Preseason Poll
October 27, 2004 12:17 PM | General
October 27, 2004
NEW YORK – The West Virginia University men’s basketball team was predicted to finish ninth in the Big East Conference this season, according to the league’s preseason coaches poll released today.
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| Senior D'or Fischer is one of five starters returning for West Virginia this season.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
West Virginia was picked ahead of Rutgers, Georgetown and St. John’s and immediately behind eighth place Seton Hall.
The Mountaineers, 17-14 last year, return all five starters including 6-foot-11 senior D’or Fischer, who led the team in scoring at 10.8 points per game and blocked shots with 124. Senior forward Tyrone Sally (10.2 ppg.) and junior forward Kevin Pittsnogle (10.2 ppg.) also averaged double figures in 2004.
Syracuse received nine first place votes as the top team, followed by Connecticut, Pitt, Notre Dame, Boston College, Providence and Villanova.
Connecticut captured the 2004 national championship but lost three of its star players from last season’s 33-6 team. Syracuse had a 23-8 overall record and advanced to the Sweet 16 last year. Coach Jim Boeheim has all five starters returning.
Pitt won a school-record 31 games last year under first-year coach Jamie Dixon and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third straight season.
Notre Dame failed to make the NCAA tournament last season after three straight NCAA trips, but has a solid cast of players returning from last year’s 19-13 team.
Meanwhile, Providence’s Ryan Gomes and Connecticut’s Rudy Gay were cited as the league’s preseason player and rookie of the year respectively. Gomes was fourth in the Big East last season in scoring with an 18.9-points-per-game average and was second in rebounding with an average of 9.4 rebounds per game.
Gay is a 6-foot-9 freshman from Baltimore, Md., and played his high school basketball at Archbishop Spaulding. He is the second straight UConn player to be named preseason rookie of the year: forward Charlie Villanueva was honored last year.
The preseason all-Big East first team consists of Gomes, Boston College forward Craig Smith, Notre Dame guard Chris Thomas, Pitt guard Carl Krauser, Pitt center Chris Taft, Syracuse guard Gerry McNamara and Syracuse forward Hakim Warrick.
The preseason second team is made up of Connecticut forward Rashad Anderson, Connecticut center Josh Boone, Rutgers guard Ricky Shields, Seton Hall forward Kelly Whitney, Villanova guard Allan Ray and Villanova forward Curtis Sumpter.
Briefly: The Big East Conference announced Wednesday that a new television show, Inside the Big East, has been established in conjunction with Worldwide Marketing. The half-hour program will debut on Friday, Dec. 31. “We’re excited about the launch of Inside the Big East,” said Commissioner Michael Tranghese. “It’s going to be another vehicle for us to be able to tell compelling stories about the people and teams in our conference.”
The show will air on several regional cable networks throughout the Northeast as well as on CSTV. To date, Inside The Big East has been cleared on CSTV, MSG Network in New York, Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, Fox Sports Pittsburgh, and Cox Sports Television of Rhode Island.
