With the return of seven key players and a talented group of newcomers ready to contribute immediately, James Madison was picked to finish fourth in the 12-team Colonial Athletic Association in a vote of coaches, sports information directors, and media representatives as announced at the league’s annual media day on Tuesday at Champps Restaurant.
JMU’s position in the poll marked the first time in league history that a team has been picked at least seven spots ahead of its previous finish. The Dukes are coming off a 13-20 season a year ago in which they finished 11th in the league at 4-14.
Defending champion Old Dominion was chosen as the league favorite, followed by George Mason, VCU, JMU, Hofstra, Drexel, Northeastern, William and Mary, Delaware, Towson, Georgia State, and UNC Wilmington.
The fourth-place prediction marks the highest position in a CAA preseason poll for JMU since being picked second in 1998-99. The Dukes were selected fifth last year before injuries derailed high hopes for Matt Brady’s second season as head coach. JMU has not finished a season as high as fourth in the CAA since a tie for first place in 1999-2000.
Leading the way for the Dukes will be preseason First Team All-CAA selection Denzel Bowles (Virginia Beach, Va./Kempsville). He was joined on the preseason All-CAA squad by Second Team honoree Julius Wells (Toledo, Ohio/Libbey). JMU has not had a player on the preseason First Team since David Fanning in 2002-03 and has not had a player finish the season on the First Team since Fanning in 2001-02. Two Dukes have not appeared on the final First or Second Team combined since Chatney Howard and Jabari Outtz in 1998-99.
Bowles, a 6-10 senior forward, will look to play his first full season of college basketball with his previous transfer from Texas A&M. In 25 games last year, he became the first player in CAA history to lead the league in scoring (20.8 points/game), rebounds (9.2/game), and field-goal percentage (.594). He also racked up 2.5 assists and 1.4 blocks per game to earn Second Team All-CAA honors.
Wells was a Third Team All-CAA selection last year after ranking fourth in the league with 16.3 points per game and second with 91 three-point field goals. He set JMU’s season minutes record (1,211) and set sophomore class records for points (539), minutes average (36.7), field goal attempts (470), three pointers (91), three-point attempts (258), and starts (32).
Bowles was joined on the preseason First Team by Northeastern guard Chaisson Allen, defending CAA Player of the Year Charles Jenkins of Hofstra, George Mason guard Cam Long, and VCU guard Joey Rodriguez. The preseason Second Team consisted of Old Dominion’s Kent Bazemore and Ben Finney, Delaware guard Jawan Carter, William and Mary guard Quinn McDowell, and Wells. Honorable Mention picks included Drexel guard Chris Fouch, ODU forward Frank Hassell, GMU forward Ryan Pearson, and UNCW guard Chad Tomko.
In addition to Bowles and Wells, JMU returns a pair of key players who missed the 2009-10 season in starting point guard Devon Moore (Columbus, Ohio/Northland) and forward Andrey Semenov (St. Petersburg, Russia/Blue Ridge School). Moore averaged 10.7 points and 2.9 assists as a freshman to earn CAA All-Rookie honors while Semenov averaged 6.3 points per game. Other returners include guard Alioune Diouf (Powder Springs, Ga./McEachern), forward Trevon Flores (Harvey, La./Helen Cox), and guard Ben Louis (Melbourne, Australia/St. Francis Xavier).
JMU’s depth will also be bolstered by seven newcomers including three eligible transfers, each who could vie for significant minutes immediately. Former junior college teammates at Cincinnati State will reunite in forward Rayshawn Goins (Cleveland, Ohio/Glenville) and guard James Millen (Cincinnati, Ohio/Shroder Paideia). They will be joined by fellow junior Humpty Hitchens (Chillicothe, Ohio/Chillicothe), a transfer from Akron. Freshman Chad Jackson (Georgetown, Ky./Scott County) will also factor heavily into the mix at the wing positions.
The CAA also unveiled is television package for the upcoming season with JMU featured in one of its more extensive packages in program history. The slate features a pair of guaranteed national TV spots with games on ESPNU on Nov. 12 at Kansas State and at home Feb. 24 vs. Old Dominion. A third national game is possible on Feb. 12 as ESPN or ESPN2 will either pick JMU’s game at George Mason or ODU at VCU. The game not selected for ESPN will be part of the league’s regional package on Comcast-SportsNet. Other games featured on regional TV include Jan. 19 at ODU, Jan. 29 at Delaware, Feb. 2 vs. W&M, Feb. 5 vs. VCU, Feb. 15 at Towson, and Feb. 26 at VCU. The CAA Tournament quarterfinals and semifinals will air online on CAA Television as well as regionally on The Comcast Network and Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast. The 2011 CAA Championship will air on ESPN or ESPN2 at 7 p.m. on March 7.
Share
Contributors
