America East preview

A team-by-team glance at the America East heading into the 2009-10 season.

(In CBSSports.com predicted order of finish)

1. Boston University

Villanova assistant Patrick Chambers takes over for long-time coach Dennis Wolff and steps into the role of favorite to win the America East title.

Binghamton, the defending champ, has been wiped out by scandal, leaving the "other" BU the clear-cut frontrunner.

Then again, the Terriers were picked to win in each of the past two years and didn't, which is probably why Wolff is gone.

But Chambers, hoping to bring the success he had with Jay Wright in Philadelphia, takes over a team that has the past three America East Rookies of the Year on a roster that boasts nine seniors from a team that won 17 games last year.

Forward John Holland and guard Corey Lowe are two of the best players in the conference, while forward Jake O'Brien was last year's top rookie in the league.

Holland averaged 18.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last year and is probably the most exciting player in America East. Lowe, now a senior, had his ups and downs with Wolff, and there always seemed to be talk of his leaving. Lowe averaged 17.2 points and 4.1 assists per game last year.

Chambers also hopes guard Tyler Morris, one of the better players in the conference before injuries, regains his once-potent game.

"I look at BU basketball like the Gonzaga and the Xavier of the Northeast," Chambers said after getting the job. "We want to play a style that the community and the university is going to be proud of. We are going to play hard, we are going to play tough and physical for 40 minutes -- BU basketball for 40 minutes. And the fans in the stands will say, 'Wow, did they give it up for each other.'"

2. Vermont

Vermont hasn't won the past two America East titles, but, somehow, the road to that crown always seems to have to go through Burlington.

It also has to go through Marqus Blakely.

Yes, the 6-5 (and that may be a stretch) giant, is back, again. He's a two-time conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. He will be missing sidekick Mike Trimboli and useful part Colin McIntosh, but this is a team that again has to be mentioned in the mix for the conference title.

Blakely averaged 16.1 points and 9.0 rebounds last year, whole blocking 2.7 shots and adding 2.0 steals per game. Blakely does have a hitch in his game, however, and that's free-throw shooting. He shot just 56 percent from the foul line last year.

Mike Lonergan begins his fifth season as the Catamounts coach and he's 76-49 in the first four. Vermont went 24-9 last year, when the Cats lost to host Albany in the first round of the conference tournament and then went 1-1 in the inaugural CBI Tournament.

Vermont won at Wisconsin-Green Bay and then lost, by a point, in overtime at Oregon State.

Now, another run?

"We want to try to get better each day and hopefully at the end of the season we'll be in good position to try to make a run at the America East championship," Lonergan said.

3. New Hampshire

Some good things happened in Durham last year.

Bill Herrion, now armed with a contract extension, coached a team that went 8-8 in conference play and then beat Stony Brook in the first round of the America East Tournament before the season ended with a tough loss to eventual champion Binghamton.

Now, Herrion, minus second-team all-conference pick Tyrece Gibbs, looks toward the future.

The Wildcats, who seemingly used to be in the league to battle fellow hockey school Maine for the bottom spots in the conference, are building something under Herrion and are coming off the program's best season in 14 years.

The Cats remain strong in the backcourt, but center Dane Diliegro is going to need help inside for thing to get even better this season.

4. Albany

Things have changed for Will Brown and his staff.

For one thing, two members of that staff won't have to suit up for practice.

Down the stretch of last year's disappointing 15-16 season, the Great Danes were down to eight players -- hence the need for assistants to grab uniforms -- but that has changed with a six-man recruiting class that included size and a point guard.

The Danes will be led by the 1-2 punch of Tim Ambrose and Will Harris, their two top scorers from last season, when Albany did salvage something by upsetting Vermont in the first round of the America East Tournament.

The Great Danes had lost seven of their last eight games and finished lower than fourth in the conference for the first time since 2003-04.

Both Ambrose and Harris made third-team all-conference and should move up on that honors list, but the loss of Anthony Raffa (transfer) and Will Connelly (graduation) will be felt.

Ambrose averaged 14.3 points to lead Albany in scoring last year, while Harris led in rebounding at 6.5 (seventh in the conference) and scored 12.9 per game.

5. Stony Brook

The first thing you think of when you see what Steve Pikiell has done with the Stony Brook program is this: How long can they keep this guy way out there on Long Island?

He's young. He's energetic. He has produced results. You just have to wonder how long it will be before the former UConn assistant gets a bigger and better job.

But Pikiell, who led the Seawolves to their best America East record (8-8) and went 16-14 for the most wins since 2000-01, signed a contract extension through 2013-14 and is clearly busy with the task at hand.

Sure, he might move on. That's always a danger with young coaches on this level. But for now, he's doing some pretty good things with this program.

And, on paper, the Wolves should be even better this season. They lost some senior leadership, but Muhammad El-Amin is one of the better scorers in the conference and Ryan Dougher and Tommy Brenton, two of the league's top rookies last year, are sophomores with more experience.

El-Amin made second-team all-conference last season and was seventh in the conference in scoring (15.7) and fourth in 3-point percentage (.384). Dougher and Brenton both made the America East All-Rookie team. Dougher ranked among the league leaders in scoring (11.2), free-throw percentage (.772) and 3-point percentage (.363). Brenton was third in rebounding (9.1) and tied for fourth in steals (1.8).

Stony Brook is not loaded down with a non-league schedule that will automatically produce a bunch of losses, so this team should again know how to win when it hits the league schedule.

6. Hartford

Ten games into last season, Hartford was getting ready for America East play when it lost franchise player Joe Zeglinski for the season with an ankle injury.

Almost predictably, the final record was 7-26, the league mark 2-14. Hartford did grab some solace by defeating Maine in the 8-9 game of the America East Tournament, but the season was a washout.

Zeglinski, an all-conference selection in 2007-08, got a medical redshirt and returns for another shot at his junior season, and while Dan Leibovitz's team doesn't figure to challenge for the league title, things have to be better.

Zeglinski (15.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in 10 games before his injury) has some veteran help. Morgan Sabia averaged 10.6 points and 4.3 rebounds last year. He also led the team with 56 3-pointers. He was a league All-Rookie selection two years ago.

The Hawks are also hoping two new 6-5 additions, freshman Ross Erickson and transfer Milton Burton, will help.

7. Maryland-Baltimore County

Beware of winning the America East title.

Look at what has happened to the past two winners.

While much of the attention has been on the turmoil that has taken down last year's champs, Binghamton, the 2008 winner, UMBC, has had nothing but heartache since winning the crown.

The Retrievers went 15-17 last year. They did pull off a first-round conference tournament win as a No. 6 seed, beating No. 3 Boston University, and then beat No. 7 Albany to make it all the way to the final, but the shorthanded group ran out of gas in the title game against Binghamton.

Now, things look worse.

Stars Jay Greene and Darryl Proctor are done, forward Rich Fleming left the team, sophomore Chauncey Gilliam is out until at least second semester because of academics and frontcourt man Justin Fry is out indefinitely with a knee injury.

Add all that up and that's 51.7 points and 21.1 rebounds per game, and Greene was responsible for 187 assists all by himself.

It's not pretty, for now.

But Gilliam could work out his woes and Fry says he'll be back for conference play, so things could be OK after all.

Coach Randy Monroe will count on transfer guard Chris De La Rosa (Siena) and the 7-0 Marshall transfer Robbie Jackson to help stabilize the manpower situation, but there were just three active returning players from last year's team as practice began.

8. Maine

The troubles continue in Orono.

As if Maine didn't have enough issues coming off another losing season, the Black Bears also lost leading scorer Mark Socoby, who is still in school this semester but who will transfer to play for the NAIA's The Master's College in California next season.

So, coach Ted Woodward, whose team plays its games in a hockey rink that opens itself to basketball on a very temporary (and often chilly) basis, faces another losing season.

In fact, only the collapse of the last two America East champions, UMBC and Binghamton, really provides any hope of the Bears escaping the conference basement.

To summarize the problems: The Bears lost their top scorer, had the associate head coach resign after a sex scandal, and saw a recruit, the younger brother of sophomore Gerald McLemore, back out of letter of intent.

But Woodward is hopeful the infusion of a pair of junior college transfers -- Jerrell Boswell and Terrance Mitchell -- will help improve the record.

9. Binghamton

Binghamton, coming off its first trip to the NCAA tournament, saw the roof cave in during the offseason.

Starting guard Emanuel "Tiki" Mayben, who averaged 11.5 points and 4.7 assists last season, was arrested for allegedly selling cocaine. Then, coach Kevin Broadus kicked D.J. Rivera (who tied for the league scoring title at 20.0 points per game), Malik Alvin and others from the team for disciplinary reasons in a campus mess that brought down the athletic director.

So, a program poised to be the elite in the conference was down to having no one who averaged more than 4.4 points per game last year.

There is a long list of newcomers filling out the roster, but Binghamton will need a while to dig out of this disaster.

Then, to make things even worse, Broadus was guilty of an NCAA recruiting violation in October and he and his coaches were banned from off-campus recruiting until November.

Could it get any worse?

Yes.

New York State was also conducting an audit of the athletic department and there were, among other things, sexual harassment charges to deal with. Then Broadus was placed on paid leave and replaced on an interim basis by Mark Macon.

Is this a basketball program or a reality show?

Regardless, it led to the Bearcats being a one-hit wonder in the conference and made it seem like 10 years ago that Binghamton lost to Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.