with Velton Jones, Russell Johnson, and Coron Williams all gone. Besides that, he’s an incredible rebounder and a versatile defender.

Lee: Two things. One, Mount St Mary's will not finish below 6th. Last year, they were a young team, that took a bit to jell, but when they did they were a force. Wiggins is their only tough loss, but they have some good young players to replace him, including my NEC Rookie of the year pick Khalid Nwandu.

The coaches (and me and Chris for that matter) also really respect LIU and their 3 peat. With the injuries they've sustained this off season, including Julian Boyd's ACL tear, and Nura Zanna (Talib Zanna's brother, and potential NEC ROY), out for the season with a hand injury, the coaches still put LIU 4th. If Boyd doesn't come back near 100%, I can't see a top 4 finish.