Welcome to The Sports Bank’s fourth annual college basketball season preview series where we break 111 teams in the 111 days leading up to the opening tip-off of the 2013-2014 season. We will rank the 84 power conference teams (including the new Big East and American Athletic Conferences) and top 27 mid-majors in reverse power ranking order. We’ll break down rosters, transfers, incoming freshmen, non-conference schedules, and pick a player to watch for each team.
The Drexel Dragons were the pre-season pick to win the CAA last season but failed to meet expectations by finishing with a five-hundred conference record. With most of last year’s core returning, Drexel is looking for a bounce back season.
DREXEL DRAGONS
Last Season: 7th, 9-9 in CAA, 13-18 overall
Predicted CAA Finish: 2nd
Projected Depth Chart
F/C: Dartaye Ruffin (Sr)/Mohamed Bah (Fr)/Goran Pantovic (Sr)
F: Kazembe Abif (Jr)/Rodney Williams (Fr)/Khris Lane (Fr)
G/F: Damion Lee (Jr)/Tavon Allen (So)
SG: Chris Fouch (Sr)/Major Canady (Fr)
PG: Frantz Massenat (Sr)/Freddie Wilson (Jr)
Gone: SG-Derrick Thomas, C-Daryl McCoy, PG-Aquil Younger (transfer)
2013-2014 Outlook:
Everything will center around the Drexel Dragons talented trio of guards; Damion Lee, Chris Fouch, and Frantz Massenat. Lee and Massenat were both All-CAA Second Team last year. Lee is a talented all-around scorer while Massenat runs the show for Bruiser Flint. Fouch is another capable scorer who can fill it up from the outside but played in just three games last season due to a season-ending ankle injury. He was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA though which provides a huge boost for the Dragons as they might possess one of the most offensively-skilled backcourt threesome in mid-major hoops.
Flint will lean heavily on his backcourt especially since there is a lack of depth behind them. Freshman Major Canady will be the only back-up guard until Seton Hall transfer Freddie Wilson becomes eligible after the first semester. Wilson’s addition should bring some stability to the backcourt bench.
While there is great talent at guard, the frontcourt needs to improve from last year especially in providing some inside scoring. Dartaye Ruffin is a big body inside but doesn’t possess a whole lot of offensive versatility. Kazembe Abif should take over as starting forward but will be pushed by freshmen Rodney Williams, Mohamed Bah, and Khris Lane. Tavon Allen was a key contributor off the bench last season and should resume that role, adding some versatility and outside shooting.
There should be quality competition at the top of the CAA standings between Drexel, Towson, and the new kids on the block, Charleston. The Lee/Fouch/Massenat trio performs up to their potential and the frontcourt figures itself out, the Dragons may be dancing come March.
Player to Watch: Damion Lee
The junior is one of the better mid-major players in college basketball who you have probably never heard about. He brings a ton of versatility to the floor as he can score off the bounce, shoot it from deep, and rebounds well for a wing. With Fouch back in the picture on the wing, it should take some of the pressure off Lee and open up even more opportunity for him.
OTHER 111 IN 111’S:
#93 Wake Forest
#94 Charleston
#95 Seton Hall
#96 Vanderbilt
#97 George Mason
#98 Clemson
#99 Penn State
#100 Nebraska
#101 West Virginia
#102 South Florida
#103 Mississippi State
#104 DePaul
#105 South Carolina
#106 Texas Tech
#107 TCU
#108 Virginia Tech
#109 Georgia
#110 Utah
#111 Auburn
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Honolulu to Milwaukee. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet , AND the second most accurate 2013 NBA Mock Draft. (Yup, nearly 3peat champ… #humblebrag.)
You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.