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Xavier Picked A-10 Men's Basketball Preseason Favorite
Oct. 13, 2011 NEW YORK--Xavier has been chosen as the Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball preseason favorite and 26 A-10 players were selected for preseason awards. The league announced the poll and awards Thursday in conjunction with its annual Media Day. Both the awards and the predicted order of finish were chosen by a panel of the leagues head coaches and media members. Xavier garnered 304 total points and 18 first-place votes to place first in the predicted order of finish. The Musketeers finished 24-8 overall and 15-1 in the A-10 last season and have clinched at least a share of the A-10 regular season record the last five years. XU also led all teams with five players selected for preseason awards. Temple, chosen second in the preseason poll, finished at 14-2 last year in the A-10 and 26-8 overall. The Owls, who have won three of the last four Atlantic 10 Championships, had four first-place votes and a total of 287 points for second place. Saint Louis was picked third with 239 points, followed by St. Bonaventure (217 points), defending A-10 champion Richmond (196 points) and Dayton (168 points). Saint Joseph's was picked seventh with 165 points and George Washington tallied 163 points to earn the eighth place. Duquesne (151 points) and Rhode Island (117 points) completed the top 10, while Charlotte, Massachusetts, La Salle and Fordham rounded out the 14-team field. Xavier senior guard Tu Holloway and St. Bonaventure senior center Andrew Nicholson were both named to the Preseason First-Team All-Conference team. Holloway, the defending A-10 Player of the Year, and Nicholson, last year's A-10 leading scorer and a postseason all-conference first-teamer, were both selected last week as preseason candidates for the prestigious Wooden Award. Temple seniors Ramone Moore and Juan Fernandez were also selected to the Preseason All-Conference First Team. Moore was a second-team all-conference selection last season and Fernandez was named to the third team. George Washington's Tony Taylor, a second-team all-conference honoree in 2010-11, rounded out the first-team selections. Seniors Chris Johnson (Dayton) and Kenny Frease (Xavier) were both named to the preseason all-conference second team. They were joined by juniors Mark Lyons (Xavier), Chris Gaston (Fordham) and Kwamain Mitchell (Saint Louis). Seniors Scootie Randall of Temple and Charlotte's Derrio Green were both named to the third team. Green's teammate Chris Braswell and Saint Joseph's Carl Jones, both juniors were also on the third team as was Duquesne sophomore T.J. McConnell. Holloway, Nicholson, McConnell were also selected for the All-Defensive team. Senior Darrius Garrett (Richmond) and sophomore C.J. Aiken (Saint Joseph's) were also named to the all-defensive team. There was a tie in the All-Rookie team voting, resulting in a six-member team. Jerrell Wright (La Salle), Cady LaLanne (Massachusetts), Alonzo Nelson-Odada (Richmond), Anthony Lee (Temple), Dezmine Wells (Xavier) and Justin Martin (Xavier) were all named preseason all-rookie. Practice begins Firday at 5:00 pm. Duquesne tips off the 2011-12 season on Wednesday, Nov. 9 with a game at Arizona in the Coaches vs. Cancer 2K Sports Classic. Most of the Atlantic 10 membership will begin their seasons on Friday, Nov. 11. Dayton and Fordham begin Saturday, Nov. 12. The season will culminate with the 2012 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. The first round of the tournament, which will be played at home sites will begin Tuesday, March 6. The quarterfinals begin Friday, March 9 at Boardwalk Hall. The tournament concludes with the finals on Sunday, March 11 at 1:00 p.m. 2011-12 A-10 Men's Basketball Predicted Order of Finish
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