Over the past five seasons, Xavier has held a stranglehold over the rest of the Atlantic 10 and is unlikely to loosen their grip anytime soon.
There’s only one question when discussing A-10 teams this season; who can beat Xavier?
Under the helm of current head coach Chris Mack and former head coach Sean Miller, the Musketeers have built themselves into a mid-major powerhouse. They’ve claimed a share of the Atlantic 10 Championships for five straight years and have competed in the NCAA Tournament in 10 of the last 11 years.
“They’re whole setup is setup to be successful from their facilities, to the school, to how they do business,” said UMass coach Derek Kellogg. “Then to have that history of putting guys in the NBA, I think they’ve separated themselves from the other schools in the A-10.”
The respect they’ve generated over the past years became evident this offseason when the Associated Press Top 25 poll was released with Xavier checking in at No. 14 in the nation.
Another successful season appears to be on the horizon with the return of reigning A-10 Player of the Year, Tu Holloway.
Holloway opted to return for his senior season after he averaged 19.7 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game and 5.4 assists per game and led his Musketeers to a 15-1 conference record last season.
He’ll have plenty of help this season from veteran complimentary players such as junior guard Mark Lyons (13.6 points per game) and senior center Kenny Frease (11.7 points per game, 7.1 rebounds per game).
In addition, the loss of Dante Jackson and Jamel McLean will be countered with the addition of the two of the best freshman in the conference.
Dezmine Wells and Justin Martin highlight another impressive freshman class at Xavier. For the third straight season, ESPN recognized the Musketeers as a team “on the cusp” of the Top 25 for recruiting classes, lofty praise considering that nearly 100 percent of the Top 25 teams reside in power conferences.
“They have a program,” said Kellogg. “It’s one of those things where now they’ve established themselves as a team in that category so recruiting becomes easier.”
Wells is the gem of the class. ESPN ranked him the 48th best incoming freshman in all of Division 1, and the 14th-best incoming small forward.
Martin was Mack’s prized recruit in 2010, but academic issues relegated the guard/forward to practice duties last season. With his eligibility problems resolved, expect Martin to play significant minutes alongside Holloway and Lyons.
Temple Owls
The one team that’s consistently competed with Xavier during their run of excellence is Temple.
The Owls come off of a 26-8 season in which they lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to San Diego State.
Like Xavier, the core of the team returns this season, led by senior guard Ramone Moore.
Moore, a second team all-conference selection last season, averaged 15.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game while shooting the ball at an efficient 45 percent from the field.
Juan Fernandez, Moore’s backcourt partner, will be looked on this season to both increase his scoring and his efficiency.
Fernandez (11.2 points, 2.9 assists per game last season) showed glimpses of brilliance last year, but shot the ball inconsistently from the field (36 percent).
The Owls are weak in the front court after the departure of rebounding machine, Lavoy Allen. Head coach Fran Dunphry will call on veterans Scootie Randall, Michael Eric and Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson to fill the void left by Allen.
“Temple falls into the same category as Xavier in that they have a program that’s been able to withstand time and continue to move forward,” said Kellogg.
Saint Louis Billikens
Another team capable of threatening the Musketeers dominance is Saint Louis. On the surface, SLU may not appear like a dangerous team. Last season it finished 6-10 in the conference and only had one player average double-digit points and that was Mike McCall who averaged just 10.4 points per game.
However, the Billikens had seven players who averaged six points or more last season, and all seven of those players return to the team next season.
Perhaps most importantly though, SLU will finally get Kwamain Mitchell back on the court after he sat out the entirety of the 2010 season for a violation of team rules.
The redshirt junior led the team in scoring (15.9 points) and earned second-team All-Conference honors during the 2009-2010 season.
However, while the Billikens seem to be flying under the radar, the A-10 head coaches are aware of their sudden emergence as they picked SLU to finish third in the A-10 preseason conference poll.
“Saint Louis to me is probably the third rated team in the league,” said Kellogg. “They’ve made a commitment to basketball there and they have a pretty good squad.”
Under the leaders
Xavier, Temple and Saint Louis have separated themselves from the pack early in the preseason polls, but there are a few schools that could emerge and usurp these upper echelon teams.
Among those teams, Duquesne, George Washington, St. Joseph’s and St. Bonaventure, have the best chance to threaten the top three.
Duquesne surprised many last season with a 10-6 record in conference play. They led all of Division 1 in assists, steals and assist-turnover margin, thanks to pesky point guard and 2011 A-10 Rookie of the Year, T.J. McConnell. The Dukes add a few transfers this season and should be in the thick of things if they can improve their rebounding and shooting.
Former University of Vermont coach Mike Lonergan takes over this season as the new GW coach. He’ll have Tony Taylor, a Preseason First Team All-Conference selection, along with a plethora of other veterans to help him ease the transition.
St. Joseph’s shook up the A-10 Tournament last season when it entered the tournament as the lowest seed in the field and exited with two upset wins. Their two leading scorers, Carl Jones (17 points) and Langston Galloway (12.8 points), are back and will attempt to recreate last season’s postseason magic.
Last but not least, a trendy pick in the A-10 right now is St. Bonaventure. It’s already earned the respect of the opposing coaching staffs, as it was voted the fourth-best team in the conference. Andrew Nicholson, who led the conference in scoring last season with 20.8 points per game, returns for his senior season and will have plenty of help from Michael Davenport (11.1 points) and Demitrius Conger (10 points).
Meanwhile, last year’s A-10 Champions, Richmond, lost more than 50 percent of its scoring from last season, and find themselves in rebuilding mode.
La Salle, Rhode Island, Charlotte, Dayton and Fordham are all teams likely to be joining Richmond in the “rebuilding” category this season.
Jackson Alexander can be reached at [email protected] and can be followed @MDC_Alexander.
