By Charlie Leffler
Predicted order of finish
Marquette
Louisville- tie
Cincinnati- tie
Charlotte
Saint Louis
East Carolina
DePaul
Marquette
Tom Crean will bring his Marquette team into this season withtwo vital elements intact: talent and experience. PreseasonConference USA Player of the Year Dwayne Wade will once again leadthe team in scoring and jaw-dropping athletic moves. SophomoreTravis Diener showed few flaws subbing at the point last year; heshould be even better this season. Junior forward Scott Merrittreturns as a steady rebounder. In the middle, the Golden Eagleswill get a boost from Mississippi State transfer Robert Johnson.Though not eligible until December, he will have an immediateimpact. Freshman Steve Novak is a sharpshooter and will provideinstant scoring.
If you think this year’s Marquette team is good, wait until nextyear. Barring a NBA defection by Wade, the Golden Eagles will onlylose one player. Jackson is the only senior on the squad.
Players to Watch: Dwayne Wade, Robert Jackson, Travis Diener
Games to Watch: Non-conference- Nov. 15 Villanova, Conference-Mar. 8 Cincinnati
Cincinnati
Year after year, it’s the same old story. Bob Huggins loses keyplayers. Bob Huggins says they are overrated. Bob Huggins winsC-USA. Well, this season, Huggins may be right in his assessment.The Bearcats return only one starter from last season’s squad:Leonard Stokes. While UC is still loaded with talent, it will betheir main goal this season to find a floor leader who cancoordinate it all.
Jason Maxiell became the king of the monster dunk last year.This season, he may be playing second fiddle to freshman Eric”Helicopter” Hicks. However, Hicks is still not fully recoveredfrom a gunshot wound to the leg he suffered over the summer. Attimes, Field Williams looked like the conference’s best 3-pointshooter; at others, he looked like its worst. He will need todevelop more consistency this season.
Players to Watch: Jason Maxiel, Eric Hicks, Chad Moore
Games to Watch: Non-conference- Dec. 7 Xavier, Conference- Feb.5 at Louisville
Charlotte
Bobby Lutz lost nearly half of his scoring from last year’steam, but any fan of C-USA knows that’s no reason to disregard the49ers. The key to any team’s success relies upon its point guard,and Charlotte has one of the best in the league in Demon Brown.Throughout last season, Butter Johnson did not maintain the successof his freshman year, but look for him to flourish in a startingrole. Lutz will also get a boost from newcomers this year. FreshmanCurtis Withers is a deadeye shooter from beyond the arc who couldend up soothing the loss of Joby Thomas. Chris Sager ledWisconsin-Green Bay in scoring before becoming a 49er. StrongmanCalvin Clemmons, a transfer from South Carolina, will be difficultto move in the post.
Players to Watch: Demon Brown, Butter Johnson, CurtisWithers
Games to Watch: Non conference- Jan. 4 at Indiana, Conference-Mar. 8 at Louisville
Saint Louis
New head coach Brad Soderburg says he doesn’t want to use thesame boring offensive style of play that the Billikens have beenknown for… unless that’s what it takes to win games. With theluxury of having four returning starters, Soderburg may be able torun a little more this season. Marquee Perry is quick, clever andcrafty at the point. He is also an experienced senior. Kenny Brownis one of the team’s better shooters and the best rebounder. Itwill be interesting to see the impact of two big men when theybecome eligible to play later in the season. 6’8″ freshman JustinJohnson and 6’9′ sophomore forward Izachak Ohanon could help analready-solid front court.
Players to Watch: Marquee Perry, Kenny Brown, Chris Braun
Games to Watch: Non-conference- Dec. 3 at Arizona, Conference-Jan. 11 at Louisville
East Carolina
Last season, Bill Herrion had the surprise factor on teams whohad never traveled to Greenville to play in the Pirates’ tiny,ferocious arena. However, with the surprise gone, Herrion does havethe benefit of four returning starters. Moussa Badiane emerged asthe premiere shot-blocker in Conference USA last session. With ayear under his belt, he should be even better. Erroyl Bing was theteam’s leading scorer and shot nearly 40% from beyond the arc. Heis joined by the team’s second-leading scorer, Gabriel Mikulas. Theonly senior on the team, Travis-Holcomb Faye, will be at thepoint.
Players to Watch: Moussa Badiane, Erroyl Bing, GabrielMikulas
Games to Watch: Non-conference- Nov. 24 Mississippi, Conference-Feb 22 Charlotte
DePaul
New head coach Dave Leitao helped Jim Calhoun build a powerhouseat remote UConn. It will be interesting to see whether he can keepfrom drooling over now having tons of high school talent withinwalking distance. As has been the case for several years, DePaulhas talent, but the main difference this season is that they have acoach who knows how to… well… coach. It’s just a matter of howlong it will take Leitao to make things click. Forward Andre Brownwas dominating in the paint last year, averaging 14.5 points and9.4 rebounds per game. Sam Hoskin had some explosive games, but wasinconsistent. Chris Exilus will battle for the point spot. DrakeDeiner and Joe Tulley are outside threats.
Players to Watch: Andre Brown, Sam Hoskin, Delonte Holland
Games to Watch: Non-conference- Dec. 14 at Notre Dame,Conference- Feb. 1 at Saint Louis
