JONESBORO, Ark. (10/26/11) – In conjunction with Sun Belt Conference men’s basketball media day, the league announced its Preseason Coaches’ Poll and Preseason All-Conference teams Wednesday.
The Red Wolves were tabbed to finish atop the Sun Belt Conference West Division and landed senior forward Martavius Adams on the Preseason All-Sun Belt first team and junior guard Trey Finn on the third team.
“I’m hoping our team can be as good as or a little bit better than we were a year ago,” said ASU head coach John Brady. “From an experience standpoint and a size standpoint, we should be pretty good. We don’t have great players, I think we have a collection of good players, and if they play unselfish and do the things that are necessary, I think we can have a good basketball team.”
The Red Wolves received eight first place votes in the poll and 64 points overall. Louisiana-Lafayette finished second in the vote with two first place votes and 60 points. North Texas and Denver each received a first place vote finishing in third and fourth respectively with 50 and 40 points. UALR was tabbed fifth with 26 points and ULM was picked sixth with 12 points.
FAU was nearly a unanimous pick to finish atop the east with 11 first place votes and 71 points. Middle Tennessee garnered the other first place vote with 59 points followed by WKU with 41 points, South Alabama with 33, FIU with 31 and Troy with 17.
Adams and Finn are the top two returning players from last year’s squad which went undefeated at home and won a share of the western division Sun Belt title. Adams was the top scorer and rebounder for ASU last season averaging 11.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game while Finn is the top returning guard averaging 8.7 points and 5.5 rebounds a game.
“Martavius and Trey are two guys who are key to our team,” commented Brady. “If those two guys stay healthy and do what they are supposed to do they are certainly a big part of our team. Martavius in particular because of his size around the goal and the experience he has. Being first team is not a surprise and certainly deserving. Trey Finn is a solid third team selection if not better. Trey brings a lot of things to our table and to our team and sometimes I think the intangibles are hard to measure. We predict Trey, as the year moves along and his scoring ability and his ability to lead in general progress, he is going to be a big part of the success we may have. ”
The Red Wolves begin their fourth season under head coach John Brady with an exhibition contest Saturday at 1 p.m. against Central Baptist.