The countdown to basketball season is officially underway following Tuesday’s annual Colonial Athletic Association’s media day. This year, unlike the previous 24, the focus was on Baltimore, Md., the new host city for men’s basketball tournament. This season’s tourney will be held March 7-10 at the Baltimore Arena. The women’s tournament will again be held in Upper Marlboro, Md. March 13-16.
JMU’s Matt Brady and Kenny Brooks, coaches of the men and women’s programs, were on hand to field questions on the upcoming season.
The women’s team received high preseason praise as they were chosen to win the CAA. On top of that, senior guard Kirby Burkholder was selected Preseason Player of the Year. Burkholder averaged 15 points and nine rebounds per game last season for the Dukes.
“It’s flattering,” Brooks said of the attention. “These are awards voted upon by your peers. It’s nice to be recognized as a really good program, but other than that we’re not interested in being paper champions.”
Sophomore guard Precious Hall was named to the Preseason All-Conference First Team along with Burkholder.
Much of the talk on the JMU women’s side surrounded the return of Nikki Newman, who was granted a sixth year of eligibility after suffering a season-ending injury just nine games into last year.
“I felt like I lost my security blanket last year,” Brooks said of Newman.
Over on the men’s side, coach Brady’s squad was selected to finish seventh out of nine teams.
“It’s all conversation for one day,” Brady said. “This doesn’t impede the process of our progress.”
The team will be led by redshirt senior Andrey Semnov who was granted a sixth year of eligibility, like Newman, after being injured for the majority of last season. Semenov will team up with a four-person sophomore class, who led the Dukes much of last season, and a talented six-player freshmen class.
Sophomore standout, Andre Nation who is suspended for the first 15 games of the season, was named Preseason Second Team All-CAA. He was a member of the All-CAA Rookie last season.
Despite losing five seniors, who accounted for much of the offensive production, Brady sees the bright side of things.
“We have momentum,” he acknowledged.
Both teams open their regular season on Nov. 8 against the University of Virginia — the men’s team on the road and the women’s team at home.
For more in-depth coverage of the Dukes’ preseason, check out The Breeze basketball special section on November 7.
Contact Stephen Proffitt at proffittjs@gmail.com.
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