College Basketball Preview: America East

Yup, it's that time of year again!  College basketball season.  Like football, I'll be doing previews.  For basketball, however, I'll be doing conference previews with a small preview of the colleges in that conference.  I'm going to start with the smaller conferences alphabetically and work my way to the big conferences when I get closer to the season.  So here we go...

Albany:  The Danes will be led by their backcourt in the 2010-2011 season.  Three starters, led by Tim Ambrose and Mike Black, return for a team that hasn't made the NCAA Tournament since 2007.  The team returns just three upperclassmen (two seniors), so the team will be relatively young.  They will look for many newcomers to make an immediate impact.

Binghamton: The Bearcats are still trying to remove the shadow of a scandal that took place when former coach Kevin Broadus used some shady methods in recruiting athletes to play at Binghamton.  Greer Wright, who was a first-team all-conference selection, returns after averaging 15 points and six rebounds.  Moussa Camara, who averaged nearly 11 points per game, also returns to take some of the pressure off of Wright.

Boston University: To say the Terriers will be relatively known until the middle of the season would be an understatement.  Despite returning three starters, the team welcomes 11 newcomers, including three transfers, two of whom (Patrick Hazel and Matt Griffin) might be starters from Day 1.  Boston returns last years' America East scoring leader in John Holland, who will look to become a three-time all-conference first-team selection, as well as just the second 2,000 point scorer in team history; he currently has 1,558 points.

Hartford: Hartford is hoping that bringing back all five starters will help them improve on last year's 8-22 record.  New coach John Gallagher's motion offense will suit this team greatly, as two of their starters, Joe Zeglinski and Mogan Sabia are tops and third in career three-pointers at Hartford, respectively.

Maine:  Maine brings back four starters and a boat load of experience from last year's squad that finished third in conference.  The returnees are led by Gerald McLemore, who garnered all-conference first-team honors last season, after knocking down 102 three-pointers.  Sean McNally returns to man the paint after averaging 10 points and seven rebounds per game.

New Hampshire:  The Wildcats return three senior starters for a team that is looking for its first winning record since 1994-95.  Alvin Abreu comes back after averaging 14 points per game and Tyrone Conley, who averaged 12 points per game, returns to anchor the backcourt.  The frontcourt will be made up of Dane DiLiegro, Ferg Myrick and Brian Benson.

Stony Brook: In 11 years of Division I basketball, the Seawolves have qualified for a postseason tournament once, in 2010 (NIT). However, last year's regular season champs are hoping to make that step up and go to the NCAA's. The team returns four starters, including sharp-shooter Bryan Dougher.  Tommy Brenton, last year's league rebounding champion, returns to anchor an experienced frontcourt.  The team's lone starter lost from last year, however, was the league's Player of the Year, Muhammad El-Amin.

UMBC:  The team is coming off of the program's worst season (4-26) and lost three starters and their sixth man from last year's squad.  Point guard Chris De La Rosa will be the team leader after averaging nearly 12 points and five assists per game.  If the team is able to come up with a decent frontcourt, the team has a chance of surprising some teams.

Vermont:  Last year's conference champs might take a big step back from last year after losing four starters.  One interesting aspect of this year's squad is that 10 of the players are 6'6 or taller.  The Catamounts will look for Evan Fjeld, who shot better that 65 percent, scored nearly 11 points per game and six rebounds per game, to lead this year's squad.  They will look to UMass transfer Matt Glass to provide more of a scoring punch.