Dayton tops Atlantic 10 preseason poll for fifth time

Time will tell if that moment of beauty will be an omen for the Atlantic 10 Conference, which holds its annual Media Day on Tuesday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., or for the Dayton Flyers, who did not find any gold at the end of the rainbow or any rainbows period in a star-crossed 2022-23 season.

There is already one similarity between this season and last season for Dayton — it is once again the preseason favorite in the A-10. Dayton received 20 of 25 first-place votes in the preseason poll released at 9 a.m. Tuesday. That Dayton topped the poll is no surprise. It is the top-ranked A-10 team in the preseason Ken Pomeroy ratings and was picked to win the A-10 by The Almanac, the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and the Dayton Daily News.

Two Flyers made the All-A-10 preseason teams. Junior forward DaRon Holmes II was named to the first team and to the all-defensive team. Junior point guard Malachi Smith made the second team.

This is the fifth time Dayton has topped the poll in 29 seasons in the A-10. It was also favored in the 2022-23, 2016-17, 2015-16 and 2009-10 seasons. The Flyers have won two championships (2016 and 2017) after being favored.

This is also the second time the Flyers have been picked to finish first in coach Anthony Grant’s six seasons. Starting, with the 2017-18 season, his teams have been picked fifth, sixth, third, third, fifth and first. Those teams finished ninth, third, first, seventh, tied for second and tied for second.

Defending A-10 regular-season and tournament champion Virginia Commonwealth, now coached by Ryan Odom after Mike Rhoades departed for Penn State, received three first-place votes and was picked to finish second.

St. Bonaventure received one first-place vote and was picked to finish third. It was followed by Duquesne, Saint Joseph’s and Saint Louis. Fordham received the other first-place vote and was picked seventh. It was followed by Loyola Chicago, George Washington, George Mason, Richmond, Davidson, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and La Salle.

The preseason favorite hasn’t fared as well in recent years.

Dayton received 22 of 29 first-place votes and was the preseason favorite last season. It tied for second place, three games behind VCU, which was picked to finish third.

St. Bonaventure returned its entire starting lineup in the 2021-22 season and received all 28 first-place votes in the preseason poll but finished fourth at 12-5. It was the first unanimous preseason favorite since Virginia Commonwealth in the 2014-15 season. VCU finished fourth that season.

Richmond returned all five starters in the 2020-21 season and received 19 first-place votes but finished eighth at 6-5 in a season disrupted at numerous points by the pandemic.

In the 2019-20 season, VCU returned four of five starters and received 19 first-place votes but finished eighth at 8-10. Dayton dominated that season with an 18-0 mark.

The preseason favorite in 2018-19 was Saint Louis, which had three all-conference preseason selections. It received 15 first-place votes but tied for sixth at 10-8.

The last A-10 preseason favorite to win the regular-season championship was Rhode Island, which received 27 first-place votes in the 2017-18 season and won the title with a 15-3 record.

COMPLETE POLL

1. Dayton (20), 370

2. VCU (3), 321

3. St. Bonaventure (1), 319

4. Duquesne, 302

5. Saint Joseph’s, 257

6. Saint Louis, 225

7. Fordham (1), 215

8. Loyola Chicago, 177

9. George Washington, 173

10. George Mason, 146

11. Richmond, 137

12. Davidson, 118

13. Massachusetts, 93

14. Rhode Island, 76

15. La Salle, 7

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM

Player, School, Yr., Pos., Ht.

DaRon Holmes II, Dayton, So., F, 6-10

Dae Dae Grant, Duquesne, So., G, 6-2

James Bishop IV, George Washington, So., G

Daryl Banks III, St. Bonaventure, R-So., G, 6-3

Erik Reynolds II, Saint Joseph’s, So., G, 6-2

Gibson Jimerson, Saint Louis, R-So., G, 6-5

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM

Malachi Smith, Dayton, So., G, 6-0

Jimmy Clarke III, Duquesne, So., G

Maximus Edwards, George Washington R-So. G, 6-5

Khalil Brantley, La Salle So., G, 6-1

Philip Alston, Loyola Chicago, So., F, 6-6

Max Shulga, VCU So., G, 6-4

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE THIRD TEAM

Ronald Polite III, George Mason, So., G, 6-2

Matt Cross, Massachusetts, So., F, 6-7

Neal Quinn, Richmond, So., C 7-0

Chad Venning, St. Bonaventure, R-So., F, 6-10

Cameron Brown, Saint Joseph’s, Gr., G, 6-6

Sean Bairstow, VCU, Gr., G/F, 6-8

PRESEASON ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

Grant Huffman, Davidson, So., G, 6-3

DaRon Holmes II, Dayton, So., F, 6-10

Jimmy Clarke III, Duquesne, So., G, 6-3

Kyle Rose, Fordham, So., G, 6-4

Abdou Tsimbila, Fordham, So., F, 6-9