Men's Basketball | October 24, 2019

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The Atlantic 10 announced its preseason poll and preseason all-conference awards Thursday in conjunction with its annual Media Day, held at Barclays Center, home of the 2020 A-10 Men's Basketball Championship. La Salle was picked to finish 10th in the league, with VCU selected as the favorites to win the title. The awards and poll were chosen by a panel of the league's head coaches and select media members.

The Explorers will look to take the momentum they built at the end of 2018-19 and bring it into the new campaign, as they welcome five members of last year's squad who started nine games or more during the season. Senior guard Saul Phiri averaged 11.3 points per game and ranked among the A-10's leaders in three-point field goal percentage at 39.4%. Sophomore Ed Croswell started just nine games as a freshman but led the entire nation in offensive rebounding rate at 18.1%.

In addition to the veteran presence on the roster, La Salle and second-year head coach Ashley Howard welcome in a recruiting class that was recognized nationally as one of the best among mid-major programs. Guards Ayinde Hikim, Sherif Kenney and Christian Ray join forward Brandon Stone as the four freshmen in the group, while graduate student Moustapha Diagne, who spent two seasons at Western Kentucky, and junior transfer Clifton Moore, who spent his first two collegiate seasons at Indiana, round out the list of newcomers. All but Moore will be eligible to compete for the Explorers in 2019-20.

The Rams won the Atlantic 10 regular season in 2018-19, and last won the A-10 Championship in 2015. VCU returns four of five starters and had 19 first-place votes in the poll with 381 points. Led by Preseason All-Conference selections Marcus Evans, Marcus Santos-Silva and De'Riante Jenkins, the Rams finished 25-8 overall last year, 16-2 in the A-10 and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Davidson was picked second, Dayton was picked third and Rhode Island garnered 283 poll points to rank fourth.St. Bonaventure, which played in last year's championship final, was picked fifth with 280 points, Richmond was sixth with 248 points and defending champion Saint Louis was chosen seventh with 225 points in the voting. 
 
The 2019-20 men's basketball season tips off on Tuesday, Nov. 5 while conference play begins on Thursday, Jan. 2. The Explorers open the season on Saturday, Nov. 9 against Iona, a game that will be televised on NBC Sports Network. La Salle also hosts Dayton on Jan. 2 at 8:30 p.m. for the first nationally-televised Atlantic 10 contest of the year on CBS Sports Network. The season will culminate with the Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship, which will be played at Brooklyn's Barclays Center. The league's premier event will begin Wed., March 11, and the league will crown its 2020 champion on March 15, Selection Sunday. Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster, institutional box offices and the Barclays Center box office.
 
About the Atlantic 10 Conference
The Atlantic 10 Conference was founded in 1975 and consists of 14 diverse members across eight states and Washington, D.C. The mission of the Atlantic 10 is to provide an enhanced student-athlete experience through 21 nationally competitive championship sports. The basketball-centric conference is committed to integrity, educational excellence and providing quality equitable championship experiences for its student-athletes, coaches, and support staff. The membership consists of Davidson College, the University of Dayton, Duquesne University, Fordham University, George Mason University, The George Washington University, La Salle University, the University of Massachusetts, the University of Rhode Island, University of Richmond, St. Bonaventure University, Saint Joseph's University, Saint Louis University and Virginia Commonwealth University. For more information, visit www.atlantic10.com.