CAA
This conference is made up of primarily slower teams with Charleston having ranked 96th in total possessions per game and no other team in the conference ranking higher than 188th in this category last season.
Charleston will likely run a bit of a different offense with Pat Kelsey accepting the Louisville job after leading the Cougars to each of the past two NCAA Tournaments. But in return, former Louisville coach Chris Mack takes over the program.
Mack is not the only new coach in the conference, as Cornell coach Dan Earl enters the CAA to coach William & Mary. Earl had Cornell 64th or faster in possessions per game in each of the past three seasons. He could look to speed up a team that was 353rd in possessions per game last season.
Excluding the 2020-21 season when Towson played just 18 games due to COVID, the Tigers have four straight seasons of at least 19 wins and return five of their top six scorers from a core that rebounded 38.8% of their missed shots as an offensive rebound, the second-highest percentage in the nation last season.
While North Carolina A&T has had just four of its past 27 seasons result in a record above .500, the team returns its top three scorers from last season, including Landon Glasper, who was 21st among qualifying Division I players in scoring last season with 20.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game. But the team was 340th in assists per possession last season.
Stony Brook had the best ATS record in the country last season at 25-8-1, but the team lost all five of its top scorers from last season. Forward Andre Snoddy is the lone returning starter after averaging 5.0 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.
Many teams have a lot of moving parts in the conference, including UNC Wilmington, which had perhaps the biggest win for the conference last season. The Seahawks defeated Kentucky on the road, but they lost all of last season’s tip six scorers from a team that was second in America in fewest turnovers per possession on offense.
