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CoBL College Preview: 10 Burning Questions

11/04/2015, 11:30am EST
By CoBL Staff

With a strong season, St. Joseph's DeAndre Bembry could make himself a first-round pick in the NBA Draft next season.

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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With the college basketball season tipping off next week, we have some questions. We have lots of them, actually, but we narrowed it down to 10 inquiries about the 10 D-I teams we cover that will be answered during the course of the next four months.

In no particular order, here are the CoBL staff's 10 burning questions entering the 2015-16 season:

Can DeAndre Bembry solidify himself as a first-round NBA pick?
DeAndre Bembry is the most NBA-ready prospect in Philly and could be one of the first 30 picks in next June’s NBA Draft. Now, that’s a long time away, and Bembry’s first and foremost focus is to get St. Joseph’s to be competitive in the Atlantic 10. But he knows what his future holds, and he’ll have a decision to make in the spring: Declare for the draft, or come back for one more season? If Bembry builds on his sophomore campaign (17.7 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 3.6 rpg), he’ll capture the attention of not only more college basketball fans across the country, but also NBA scouts. The better chances he gets drafted early, the better the odds are he leaves Hawk Hill in the next eight months and leaves a void for Phil Martelli’s team.

Can Temple find better fortune on Selection Sunday?
If you watched the annual NCAA Tournament bracket reveal this past March and wondered why you weren’t seeing Temple, you probably weren’t alone. Each postseason, there always seem to be a few snubs--some worthy teams get left out because of their weak schedule, their lack of quality wins, or even just a few bounces of the ball that kept them from having a convincing resume. Temple, despite earning a regular season mark of 22-9, sat idly by as three teams with less than twenty wins danced their way into the tournament field. The Owls did end up making an impressive run to the NIT semifinals, but it’s safe to say that’s not a feat they want to repeat. Unlike last season, Temple takes on four ranked opponents in their non-conference slate, including top-ranked North Carolina, as well as Villanova, Butler, and Wisconsin, before entering their American Athletic Conference schedule. Those four games could provide an idea of where the Owls may stand on Selection Sunday. Adding four-star guard Trey Lowe to an already talented roster with the likes of 6-7 senior captain Jaylen Bond, 6-5 senior Quenton DeCosey, and 6-8 sophomore Obi Enechionyia definitely gives Temple a chance to catch the eye of the selection committee.

Will anybody challenge Villanova for Big 5 supremacy?
Villanova has had a stranglehold over the rest of the city of late. The Wildcats have won their last 10 games in the city series, taking home the Big 5 trophy each of the last two years. And it hasn’t really been that close--Villanova won each of the four city matchups last year by no fewer than 14 points, though Penn was within five points with five minutes to play. With Ryan Arcidiacono and Daniel Ochefu leading another top-10 worthy squad that includes potential one-and-done freshman Jalen Brunson, the Wildcats could conceivably run their dominance to three years and 14 straight, though a much-improved Saint Joseph’s squad will have something to say about it with the Holy War at Hagan this year. Temple, which doesn’t have to play ‘Nova until Feb. 17, also tends to play its best basketball later in the season under Fran Dunphy.

Can the Big 5 send a majority of its teams to the NCAA Tournament?
As each team was announced and placed onto the big bracket during last year’s Selection Sunday, Villanova stood alone as the only Big 5 team to go dancing in March. It marked the second year in a row in which a majority of Big 5 teams were not given an spot in the tournament. The Big 5 was able to send three teams to the NCAA Tournament in 2013, when Villanova, La Salle, and Temple each made the field. Heading into this year, Villanova is looking like the favorite once again in the Big East. As for the other Big 5 schools, Temple and St. Joseph’s are feeling pretty hopeful about this season. The Owls just missed the cut last season, a decision that left most shocked and surprised. St. Joseph’s is riding high on DeAndre Bembry, who has been a pivotal player for the Hawks ever since he set foot on their campus. If St. Joseph’s wants to elevate its play, it will need to help out Bembry. He can’t do it alone. Penn and La Salle, meanwhile, may have to wait another year.

Can Lafayette find its footing without the three seniors who contributed to its NCAA Tournament run last season?
Lafayette is coming off one of its strongest seasons in school history. Last season, the team won the Patriot League tournament championship, and secured a bid in the NCAA Tournament where it would fall to Villanova in the second round. Still, the Leopards won twenty games for only the second time since 1999, and steamrolled through their league tournament for their third Patriot League title in team history.  Much of their success was due in large part to an outstanding senior class led Dan Trist, Joey Ptasinski and Seth Hinrichs. The senior trio combined to score more than 4,000 points and left big shoes to fill with their departure. Luckily for Lafayette, the team returns Nick Lindner and Bryce Scott in the backcourt. Starting 31 games a year ago, Lindner averaged 12.5 points per game and led the Patriot League with a 2.6 assist/turnover ratio.  Scott started 29 games and averaged 8.3 ppg. Both will be called upon to take on even bigger roles and be the leaders for head coach Fran O’Hanlon’s team.

Can Drexel replace the scoring output of Damion Lee?
Damion Lee transferred from Drexel to Louisville for his senior season, and left the Dragons as the 10th all-time leading scorer. Had he remained he would have been on pace to finish within the top-three all time. This leads to a gaping hole in the Drexel offense, one that obviously can not be easily filled. It will be up to a committee to fill-in the outburst of scoring if the Dragons are to remain competitive in the CAA. Senior Tavon Allen should lead the charge, he averaged 11.2 ppg last season and will need to step up this season. The Dragons will also add transfer Ahmad Fields from Utah to the mix, after the 6-4 lefty sat out last season due to NCAA transfer regulations. Junior forward Rodney Williams will need to take another large step this season and increase his scoring output, he averaged 8.2 ppg last season. After that, sophomores Sammy Mojica and Rashann London will need to get more involved, they averaged 6.3 and 7.0 ppg respectively. The Dragons will also gain the services of Kazembe Abif who missed all of last season with a torn ACL. Drexel can be competitive if all of the key players on the team take another step this season and take their game up a notch.

How will Josh Reaves and Mike Watkins measure up in the Big Ten?
Penn State’s pair of lauded freshmen, Reaves and Watkins, are going to get their fair share of minutes this season. And a good portion of those minutes are going to come in one of the nation’s best conferences. Still waiting for recruiting reinforcements, the Nittany Lions will be rebuilding again this season, and while the wins may not be there in the conference, the experience will be. Reaves will be tasked with defending some of the better wings in the Big 10, and as a big man in the conference, Watkins will have to go through the normal freshman learning curve. They’ll have to take their lumps in the conference, but both players could land on the Big Ten’s all-freshman team if they play up to their potential.

Can Lehigh get back to the Tournament and pull another upset?
The Patriot League favorites return a lot from last season, including reigning conference Player of the Year in Tim Kempton. Coupled with Kahron Ross, the Mountain Hawks have one of the best inside-out combinations among all mid-majors. The program has not been to the Big Dance since C.J. McCollum led it there in 2011-12, and Lehigh famously beat second-seeded Duke. This team doesn’t have a player exactly like McCollum, but it is deep and talented. Brett Reed’s group will test itself against Power 5 teams in the nonconference, facing Syracuse, Virginia and Purdue. The Mountain Hawks also have their work cut out in the Patriot, but if they get back to the NCAA Tournament, they shouldn’t be slept on.

How will the point guard battles shape up at Drexel and St. Joseph’s?
Both Bruiser Flint and Phil Martelli will have decisions to make by next Friday about their starting lineups, including who will be running the offense. At Drexel, it’s between Major Canady, Rashann London and Terrell Allen. Canady and London both spent time as the Dragons’ floor general in the past, but have never been healthy at the same time. Meanwhile, Allen is a freshman who received some praise from Flint at last week’s CAA media day. Flint also mentioned London could see some time at the 2 guard spot. Over at St. Joe’s, it’s between sophomore Shavar Newkirk, who played about 20 minutes per game as a freshman and newcomer Lamarr Kimble out of Neumann-Goretti. The starting lineups on opening night certainly won’t be set in stone for the season, but it will be interesting to see who’s on the floor then and how the minutes get shared for both teams during the early course of the season.

How will La Salle’s big men play?
It’s a blow for a team when it loses one productive post player, and La Salle saw two graduate from the program last season in Jerrell Wright and Steve Zack. The duo put up a combined 20.7 ppg and 15.7 rpg. John Giannini does not expect that kind of production from the two players replacing them -- Tony Washington and Rohan Brown -- but the coach does expect them to rebound efficiently and defend well. The Explorers’ scoring is going to come from the perimeter this season, and if Washington and Brown can make the shots they’re supposed to make, that would be enough offensive output to keep Giannini happy. If they can do that and be solid at the other things, it will make La Salle competitive in the A-10.

 


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