Oct. 22, 2009

PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle men's basketball team has been picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic 10 in a preseason poll conducted by the league's head coaches and selected media released today during the A-10 Media Day. Senior Rodney Green was named to the preseason all-conference first team while freshman Aaric Murray picked up preseason all-rookie honors.

The Explorers collected two first place votes and are predicted to finish behind Dayton, Xavier and Richmond. It is the highest preseason pick for La Salle in head coach Dr. John Giannini's tenure.

La Salle, which had an 18-13 overall record (9-7 A-10) last season, was followed by Duquesne, Temple, Charlotte, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Saint Joseph's, St. Bonaventure, Saint Louis, George Washington and Fordham.

Green, the second highest returning scorer in the Atlantic 10 at 17.8 points per game, earned second team all-conference honors in 2008-09. He also chipped in with 5.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game and received first team All-Big 5 and second team NABC all-district citations.

He is joined on the first team by Temple's Lavoy Allen, Richmond's Kevin Anderson, Massachusetts' Ricky Harris and Dayton's Chris Wright.

Murray, a consensus top 40 recruit out of Glen Mills, averaged 18.0 points and 12.4 rebounds per game as a senior. A first team all-state AAAA selection, Murray will be the highest ranked recruit to play at a non-BCS school this season. He is joined by Charlotte's Shamarr Bowden, Fordham's Chris Gaston, and Massachusetts' Terrell Vinson and Freddie Riley on the preseason all-rookie team.

The second team consists of Dayton's Marcus Johnson, Richmond's David Gonzalvez, DiJuan Harris of Charlotte, St. Bonaventure's Andrew Nicholson, the 2009 A-10 Rookie of the Year, and Damian Saunders of Duquesne. On the third team are Duquesne's Bill Clark, Keith Cothran of Rhode Island, Xavier's Jordan Crawford, Dan Geriot of Richmond and Kwamain Mitchell of Saint Louis.

The preseason all-defensive team consists of Nicholson, Dayton's London Warren, Garrett Williamson of Saint Joseph's and Xavier teammates Dante' Jackson and Jason Love.

Beginning in 2010, a new format will be in place for the 34th Annual Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship. The top 12 teams will qualify for the Championship and first round games will be hosted on the campuses of teams seeded #5, #6, #7, and #8 on Tuesday, Mar. 9, 2010.

The setting then shifts to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., as the quarterfinals will commence on Friday, Mar. 12. Semifinal action will take place on Saturday, Mar. 13, with the Championship game held on Sunday, Mar. 14, and televised live nationally at 1:00pm on CBS Sports for the first time in A-10 history.

Last season marked the 15th time in Conference history and sixth since 2000 that multiple A-10 teams earned at-large berths to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. The league received two of just four at-large bids awarded to non-BCS conferences a year ago and over the past two seasons, the A-10 leads all non-BCS conferences with six NCAA berths.

La Salle opens the season on Saturday, November 14 with Hampton at 3 PM. Season tickets are available by calling 215-951-1999 or emailing tickets@lasalle.edu.