Good Monday morning.
We wrap up Hoopville’s quick look before the 2018-19 season at all 33 NCAA Division I conferences with the final four leagues as we’ve gone in alphabetical order:
Mike Daum has one final year left at South Dakota State, and his presence should ensure the Summit League is on or very near the national radar this season. Daum refreshingly stuck with his school and will play the final season of his dynamite four-year career at SDSU, where he could hit the 3,000-point mark and become a three-time league player of the year. If you get any chance at all to watch him play this season, do take advantage of it. The Jackrabbits, meanwhile, are prohibitive favorites to win the Summit and earn their sixth NCAA Tournament bid in eight years, with Daum supported by excellent sophomore guard David Jenkins and lots of shooters. South Dakota State was an outstanding offensive team last year and returns four starters, including three players who drained at least 55 three-pointers.
The Sun Belt also has had its share of underrated individual talent the last couple years, and it continues again this season. Players like Tookie Brown of Georgia Southern, JaKeenan Gant at Louisiana-Lafayette, Ronshad Shabazz of Appalachian State and Jordon Varnado of Troy are worth taking your time to see, and all except Varnado enter their final seasons still searching for their first NCAA Tournament trips. D’Marcus Simonds of Georgia State was the league player of the year last season and did get to the NCAAs, and the Panthers will be tough to keep from there again with four starters returning. Louisiana-Lafayette dominated the regular season last year, though, and even after losing two first team all-conference guys in Frank Bartley and Bryce Washington, the Ragin’ Cajuns have enough talent to make a run at the top again. Watch for Louisiana-Monroe as a darkhorse pick too, as the Warhawks have another senior star in Travis Munnings and last year’s freshman of the year in Michael Ertel, too.
After some end of season/offseason drama with Gonzaga’s flirtation with the Mountain West, the Bulldogs are back for another year in the WCC. It may be mildly surprising to some that the league hasn’t already awarded its championships to the Zags this year, as overwhelming of a favorite as they are. With their being on the short list of top national title contenders, it is considered all but a given that the Zags will take the conference. After Gonzaga, the big question are 1) Who will finish second? and 2) Can someone break through the regular Gonzaga/Saint Mary’s/BYU triangle at the top? Saint Mary’s is considered to be in heavy reloading mode, though after 11 straight 20-win seasons-nine of those with at least 25 victories-maybe Randy Bennett’s Gaels should get the benefit of the doubt. San Diego and San Francisco are among the prime suspects that have a shot to get in the top three.
Finally, it seems few have bothered to notice, but the WAC has had an almost incomprehensible rise from the ashes the past three years. A league that was 31st in the conference RPI in 2014-15 and thought to be a few steps from going out of business has made a remarkable recovery and finished 15th in conference RPI last year. Five teams made the postseason, led by New Mexico State winning the regular season and postseason titles. The Aggies lose stars Jemarrio Jones and Zach Lofton but are still the favorites until proven otherwise, and NMSU proved in the first year under Chris Jans that it will defend rabidly. Grand Canyon is a chic pick to break through and get to the top this year, and Seattle, Utah Valley and maybe even Texas-Rio Grande Valley have a chance to win 20 games too.
Side Dishes
- Exhibition season is starting to wind down, and there was an eye-opening score through much of the night before Arizona finally pulled away with an 11-2 run late to top Chaminade 75-64. This was a one-point game with seven minutes left. A bit concerning: the Wildcats were outrebounded by the Silverswords 36-35.
A couple other scores: Oklahoma State rolled past Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) 80-59, while Arkansas State won by a similar 80-56 score over Lyon College, which is located in the Ozarks town of Batesville, Ark., the home of former stock car racing star Mark Martin.
Enjoy your Monday, the final day of the offseason before regular season hoops is here.
