Oct. 24, 2006

Atlantic City, NJ - Xavier is the overwhelming choice as the team to beat in the Atlantic 10 men's basketball race, according to a poll of the Atlantic 10's head coaches and media released at today's Media Day at Boardwalk Hall, the site of the 2007 A-10 Championship.

The Musketeers received 59 of the 64 first-place votes cast by the panel of coaches and media. Xavier (21-11/8-8) returns five starters from last year's A-10 championship team - the only team in NCAA history to twice win four games in four days to claim a league title. This year's Musketeers are led by four players named to the preseason All-Conference teams - first-team selection Stanley Burrell (14.4 ppg, 105 assists); second-team pick Justin Cage (10.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg), who was the most outstanding player of the 2006 A-10 Championship; and third-team selections Justin Doellman (11.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and Drew Lavender, who comes to Xavier after transferring from Oklahoma, where he averaged 9.7 ppg and handed out 101 assists as a sophomore in 2004-05.

Massachusetts received four first-place votes and place second in the preseason poll. The Minutemen (13-15/8-8) return four starters, led by first-team preseason All-Conference pick Rashaun Freeman (13.6 ppg, 9.3 rpg), and welcome three transfers who are expected to make significant impacts - 7-0 center Luke Bonner (West Virginia), 6-7 forward Etienne Brower (Boston University), and 6-7 swingman Gary Forbes (Virginia).

Saint Louis (16-13/10-6) was chosen third in the poll and will be led by first-team preseason selection Ian Vouyoukas (13.9 ppg, 7.4 rpg), the 2006 Chris Daniels Award winner as the A-10's most improved player. Charlotte (19-13/11-5), which received the remaining first-place vote, was chosen fourth by the pollsters. The 49ers welcome back De'Angelo Alexander, who is the Atlantic 10's leading returning scorer at 17.0 ppg.

Defending regular season champion George Washington (27-3/16-0), which had the best winning percentage (.900) in the country last season, was selected fifth in the poll, and is followed by Dayton (14-17/6-10), Fordham (16-16/9-7), Saint Joseph's (19-13/9-7), Temple (17-15/8-8), La Salle (18-10/10-6), Rhode Island (14-14/8-8), Richmond (13-17/6-10), Duquesne (3-24/1-15), and St. Bonaventure (8-19/2-14).

In that same poll, the coaches and media selected the preseason All-Conference teams. The first-team is comprised of Alexander, Burrell, Freeman, Vouyoukas, and Fordham's Bryant Dunston. The second-team features Cage, George Washington teammates Carl Elliott and Maureece Rice, the A-10's Sixth Man of the Year last season, A-10 Rookie of the Year Tommie Liddell of Saint Louis, and Dayton's Brian Roberts. On the third-team are Doellman, Lavender, Charlotte's Leemire Goldwire, Stephane Lasme of Massachusetts, and Kevin Lisch of Saint Louis.

The preseason All-Defensive team consists of Cage, Dunston, Elliott, Goldwire, and Lasme. The All-Rookie team boasts Charlotte's David Booker, Jawan Carter of Saint Joseph's, Temple's Luis Guzman, Damian Hollis of George Washington, and Tiki Mayben of UMass.

The 2006-07 season begins on Nov. 9 when St. Bonaventure faces Chicago State in the 2K Sports Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in Austin, TX, and culminates with the 31st Annual Atlantic 10 Championship, Mar. 7-10, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

2006-07 Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Teams
(as selected by coaches and media)

FIRST-TEAM

	Cl.	Pos.	Ht.	PPG	RPG	AST	STL	BLK
De'Angelo Alexander, CHA	Sr.	G	6-5	17.0	6.1	59	35	10
Stanley Burrell, XU	Jr.	G	6-3	14.4	2.9	105	23	3
Bryant Dunston, FOR	Jr.	F	6-8	16.1	7.6	52	26	76
Rashaun Freeman, UM	Sr.	F/C	6-9	13.6	9.3	36	25	23
Ian Vouyoukas, SLU	Sr.	F/C	6-10	13.9	7.4	48	16	55

SECOND-TEAM

Justin Cage, XU	Sr.	F	6-6	10.5	5.4	39	28	17
Carl Elliott, GW	Sr.	G	6-4	11.5	3.9	117	59	2
Tommie Liddell, SLU	So.	G	6-4	10.3	6.9	77	29	18
Maureece Rice, GW	Jr.	G	6-1	12.6	2.1	85	45	2
Brian Roberts, UD	Jr.	G	6-2	16.0	3.5	107	15	2

THIRD-TEAM

Justin Doellman, XU	Sr.	F	6-9	11.0	6.7	81	51	51
Leemire Goldwire, CHA	Jr.	G	5-11	13.4	2.8	87	58	1
Stephane Lasme, UM	Sr.	F	6-8	10.5	7.0	31	21	108
Drew Lavender, XU	Jr.	G	5-7	9.7	1.5	101	51	0
Kevin Lisch, SLU	So.	G	6-2	11.1	2.4	39	23	4

DEFENSIVE TEAM

Justin Cage, XU	Sr.	F	6-6	10.5	5.4	39	28	17
Bryant Dunston, FOR	Jr.	F	6-8	16.1	7.6	52	26	76
Carl Elliott, GW	Sr.	G	6-4	11.5	3.9	117	59	2
Leemire Goldwire, CHA	Jr.	G	5-11	13.4	2.8	87	58	1
Stephane Lasme, UM	Sr.	F	6-8	10.5	7.0	31	21	108

ROOKIE TEAM

David Booker, CHA	Fr.	F	6-7	27.0	12.0
Jawan Carter, SJU	Fr.	G	6-0	29.4	5.0	7.0
Luis Guzman, TU	Fr.	G	6-2	18.0	5.0	6.0
Damian Hollis, GW	Fr.	F	6-8	22.0	11.0
Tiki Mayben, UM	Fr.	G	6-2	21.9	10.0

*2004-05 statistics

2006-07 Atlantic 10 Predicted Order of Finish
(as selected by coaches and media)

1. Xavier (59)
2. Massachusetts (4)
3. Saint Louis
4. Charlotte (1)
5. George Washington
6. Dayton
7. Fordham
8. Saint Joseph's
9. Temple
10. La Salle
11. Rhode Island
12. Richmond
13. Duquesne
14. St. Bonaventure

First-place votes in parenthesis