Marymount Edges Griffins In Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
LANCASTER, Pa. - With the 2019-20 basketball season right around the corner, the Atlantic East Conference announced the Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll on Tuesday afternoon, as Marymount University was named the slight favorite over reigning championship Gwynedd Mercy University.
The Saints pulled in 32 points and four first-place votes to earn the top spot in the poll, returning almost their entire squad from last year's run to the Atlantic East title game. Marymount returns 18 players from last year's roster, headed by a senior class of seven. Of the returners, junior Steve Etienne earned a second-team All-Conference nod. Head Coach Chris Rogers enters his 11th season at the helm, as the team went 17-13 last season, 7-5 in league play.
The Griffins claimed two first-place votes and 31 points to come in at No. 2 in the poll. Head Coach John Baron, in his 18th season with GMU, also returns a lot of experience although the Griffins graduated several heavy offensive numbers in Courtney Cubbage, Clayton Wolfe and Matt Sommers. Cubbage was a second-team All-Conference member, but GMU will look to its first-team returner in Rich Dunham, who average 16.9 points on over 50-percent shooting last season. He also averaged 4.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists as a guard. Gwynedd Mercy won the first-ever AEC championship last season, while earning a bid to the NCAA tournament and advancing to the second round.
Wesley College earned the third spot in the poll with 25 points, returning last year's Player of the Year and first-team All-Conference honoree, Brian Cameron. The senior guard finished fourth in the country in scoring with 26.6 points per game, finishing with 718 points through 27 games. The Wolverines, headed by Head Coach Dean Burrows, return four seniors from last year's team, as they look to improved on a 6-6 finish last year and a four seed in the tournament.
Cabrini University grabbed the final first-place vote and 21 points to come in at No. 4, as the Cavs enter their sixth season under the tutelage of Head Coach Tim McDonald. Although graduating first-team honoree Anthony Wright-Downing, who almost accumulated a quarter of the scoring for Cabrini last year, the Cavs return Voshon Mack. Mack was a second-team member and named the conference's Rookie of the Year, finishing behind Wright-Downing with 15.8 points per game. He led the league in 8.2 rebounds per game and field-goal percentage, shooting almost 61 percent from the floor.
Neumann University, Marywood University, and Immaculata University round out the poll, in that order, as they all look to fill the spots of their graduating all-conference pieces.
Check out below for the full Preseason Poll...
2019-20 Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll
| Team |
Points |
First-Place Votes |
| 1. Marymount University |
32 |
4 |
| 2. Gwynedd Mercy University |
31 |
2 |
| 3. Wesley College |
25 |
-- |
| 4. Cabrini University |
21 |
1 |
| 5. Neumann University |
19 |
-- |
| 6. Marywood University |
12 |
-- |
| 7. Immaculata University |
7 |
-- |