Temple University Athletics
Temple Picked Ninth In A-10 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
10.24.06 | Men's Basketball
Oct. 24, 2006
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ - The Atlantic 10 Conference officially opened its 2006-07 men's basketball season at its annual Media Day held at Boardwalk Hall, the site of the 2007 Atlantic 10 Championship, and the Temple Owls, under the direction of first-year had coach Fran Dunphy, have been picked to finish ninth according to a poll of the league's coaches and media.
Temple freshman Luis Guzman was one of five newcomers selected to the conference's All-Rookie Team. Guzman, a 6-2 guard out of the Bronx, N.Y., averaged 18 points, six assists and five rebounds as a senior at Paramus (NJ) Catholic in 2005-06.
Xavier is the overwhelming choice as the team to beat in the Atlantic 10 men's basketball race. The Musketeers received 59 of the 64 first-place votes cast by the panel of coaches and media. Xavier (21-11/8-8) returns five starters from last year's A-10 championship team - the only team in NCAA history to twice win four games in four days to claim a league title. This year's Musketeers are led by four players named to the preseason All-Conference teams - first-team selection Stanley Burrell (14.4 ppg, 105 assists); second-team pick Justin Cage (10.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg), who was the most outstanding player of the 2006 A-10 Championship; and third-team selections Justin Doellman (11.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and Drew Lavender, who comes to Xavier after transferring from Oklahoma, where he averaged 9.7 ppg and handed out 101 assists as a sophomore in 2004-05.
Massachusetts received four first-place votes and placed second in the preseason poll. The Minutemen (13-15/8-8) return four starters, led by first-team preseason all-conference pick Rashaun Freeman (13.6 ppg, 9.3 rpg), and welcome three transfers who are expected to make significant impacts - 7-0 center Luke Bonner (West Virginia), 6-7 forward Etienne Brower (Boston University), and 6-7 swingman Gary Forbes (Virginia).
Saint Louis (16-13/10-6) was chosen third in the poll and will be led by first-team preseason selection Ian Vouyoukas (13.9 ppg, 7.4 rpg), the 2006 Chris Daniels Award winner as the A-10's most improved player. Charlotte (19-13/11-5), which received the remaining first-place vote, was chosen fourth by the pollsters. The 49ers welcome back De'Angelo Alexander, who is the Atlantic 10's leading returning scorer at 17.0 ppg.
Defending regular season champion George Washington (27-3/16-0), which had the best winning percentage (.900) in the country last season, was selected fifth in the poll, and is followed by Dayton (14-17/6-10), Fordham (16-16/9-7), Saint Joseph's (19-13/9-7), Temple (17-15/8-8), La Salle (18-10/10-6), Rhode Island (14-14/8-8), Richmond (13-17/6-10), Duquesne (3-24/1-15), and St. Bonaventure (8-19/2-14).
In that same poll, the coaches and media selected the preseason All-Conference teams. The first-team is comprised of Alexander, Burrell, Freeman, Vouyoukas, and Fordham's Bryant Dunston. The second-team features Cage, George Washington teammates Carl Elliott and Maureece Rice, the A-10's Sixth Man of the Year last season, A-10 Rookie of the Year Tommie Liddell of Saint Louis, and Dayton's Brian Roberts. On the third-team are Doellman, Lavender, Charlotte's Leemire Goldwire, Stephane Lasme of Massachusetts, and Kevin Lisch of Saint Louis.
The preseason All-Defensive team consists of Cage, Dunston, Elliott, Goldwire, and Lasme. Besides Guzman, the All-Rookie team boasts Charlotte's David Booker, Jawan Carter of Saint Joseph's, Damian Hollis of George Washington, and Tiki Mayben of Umass.
The 2006-07 season begins on Nov. 9 when St. Bonaventure faces Chicago State in the 2K Sports Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in Austin, TX. The Owls open the Dunphy Era at Kent State on November 27. The regular season culminates with the 31st Annual Atlantic 10 Championship, Mar. 7-10, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
