Siena Selected as Unanimous Men’s Basketball Preseason Favorite; Jalen Pickett Named Unanimous Preseason Player of the Year
Siena Selected as Unanimous Men’s Basketball Preseason Favorite; Jalen Pickett Named Unanimous Preseason Player of the Year
EDISON, N.J. (Nov. 5, 2020) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) has announced its men’s basketball preseason honors, as voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches.
Siena College is the unanimous favorite to win it all this year after a 2019-20 campaign that saw the Saints finish atop the MAAC standings with a 20-10 overall record, going 15-5 in conference play. Carmen Maciariello returns to Loudonville for his second season at the helm of the Saints, guiding his team to an undefeated 14-0 record when playing at the Times Union Center last season. Siena returns big names in Manny Camper and defending MAAC Player of the Year Jalen Pickett.
Iona College followed in second place. The Gaels enter 2020-21 with Hall of Fame Head Coach Rick Pitino now guiding the program. Pitino inherits a program that had won four consecutive MAAC titles from 2016-2019 and that finished as the league’s No. 7 seed a year ago. The Gaels return star players in senior guards Asante Gist and Isaiah Ross.
Monmouth University and Saint Peter’s University both claimed the No. 3 spot in the coaches’ poll, finishing with a tie in voting. Manhattan College rounded out the top five.
Niagara University was slotted in sixth, Quinnipiac University in seventh, Fairfield University in eight and Marist College in ninth. Canisius College and Rider University round out the poll in 10
th and 11
th, respectively.
Defending MAAC Player of the Year Jalen Pickett headlines preseason honors, with all 11 MAAC head coaches voting him as the 2020-21 Preseason Player of the Year. Pickett finished last season averaging 15.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 6.0 assists. His six assists per game and 3.3 assist to turnover ratio led the league. Pickett will look to be the MAAC’s first repeat Player of the Year since Monmouth’s Justin Robinson took the honors in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
Pickett was named to the Preseason All-MAAC First Team alongside teammate Manny Camper, Saint Peter’s KC Ndefo, Monmouth’s Deion Hammond and Niagara’s Marcus Hammond. Pickett, Camper and both Deion and Marcus Hammond were unanimous picks to the All-MAAC First Team.
The Preseason All-MAAC Second Team is comprised of Canisius’ Majesty Brandon, Iona’s Asante Gist and Isaiah Ross, Manhattan’s Warren Williams and Quinnipiac’s Tyrese Williams. The Preseason All-MAAC Third Team features Fairfield’s Jesus Cruz, Niagara’s Raheem Solomon, Quinnipiac’s Jacob Rigoni and Saint Peter’s Doug Edert and Daryl Banks.
Below is the full poll and preseason honors list:
| Preseason Coaches’ Poll |
| 1 |
Siena (11) |
121 |
| 2 |
Iona |
103 |
| T3 |
Monmouth |
89 |
| T3 |
Saint Peter's |
89 |
| 5 |
Manhattan |
77 |
| 6 |
Niagara |
63 |
| 7 |
Quinnipiac |
54 |
| 8 |
Fairfield |
39 |
| 9 |
Marist |
36 |
| 10 |
Canisius |
31 |
| 11 |
Rider |
24 |
| Preseason Player of the Year |
| Jalen Pickett - Siena |
| Preseason All-MAAC First Team |
| Player |
Position |
Year |
Institution |
| Deion Hammond* |
Guard |
Sr. |
Monmouth |
| Marcus Hammond* |
Guard |
Jr. |
Niagara |
| KC Ndefo |
Forward |
Jr. |
Saint Peter's |
| Manny Camper* |
Guard/Forward |
Sr. |
Siena |
| Jalen Pickett* |
Guard |
Jr. |
Siena |
*Denotes unanimous selection.
| Preseason All-MAAC Second Team |
| Player |
Position |
Year |
Institution |
| Majesty Brandon |
Guard |
Sr. |
Canisius |
| Asante Gist |
Guard |
Sr. |
Iona |
| Isaiah Ross |
Guard |
Sr. |
Iona |
| Warren Williams |
Forward |
Jr. |
Manhattan |
| Tyrese Williams |
Guard |
Jr. |
Quinnipiac |
| Preseason All-MAAC Third Team |
| Player |
Position |
Year |
Institution |
| Jesus Cruz |
Guard |
Sr. |
Fairfield |
| Raheem Solomon |
Guard |
Jr. |
Niagara |
| Jacob Rigoni |
Forward |
Sr. |
Quinnipiac |
| Daryl Banks |
Guard |
So. |
Saint Peter’s |
| Doug Edert |
Guard |
So. |
Saint Peter’s |
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) celebrates its 40
th year of competition during the 2020-21 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.