City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of CoBL's 2015-16 College Season Preview, which will run from October 2-November 13, the first day of games. For the complete rundown, click here)

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Heading into the season, we’ve ranked the top 10 Division III Programs in the area. Here are numbers five through one (and a bonus), as well as a preseason All-Area first team; numbers 6-10 and a second team were released yesterday:

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All-Area Division III First Team
Armin Cane (15.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg)--Sr./G, Stockton College
Cody Deal (16.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg)--Sr./F, DeSales
Brandon Federici (19.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg)--Soph./SG, F&M
Ted Hinnekamp (12.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg)--Sr./G Dickinson
Shaquan Turk (17.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg)--Jr./SG, Eastern

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5. Franklin & Marshall Diplomats
Coach: Glenn Robinson, 45th season
Last season: 20-6 (13-5 Centennial)
Names to know: Brandon Federici (Soph./G), Cedric Moune (Sr./F)

Outlook: Always a threat in the Centennial Conference under Robinson, Franklin & Marshall has one of the nation’s best scorers in D-III in Federici. He scored 19.3 points per game as a freshman last season, shooting 43 percent from the floor. The team also returns Moune (12.0 ppg, 9.7 rpg), a double-double threat each time he takes the floor, and graduated just one senior – second-leading scorer Morgan Lee. With most players’ roles increasing a bit this season, including Federici’s, the Diplomats should make a run at a conference title.

4. Neumann Knights
Coach: Jim Rullo, 3rd season
Last season: 17-11 (12-6 CSAC), lost in NCAA Tournament first round
Name(s) to know: DeShawn Lowman (Jr./G), James Butler (Jr./F), Denzel Yard (Sr./G)

Outlook: After making the NCAA Tournament last season for the first time ever and with four starters returning, expectations are very high around Neumann’s program. Lowman (14.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg) and Butler (13.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg) lead the returners, with junior guard Kevin Green (11.4 ppg) also starting the majority of last season, but the majority of the roster brings back experience and confidence, which are key factors in the CSAC. Rullo is counting on 6-4 sophomore Pierre Charles, a Haverford HS grad, to make an impact this season, as will Chestnut Hill transfer Billy Cassidy, a Friends’ Central alum with shooting range out to 30 feet.

3. DeSales Bulldogs
Coach: Scott Coval, 23rd season
Last season: 17-10 (9-5 MAC Freedom)
Name(s) to know: Cody Deal (Jr./F), Brian Laird (Soph./G), Aaron Burton (Soph./G), Kuity Slanger (Soph./G)

Outlook: Coval has established a tradition of winning in his nearly two decades at the Lehigh Valley institution, with victories in two-thirds of 601 games he’s coached in his time at the school. So it’s no surprise that despite starting numerous underclassmen a year ago, the Bulldogs still won 17 games--and with all the talent they have returning, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them get back to the 20-win mark this year. Deal, a 6-4 forward, averaged 16.3 ppg and 5.4 rpg, with Laird (11.3 ppg) and Burton (10.4 ppg), behind him. Look for a breakout year from Slanger, an athletic 6-2 slasher from Upper Darby who started all 27 games last year, averaging 8.3 ppg and 4.6 rpg.

2. Dickinson Red Devils
Coach: Alan Seretti, 7th season
Last season: 24-6 overall (13-5 Centennial), lost in NCAA Sweet 16
Names to know: Brandon Angradi (Sr./G), Ted Hinnekamp (Sr./G)

Outlook: Coming off a conference championship and run to the Sweet 16, Dickinson did lose its leading scorer in Gerry Wixted, a 6-8 All-American forward who averaged 18.6 points per game in 2014-15. The Red Devils do return quite a bit of talent however, which features the 6-7 Hinnekamp and Angradi (13.3 ppg, 2.4 rpg) on the perimeter. It will take a team effort to replace Wixted’s scoring, but if it happens, another conference title could be in the works for Seretti’s bunch.

1. Richard Stockton Ospreys
Coach: Gerry Matthews, 30th season
Last Season: 23-6 (14-4 NJAC), lost in NCAA Tournament second round
Name(s) to know: Armin Cane (Sr./G), Marcus Harmon (Soph./F),

Outlook: Despite losing Josh Blamon (17.9 ppg, 6.2 rpg), a D3hoops.com second-team All-American, the Ospreys still have enough returning that they’re being considered a top-10 team in the country. Cane (15.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg), a 6-2 guard, will assume role as a go-to scorer, while Harmon (7.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg), a 6-5 forward, will need to step up with Blamon’s graduation, especially combined with the loss of another forward, Anthony Woodard (6.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg). The addition of several JUCO transfers, including forwards Maurice Hart (Monroe CC) and Jaymere Hadden (Carl Albert State) should help shore up the frontcourt, but they’ll need to play at a high level right away for the Ospreys to sustain their ranking.