Monmouth men’s basketball may have beefed up its roster this offseason, but the rest of the Coastal Athletic Association is taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the new look Hawks.
After finishing 7-26 last season, including a 6-12 league mark, the Hawks were picked to finish 11th among 14 teams when the preseason poll was unveiled at Thursday’s CAA Media Day.
Monmouth did not land anyone on the Preseason All-CAA first or second team, with Bucknell graduate transfer guard Xander Rice, head coach King Rice’s son, named as an honorable mention.
Charleston, which was nationally ranked for much of last season and won the CAA Tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament, is a solid choice to win the league, picking up 10 of the 14 first place votes from the league’s head coaches, with UNC-Wilmington getting three first-place votes and Drexel, picked third, receiving one.
And while Monmouth has added pieces in the backcourt, King Rice feels it’s the upgrades in the frontcourt that could play big dividends. Joining 6-9 senior Klemen Vuga, who starts, and 7-0 sophomore Ahman Sandhu, are 6-10 graduate forward/center Nikita Konstantynovskyi, a graduate transfer from Tulsa, 6-9 forward Jaret Valencia, who redshirted as a freshman last season, and 6-6 forward Cornelius Robinson Jr.
“One I think the biggest things last year was just the size of the other teams,” King Rice said of Monmouth’s first season in the CAA. “I thought the young guys we were going against, they were just bigger than us. And I knew that would be the case a little bit, but I just didn’t realize how much bigger everybody was and when you watched them on tape it didn’t seem like it was that much of a difference. But when you walked out on the court the size of the players was a big difference.”
Monmouth has an open practice game Saturday against Rhode Island College, coached by former Monmouth assistant coach Sam Ferry. Tipoff at Ocean First Bank Center is 6 p.m.
2023-24 CAA Preseason Men’s Basketball Poll
1. Charleston (10) 165
2. UNC-Wilmington (3) 157
3. Drexel (1) 140
4. Hofstra 137
5. tie, Hofstra 115
5. tie, Towson 115
7. Northeastern 84
8. William & Mary 77
9. Stony Brook 76
10. Elon 62
11. Monmouth 50
12. Campbell 45
13. Hampton 31
14. North Carolina A&T 20
Preseason Player of the Year
Amari Williams, Drexel
2023-24 All-CAA Preseason First Team
Name School Class Pos.
Ante Brzovic, Charleston, Jr., F.
Tyler Thomas, Hofstra, Gr., G.
Charles Thompson, Towson, Fr., F.
Trazarien White, UNCW, Sr., F.
Amari Williams, Drexel, Sr., F.
2023-24 All-CAA Preseason Second Team
Jyare Davis, Delaware, R-Jr., F.
Anthony Dell’Orso, Campbell, So., G.
Max MacKinnon, Elon, Sp., G.
Reyne Smith, Charleston, Jr., G.
Tyler Stephenson-Moore, Stony Brook, Fr., G.
Honorable Mention: Gabe Dorsey, Jr., G/F William & Mary, Chris Doherty, Gr., F, Northeastern; Darlinstone Dubar, Jr., G, Hofstra; Maleeck Harden-Hayes, Gr., G, UNCW; Justin Moore, So., G, Drexel; Jordan Nesbitt, Jr., G, Hampton; Frankie Policelli, Gr., F, Charleston; Xander Rice, Gr., G, Monmouth