PITTSBURGH  – With four three-year starters returning from last year's 25-8 team that shared the 2016 Atlantic 10 regular season championship, the University of Dayton Flyers have been selected as the team to beat in the Atlantic 10 this season, according to a poll of the conference's head men's basketball coaches and selected media. The news was released during the A-10's Men's Basketball Media Day.

The Flyers received 16 of the 28 first-place votes cast. Second-place Rhode Island had 12 first-place votes. In total voting points, Dayton had 352 votes to Rhode Island's 347.

Three Flyers earned preseason honors from the conference. Charles Cooke was named First Team Preseason All-Atlantic 10 and also named to the All-Defensive Team. Scoochie Smith was named to the Second Team, and Kyle Davis was also named to the All-Defensive Team.

Last year was Cooke's first season at Dayton after transferring from James Madison. He was named First Team All-Atlantic 10 and First Team NABD All-District 4. The Trenton, N.J. native was also named to the Atlantic 10's All-Defensive Team and was Dayton's co-MVP with senior Dyshawn Pierre.

Cooke led UD in scoring (15.6) and 3-point shooting (.399, 59-148), was second in rebounding (5.8) and blocked shots (38), and was third in steals (40). He scored 20 or more points 12 times in 2015-16, and led the Flyers in scoring in 18 games.

Smith, one of the premier point guards in the Atlantic 10, has improved his scoring, rebounding, assists, field goal percentage and 3-point percentage numbers in each of his three seasons. Last year he averaged 11.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists a game. He was named to the AdvoCare Invitational All-Tournament team in November and NCAA.com's National Player of the Week the last week of the regular season (27.5 ppg., 5.5 rpg., 5.0 apg.).

The Bronx native is a three-time captain, believed to be the first in UD history. He is the quarterback of the class that is on pace to be the winningest class ever at Dayton, and is one of two classes to reach the NCAA tournament three times. This is surprisingly his first-ever league accolade.

Davis started every game for the second straight season in 2016-17. He averaged 8.0 points and 3.5 rebounds. Despite being the shortest player in the Flyer rotation at 6-foot-0, he was second on the team in FG% (.497, 91-183). A premier on-the-ball-defender, he hit the game-winning shots in the paint versus Miami and VCU last year.

One of seven players on the Flyer roster to have won a high school state championship, Davis is also one of three UD players who hail from Chicago. He is a two-time winner of Dayton's Best Defender Award, and a two-year captain. This is also his first A-10 pre-or-postseason honor.

Dayton returns four starters – Cooke, Davis, Smith and Kendall Pollard – from last year's title-winning team. The Flyers also add forward Josh Cunningham, regarded as one of the best newly-eligible transfers in college basketball this season. Without playing a minute (yet) at Dayton, Cunningham was voted by his teammates to serve as a Flyer co-captain with Davis and Smith.

The 2016-17 UD basketball team will be on display Saturday, Oct. 22 when the Flyers play in the annual Red/Blue scrimmage. The Dayton men will follow the UD women's team onto the court at 3 p.m. ET. Admission is free.