BU named preseason favorite in Patriot League, Irving named Preseason Player of the Year

By Sarah Kirkpatrick/DFP Staff

At the Patriot League men’s basketball media day Thursday, Boston University was named the unanimous preseason favorite to win the conference title in its first season in the Patriot League.

BU received all 18 first-place votes in a poll of coaches and sports info directors within the Patriot League, totaling 162 points. (Voters could not rank their own team.) Lafayette College came in second with 130 points and two first-place votes.

Senior guard D.J. Irving earned Preseason Player of the Year honors. He was joined on the preseason all-conference team by Bucknell University guard Cameron Ayers, Loyola University-Maryland guard Dylan Cormier, Lehigh University guard Mackey McKnight and College of the Holy Cross forward Dave Dudzinski.

The Terriers finished with a 17-13 overall record and a 11-5 record in America East play, led by Irving’s 14.2 points per game average. Irving also received a first-team America East nod last season. Senior forward Dom Morris (11.6 ppg, 6.4 rebounds per game in 2012-13) and sophomore forward Maurice Watson, Jr. (11.2 ppg, 5.4 assists per game in 2012-13) also return for BU.

Patriot League Men’s Basketball Preseason Rankings

1. Boston University (162 points)
2. Lafayette College (130)
3. U.S. Military Academy (115)
4.  Bucknell University (113)
5. Loyola University-Maryland (109)
6. Lehigh University (93)
7.  College of the Holy Cross (70)
8.  Colgate University (49)
9. American University (36)
10. U.S. Naval Academy (23)

BU Basketball at Coaches vs. Cancer Breakfast and Mass. College Basketball Media Day

By Christopher Dela Rosa/DFP Staff

Boston – Sept. 26, 2013 – On Thursday afternoon, all of the head coaches of D­–1 basketball programs in Massachusetts assembled at TD Garden for the third annual Massachusetts college basketball media day.

Media day was preceded with a Coaches vs. Cancer breakfast, in which the state’s first ever tripleheader featuring six Massachusetts D–1 schools was announced.  The tripleheader will take place at TD Garden on November 10th and feature games between BU and Northeastern, Boston College and UMass, and Harvard University and Holy Cross.

The proceeds from the event will benefit Coaches vs. Cancer, a nation-wide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coachers (NABC).

Following the breakfast and announcement, coaches were made available to the media, and Full Court Press caught up with BU head coach Joe Jones.

During that time Coach Jones spoke about leadership within the team and what he expects from this year’s incoming class.  Here’s what he had to say:

Jones on captains this season:

“We should be in great shape.  We have three seniors that were captains last year so they got their feet wet when it comes to being leaders of the team.  Now they’re seniors and they’re tremendous people.  That’s the first thing I’d say is they’re tremendous people, I think they handle themselves well the right way, so guys will follow them.  They understand the ropes, they won a championship as freshman; they’re great student athletes to have as your leaders.  We feel like we’re in great shape in that department and I feel like they will be able themselves.”

Jones on sophomore Maurice Watson Jr. as leader

“We’ve talked about that because it’s a little tricky.  By nature he’s a leader because of the way he is and the position that he plays.  So our captains are very comfortable with him being a vocal leader on the team so that wont change, and that’s why I love our team, they have very good chemistry and are very accepting.”

Jones on 2013–14 schedule

“I don’t know if there’s any game we’ve circled so to speak.  As much as we are anxious to play, we think the non conference will gear us up for conference play and we want to get better as the year goes on.”

Jones on what to expect from freshman class

“It’s hard to say right now.  Dylan Haines hurt his wrist so he’s out.  We were hoping he could give us some added depth in the front court.  Cedric Hankerson we think is going to have a great career.  How quickly he can get comfortable with the things we’re trying to do, will dictate how much of an impact he can make.  I think both guys can make an impact, how much though, remains to be seen.”