Northeast Conference Announces Preseason Men's Basketball Coaches Poll
Blue Devils open season against Hartford on Nov. 13
The Central Connecticut men's basketball was picked to finish 10th in the Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll released on Tuesday. Mount St. Mary's was the preseason pick of the coaches to finish first in the league with Robert Morris and Bryant also collecting first place votes. Central returns three starters from last season and has a total of eight newcomers to bolster this season's roster.
Senior forward Brandon Peel is one of three starters returning for Central, which finished 5-26 overall in 2014-15. Peel started all 31 games and ranked second in the NEC with 8.8 rebounds per game and averaged 9.1 points with 1.7 blocked shots per game. Junior Khalen Cumberlander is the leading returning scorer at 9.9 points per game and started 24 contests. Sophomore Kevin Seymour started 22 games and averaged a team-leading 3.4 assists per game.
The Preseason All-NEC team was made up of Byron Ashe (Jr., G, Mount St. Mary's), Cane Broome (So., G, Sacred Heart), Dan Garvin (Jr., F, Bryant), Gregory Graves (Sr., F, Mount St. Mary's) and Rodney Pryor (Sr., G, Robert Morris).
The Blue Devils open the season on Friday, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. vs. Fairfield in the Annual Connecticut 6 Classic being hosted by Central Connecticut.
2015-16 NEC PRESEASON COACHES POLL (first place votes in parenthesis)
1. Mount St. Mary's (6)
2. Robert Morris (3)
3. Bryant (1)
4. LIU Brooklyn
5. St. Francis Brooklyn
6. Wagner
7. Sacred Heart
8. Saint Francis U
9. Fairleigh Dickinson
10. Central Connecticut