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5 questions entering the Atlantic 10

College basketball season is almost here!

Between now and Nov. 7th, we’ll take an in-depth look at different conferences around the country.

Today’s focus is on the Atlantic 10:

1. How good are Saint Louis and Dayton?
Really good. Dayton is one of three teams in the ROTHSTEIN 45 to return all five starters from last season while Saint Louis returns its top four scorers from last season’s team that won 23 games and reached the Postseason NIT. The Billikens also add Javonte Perkins — last season’s Atlantic 10 Preseason Player of the Year — who missed all of last season with a knee injury as well as a potential starter in Missouri transfer Javon Pickett. The 6-6 Perkins averaged 17.1 points and 3.9 rebounds during the 2020-21 season. One note for Dayton fans: Your team is going to be really good, but expecting this team to resemble the 2019-20 squad that would have been a top seed in the NCAA Tournament with Obi Toppin probably is a stretch. Temper those expectations.

2. Which Atlantic 10 player is on the verge of becoming a national star? 
Dayton’s DaRon Holmes II. The 6-10 sophomore averaged 20 points and six rebounds while shooting 68.3 percent from the field during Dayton’s final five games a year ago and should come into this season on fire. He’s also added 25 pounds of muscle. Don’t be shocked if Holmes winds up as the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year and an All-American candidate in 2022-23.

3. Which Atlantic 10 guard is about to make a major jump?
VCU’s Jayden Nunn. The Flint, Michigan native had an excellent season a year ago as a freshman, averaging 8.6 points in 29.1 minutes while shooting an impressive 36 percent from three-point range. Nunn has good size at 6-4 and was mightily impressive in two Postseason NIT games last March, averaging 15.5 points. Nunn and Ace Baldwin have the requisites to form one of the top backcourt combinations in the Atlantic 10 during the 2022-23 season. 

4. Did the Atlantic 10’s hiring cycle last spring change the perception of the league?
Without question. The Atlantic 10 has battled for the better part of the last five years to regain respect from a national perspective and the hires made by UMass (Frank Martin), Rhode Island (Archie Miller), and La Salle (Fran Dunphy) all added major credibility to the conference. While all three of these programs still need time to build their product into one that can compete at the top of the league standings, the credentials of Martin, Miller, and Dunphy speak for themselves. Martin led South Carolina to the 2017 Final Four while Miller led Dayton to the Elite Eight in 2014. Meanwhile, Dunphy — one of the most respected people in this profession — dominated the Ivy League at Penn before leading Temple to multiple NCAA Tournament appearances during his tenure on North Broad Street. 

5. Who is the sleeper?
UMass. That may be an unfair label to throw at Martin before he’s ever coached a game in Amherst, but the work that he and his staff did during the offseason in the transfer portal was tangible. After inheriting two starting caliber perimeter players in Noah Fernandes (14.9 points) and T.J. Weeks (9.6 points), the Minutemen made significant additions in Rahsool Diggins (UConn), Wildens Leveque (South Carolina), Matt Cross (Louisville), Gianni Thompson (Boston College), and four-star freshman big man Tafara Gapare. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for this roster to mesh together, but don’t discount Martin from making a major impact in his first year in the Atlantic 10. The veteran head coach is noticeably invigorated by his new surroundings and excited to be at a place that is passionate about basketball. The Minutemen haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2014 under former head coach Derek Kellogg, who is now an assistant under Martin. 

Leftovers