Nov. 3, 2005
PHILADELPHIA - The University of Dayton men's hoops team was picked to finish fifth in the 14-team single division Atlantic 10 this upcoming season, and junior forward Monty Scott was named to Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team in a vote of the league's head coaches and media. Freshman forward Charles Little was named to the All-Rookie team
Scott, who led the Flyers in scoring with 11.1 points per game, and rebounding at 4.6 boards per contest, was a Third Team All-Atlantic 10 pick last season. The Reynoldsburg, OH native nearly doubled his scoring output from 2003-04 to 2004-05. Scott scored at least nine points in 22 of UD's 29 games last season, including a career-high 25 points against Duquesne on January 5. He later matched his career high of 25 points in the La Salle win on January 22, and also recorded his first career double-double (10 points and career-high 12 rebounds) against Cornell. Little, a 6-6 forward, joins UD from Cleveland High School in Cleveland, Tennessee. Little led his team to the Tennessee AAA state quarterfinals and was a finalist for the TSSAA's Mr. Basketball Award. A three-time all-state selection, Little averaged 20.6 points and 10.3 rebounds while leading Cleveland to a 26-10 overall record. Included in that season was a school-record 49-point, 26-rebound performance over Red Bank in the regional semifinals.
The Atlantic 10 sports a new look in 2005-06 as Charlotte and Saint Louis are set to make their A-10 debuts. With their addition, the league has gone away from the two-division alignment it had used nine of the past 10 years and will employ one division of 14 teams. George Washington (ranked No. 24 in the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll) was picked to win the conference with 38 of the 65 first-place votes. Charlotte (receiving votes Coaches) was picked second followed by Temple (receiving votes Coaches) and Xavier. Saint Joseph's, which advanced to the NIT final a year ago, was selected sixth, and Massachusetts was tabbed seventh, followed by Fordham, Rhode Island, La Salle, Richmond, Duquesne, Saint Louis, and St. Bonaventure.
With the expansion to 14 teams, the league will honor 10 players on its first-team and 10 players on its second-team.
GW's Mike Hall and Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Charlotte's Curtis Withers, and Temple's Mardy Collins join Scott on the first team along with Steven Smith of La Salle, Xavier's Stanley Burrell, Bryant Dunston of Fordham, Rashaun Freeman of UMass, and Duquesne's Bryant McAllister.
The second-team consists of Kieron Achara of Duquesne, Charlotte's Mitchell Baldwin, Justin Cage of Xavier, Dwayne Lee and Chet Stachitas of Saint Joseph's, Danilo (formerly J.R.) Pinnock of George Washington, St. Bonaventure's Ahmad Smith, Fordham's Marcus Stout, Kevin Steenberge of Richmond, and Temple's Mark Tyndale.
The preseason All-Defensive team consists of Cage, Collins, Lee, Mensah-Bonsu, and George Washington's Carl Elliott.
Joining Little on the All-Rookie team are Temple's Dionte Christmas, Jordan Fowler and Ahmad Nivens of Saint Joseph's, Jerrell Lewis of Charlotte, Chris Lowe of Massachusetts, Xavier's B.J. Raymond, and Kahiem Seawright of Rhode Island.
The Flyers return 10 of their top 12 players from last season's 18-11 team. Included in those 10 players are last year's top three scorers (Scott, Brian Roberts and Norman Plummer), top three rebounders (Scott, Plummer and Chris Alvarez), the assist leader (Warren Williams) and the top four FG shooters (Plummer, Roberts, Scott and Alvarez).
UD will have its first exhibition game on Saturday, November 5 against Central State at 7:00 p.m. EST and opens the regular season Friday, November 18, at home against Tennessee Tech.
