Oct. 16, 2007
The George Mason men's basketball team has been picked as preseason favorites to win the 2007-08 Colonial Athletic Association title, as selected by the league's coaches, sports information directors and media. The results of the poll were announced during Wednesday's CAA Basketball Media Day at the ESPN Zone in Washington D.C.
The Patriots, CAA Tournament finalists in 2007, return all five starters and 92 percent of the team's scoring and 92 percent of its rebounding. Included in that starting five are Will Thomas and Folarin Campbell, both starters from the Final Four team in 2006. Thomas was second-team All-CAA last year and was chosen to the CAA All-Defensive Team for the second-straight year. He was named to the preseason All-CAA first team this year. Campbell, a third-team All-CAA selection last year, was named to the preseason All-CAA second team.
Mason was 18-15 last year, one year after advancing to the first Final Four in team and league history. The Patriots set the school record last year for attendance and set a league mark for most games televised, with 24. Mason is slated to have at least 22 games televised this year with appearances on the ESPN family of networks, including Nov. 22 vs. Kansas State and Jan. 29 vs. VCU, both of which will air on ESPN2.
With Mason voted No. 1, the next four teams in the preseason poll all advanced to the postseason last year. Second is VCU, the league's defending champion, third is Old Dominion, which received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, fourth is Drexel and fifth is Hofstra, both of which played in the NIT. Picked sixth was UNC Wilmington, followed by James Madison, Northeastern, William & Mary, Delaware, Georgia State and Towson.
The Rams return three starters from its 28-7 team that beat Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament before losing in overtime in the second round. At point for VCU is junior Eric Maynor, who was first-team All-CAA last year and was selected preseason Player of the Year this year. Old Dominion, which has won 75 games over the past three year, was 24-9 last season. Drexel, 23-9 in 2006-07, has been to the postseason four of the past five years and Hofstra, 22-10 last year, has been to the postseason three straight years.
Joining Maynor and Thomas on the preseason first team are Hofstra's Antoine Agudio, Drexel's Frank Elegar and Delaware's Herb Courtney. Joining Campbell on the second team are UNC Wilmington's T.J. Carter and Vladimir Kuljanin, James Madison's Juwann James and Old Dominion's Brandon Johnson. Old Dominion's Brian Henderson, UNC Wilmington's Todd Hendley, James Madison's Abdulai Jalloh, Northeastern's Matt Janning and Georgia State's Leonard Mendez were preseason honorable mention.
