Welcome to The Sports Bank’s fourth annual college basketball season preview series where we break 111 teams in the 111 days leading up to the opening tip-off of the 2013-2014 season. We will rank the 84 power conference teams (including the new Big East and American Athletic Conferences) and top 27 mid-majors in reverse power ranking order. We’ll break down rosters, transfers, incoming freshmen, non-conference schedules, and pick a player to watch for each team.
Among the many second tier Atlantic 10 teams that will be vying for a NCAA Tournament bid are the Richmond Spiders. Chris Mooney’s squad returns three of their top four scorers and eight rotation players from a year ago.
RICHMOND SPIDERS
Last Season: T-8th, 8-8 in A-10, 18-15 overall
Predicted A-10 Finish: 7th
Projected Depth Chart
F/C: Derrick Williams (Sr)
F: Alonzo Nelson-Ododa (So)/Trey Davis (So)
SF: Terry Allen (So)/Deion Taylor (So)
G: Kendall Anthony (Jr)/Wayne Sparrow (Jr)/Josh Jones (Fr)/Tim Singleton (Fr)
PG: Cedrick Lindsay (Sr)/ShawnDre’ Jones (Fr)
Gone: SG-Darien Brothers, F-Greg Robbins
2013-2014 Outlook:
With leading scorer Darien Brothers graduating, the Richmond Spiders will lean on their undersized backcourt duo of Cedrick Lindsay and Kendall Anthony. Lindsay has been a solid floor general the past couple of seasons while Anthony served as the team’s sixth man last season. He should move into the starting line-up this year and though he stands just 5-8, can really stroke it from deep. Wayne Sparrow will be the primary reserve guard with ShawnDre’ Jones, Josh Jones, and Tim Singleton vying for minutes as well.
Inside, Richmond doesn’t have a ton of size but returns Derrick Williams who missed a month last year with an ankle injury. He is your prototypical big man in that he stands just 6-6, but at 270 pounds knows how to throw his big body around inside.
Lacking in true big men, the Spiders do have some versatility and athleticism at the forward position. The team was young at that position last year with four freshman being part of the rotation. Alonzo Nelson-Ododa is the tallest player on the roster at 6-9 and started all 34 games last year. He is an inside/outside threat who should more aggressive as a scorer in his sophomore campaign. Terry Allen, Deion Taylor, and Trey Davis will compete to replace Greg Robbins in the starting line-up. Taylor is another three-point threat for Mooney and regardless of who of that trio ends up starting, all three guys should be improved with a year of experience under their belt.
Mooney also picked up a transfer in Niagara’s T.J. Cline. The 6-8 forward was MAAC All-Rookie team last year as a freshman and can stretch defenses with his perimeter shooting. He will sit out this season per NCAA transfer rules but add some versatility to the frontcourt beginning in 2014-15.
VCU, St. Louis, and La Salle are the top three teams in the A-10 with a host of others including the Richmond Spiders looking to be the best of the second tier and earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament. For Richmond to be that team, their perimeter play must lead the way since the teams lacks a whole lot of size inside.
Player to Watch: Cedrick Lindsay
Consistency will be the key for the Richmond floor general during his senior campaign. He has been erratic the past two years as starting point guard stringing together a few great performances then stinking for the next couple of outings.
Key Non-Conference Games:
11/11 vs. Belmont
11/16 vs. Minnesota
11/23 vs. North Carolina (Hall of Fame Classic)
11/24 vs. Louisville/Fairfield (Hall of Fame Classic)
11/27 at Air Force
12/7 at Wake Forest
12/20 vs. Ohio
12/28 vs. Old Dominion
1-4 at Florida
OTHER 111 IN 111’S:
#80 Manhattan
#81 Belmont
#82 Texas
#83 Houston
#84 Washington State
#85 Iona
#86 Oregon State
#87 Louisiana Tech
#88 Towson
#89 Wake Forest
#90 Central Florida
#91 Rutgers
#92 Drexel
#93 USC
#94 Charleston
#95 Seton Hall
#96 Vanderbilt
#97 George Mason
#98 Clemson
#99 Penn State
#100 Nebraska
#101 West Virginia
#102 South Florida
#103 Mississippi State
#104 DePaul
#105 South Carolina
#106 Texas Tech
#107 TCU
#108 Virginia Tech
#109 Georgia
#110 Utah
#111 Auburn
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Honolulu to Milwaukee. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet , AND the second most accurate 2013 NBA Mock Draft. (Yup, nearly 3peat champ… #humblebrag.)
You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.
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