St. Joe’s men’s and women’s hoops teams get spotlight in Atlantic 10 preseason polls
The Hawks' men, led by Erik Reynolds II and Xzayvier Brown, were voted No. 3. The Hawks' women, with veteran stalwarts Talya Brugler and Laura Ziegler, were voted No. 2 on their side.
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WASHINGTON — The buzz has been building for a few months now around the St. Joseph’s men’s basketball team. It started with guard Erik Reynolds II staying put, then grew with 6-foot-10 Justice Ajogbor transferring in from Harvard. And all along, guard Xzayvier Brown has been preparing for his sophomore season after a great freshman campaign.
On Monday, things got even more real when the Hawks were voted No. 3 in the Atlantic 10′s preseason poll of coaches and media. Only traditional powers Virginia Commonwealth and Dayton ranked higher, and the Hawks got five of the poll’s 30 first-place votes.
Reynolds, about to start his senior season, was picked to a six-man all-conference first team. The other five were Dayton forward Nate Santos, Loyola-Chicago guard Des Watson, Saint Louis center Robbie Avila and guard Gibson Jimerson, and VCU guard Max Shulga.
Brown, last season’s A-10 rookie of the year, made the all-conference second team. Forward Rasheer Fleming made the third team.
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St. Joe’s women picked No. 2
There are high expectations for the women’s team on Hawk Hill too, shown by a No. 2 ranking in the poll of the conference’s coaches. A season after winning a program-record 28 games, St. Joe’s got four of the 15 first-place votes, and finished behind No. 1 Richmond by a narrow margin.
Senior forward Talya Brugler (15.6 points per game last season) and junior forward Laura Ziegler (14.3 points and 9.4 rebounds) made the all-conference first team, and senior guard Mackenzie Smith made the second team.
They hope to take the Hawks to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014.
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La Salle looking up from last
The excitement around La Salle’s renovations to its basketball arena, now called John Glaser Arena, didn’t help the Explorers in the preseason poll voting. Both the men’s and women’s programs were picked last among the conference’s 15 teams.
Coaches and players from both schools will have their turn at the Atlantic 10′s media day podium later Monday.