November might be closing month for college football, but it’s also opening month for college basketball. But not every school is playing the same game.
Power Five teams are building resumes for at-large possibilities on Selection Sunday while hammering out their rotation for conference play. Mid-major conference teams focus on getting that signature upset win that looms large in March.
For the schools from one-bid leagues, there’s less focus on piling wins or constructing a profile, because unlike the others the only road to the NCAA Tournament is capturing their conference tourney (and unlike a few years ago, the regular season winners aren’t even assured of an NIT bid).
The road to March began on the road for three local schools this past Monday as American, Navy and Howard each lost on opening night. The Eagles lost at La Salle 70-63 as head coach Duane Simpkins enters his second season manning the Bender Arena sidelines.
“One year under my belt I think I’m a better coach than I was a year ago,” Simpkins told WTOP last month. “Leading up to the season, just in terms of proper preparation.”
American tied for second in the Patriot League but lost six of its last nine games last winter to finish 16-16 (10-8 in the conference) with an exit in the quarterfinals. This fall, the Eagles have been picked to finish second behind perennial power Colgate.
“The Patriot League’s going to be competitive, there’s going to be four or five teams jockeying for first, second, third, fourth place. There’s going to be a surprise team — there always is,” Simpkins said. “Colgate lost a couple of very good pieces but until someone dethrones them, they have the right to be preseason No. 1.”
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Simpkins returns plenty of talent, starting with senior forward Matt Rogers. The 6-foot-9 big man averaged 16 points with six rebounds while shooting 37% from 3-point range last year and was voted Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year.
“He’s made huge strides: everybody knows Matt’s talented. He’s continuing to shoot the basketball and play physical inside. The biggest jump matt has made has come from an emotional standpoint,” Simpkins said. “He’s becoming a better a teammate because he’s putting his teammates first. He’s putting his emotions aside for the betterment of his team, which is great.”
The schedule doesn’t lighten up, with trips to No. 9 North Carolina (Nov. 15) and Virginia (Dec. 22), plus participation in a tournament in Puerto Rico. George Washington also stops by Bender Arena in December as the Eagles try to get in the right spot to begin Patriot League play when they visit Navy on Jan. 2.
“We’ve got to know what we can expect from guys,” Simpkins said. “It’s very important that first rotation: who’s coming out and when. And then who are you following up that group with. There has to be some cohesion and we hope to have that by January.”
Navy also fell in Philadelphia to start the season, slipping 70-63 at Saint Joseph’s on Monday. The Midshipmen (13-18 last year with an 8-10 Patriot League record) were led by Austin Benigni’s 23 points in the opener. The 5-foot-10-inch guard averaged 17 points with four assists last year and was named to the Patriot League Preseason First Team last month. Can he improve his shooting? The Woodlands, Texas, native made 39% of his shots and 25% from three-point range in his first season as a starter.
More importantly, will the Mids find a way to find the basket better than last year’s bunch, which ranked last in field goal and 3-point percentage. Coach Ed DeChellis’ team has a chance to find its stride with four straight home games, including Friday’s Veterans’ Classic meeting with Harvard. Navy then spends the weekend after Thanksgiving at the Palestra in Philadelphia (at Penn plus neutral-floor games with Elon and Maine) and the rest of its preconference slate features four road games (including a trip to Virginia Tech).
Howard‘s preconference schedule dwarfs the other two, as the Bison (18-17 last season with a 9-5 MEAC mark) battled Preseason No. 1 Kansas in their season opener Monday night. It yielded the same result as the two school’s NCAA Tournament First Round game from 2023, as the Jayhawks prevailed in Allen Fieldhouse 87-57.
The preleague slate also involves games at No. 20 Cincinnati and Missouri, but coach Kenneth Blakeney’s bunch is primed for another big season as the team’s been picked to win the MEAC after taking the conference tournament the last two seasons.
Senior guard Bryce Harris was voted MEAC Preseason Player of the Year after averaging 17 points with eight rebounds last season, and senior guard Marcus Dockery (14 points per game while shooting 41% from three last winter) was named to the conference’s Preseason Second Team. Freshman Blake Harper introduced himself to the college hoops world by netting 16 points with four rebounds and three assists in the gym of the nation’s top team.
This was a program that just three years ago was looking for its first winning season since 2002, and as recently as March 2023 was dealing with a 30-plus-year stretch of not making the NCAA Tournament. Blakeney’s Bison are going for three in a row this winter. I wouldn’t sell them short.
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