Atlantic 10 Conference Preview

The following preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the most thorough preview available of the upcoming season, order the 2002-03 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518.   Blue Ribbon Forecast No. East Division Team  '01-02 Conf. Rec. (Overall) 1.  Temple  12-4 (15-14)  2.  Massachusetts  6-10 (13-16)  3.  St. Bonaventure  8-8 (17-12)   4.  Saint Joseph's  12-4 (18-11)  5.  Rhode Island  4-12 (8-20)  6.  Fordham  4-12 (8-20)  St. Joseph's PG Jameer Nelson Al Bello/Allsport No. West Division Team  '01-02 Conf. Rec. (Overall) 1.  Xavier  14-2 (25-5)  2.  Dayton  10-6 (20-10)  3.  Richmond  11-5 (19-13)   4.  La Salle  6-10 (15-17)  5.  George Washington  5-11 (12-16)  6.  Duquesne  4=12 (9-19)  Xavier PF David West Otto Greule Jr./Allsport

All-Conference Team Did You Know? G: Jameer Nelson JR, Saint Joseph's G: Chris Monroe SR, George Washington G: David Hawkins JR, Temple F: Romain Sato JR, Xavier F: David West SR, Xavier Player of the Year David West SR, Xavier Newcomer of the Year Keith Butler FR, Temple Top Backcourts 1. Xavier 2. Saint Joseph's 3. St. Bonaventure Top Frontcourts 1. Xavier 2. Dayton 3. Richmond 2002-03 Conference Tournament March 10, Campus sites March 13-15, University of Dayton Arena 2001-02 Champions Temple, Saint Joseph's, Xavier (Reg. season) Xavier (Conf. tournament) 2001-02 NCAA Tournament Postseason Record 10-6 (.625) NCAA Xavier (Second round) NIT Temple (Third place) Richmond (Quarterfinals) Dayton (Second round) St. Joe's (Second round) St. Bonaventure The Atlantic 10 Tournament, which has been played in Philadelphia the last 14 years, will move to Dayton for the next two years. The format has also been changed, as first-round games will be played at campus sites with the quarterfinals, semifinals and final scheduled for Dayton. After welcoming seven new coaches last season, the league has just one in 2002-03. Jerry Wainwright, who guided UNC Wilmington over USC in last year's NCAA Tournament, succeeds John Beilein at Richmond. Beilein is now at West Virginia.   A couple of high-profile high school coaches are now assistants in the A-10. Gary DeCesare, who coached St. Raymond's in the Bronx for 16 seasons, joined Wainwright's staff at Richmond and Bill Ellerbee, the long-time coach at Simon Gratz in Philadelphia, has been reunited with John Chaney at Temple. Ellerbee, a retired math teacher, used to keep the scorebook when Chaney coached at Gratz. He then went on to compile a 452-100 record in 20 seasons as head coach.   A couple of impressive streaks ended last season as the A-10 saw its run of sending at least two teams to the NCAA Tournament every year since 1991 come to an end. Temple also failed to make the NCAA field after 12 straight trips. The A-10 did send six teams to postseason play, though, marking the 14th straight year that at least four teams advanced beyond the regular season.   While there aren't many new faces on the sideline, there have been several changes of venue within the league as Dayton, Fordham and Richmond made improvements to their homecourts and Rhode Island will play in a new home, the $54 million Ryan Center this season. Duquesne will help christen two new arenas, serving as the initial opponent at Pittsburgh's Peterson Events Center and Maryland's Comcast Center.   Texas and Notre Dame will join George Washington and Maryland at the eighth annual BB&T Classic at Washington's MCI Center on Dec. 7-8.   La Salle reached the Atlantic 10 Tournament semifinals for the first time in school history in 2002.

 

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