To a good degree, the 2018-19 CAA season went as expected. The top three teams were clearly ahead of the pack, and for the most part, there wasn’t much difference behind them. In a sense, it highlights one of the new realities of the CAA and other mid-majors as transfers – especially of the best players – continue to have a large impact.
The top four teams in the conference this season have not been hit hard by players transferring of late, and it showed. Regular season champion Hofstra actually had a big year from a graduate transfer they picked up, as Jacquil Taylor was a big part of their success as their inside presence. William & Mary has lost players, but overall they have largely kept the best players to come to Williamsburg in town, though that appears ready to change in the immediate – more on that in a minute.
But as more players opt to transfer up around the nation, the CAA hasn’t been immune, even if it has a ways to go to catch up to the Northeast Conference in that regard. Towson got hit badly by this a year ago, and while the Tigers remained competitive thanks to their trademark solid defense, they struggled to a 10-22 overall mark this time around.
Although William & Mary finished two games back of third, that is a bit deceptive as to the separation between the top three teams and everyone else. Delaware continues to develop under Martin Inglesby, and the Blue Hens almost knocked off Hofstra in the CAA Tournament. As long as the Blue Hens don’t get bit by the transfer bug, they should be a contender next season. While they did score a big road win at Northeastern early on in CAA play, they were part of the pack beyond the top three as well.
A look at the NET rankings in the conference tells the story. Hofstra and Northeastern were neck-and-neck in the 70s, while everyone else had three digits, though College of Charleston was close to 100. Only William & Mary had a NET ranking better than 200 aside from those three.
After the season ended, two coaching changes happened that were in stark contrast to one another. It wasn’t all that surprising that Elon let Matt Metheny go; he’s a good man who wasn’t able to build on their CIT bid in 2013, when they were still in the Southern Conference. Mike Schrage, who has a lot of experience at academic schools like Elon, was hired to take over. The real shocker was William & Mary firing Tony Shaver, easily their most successful head coach and the dean of coaches in the conference. Dane Fischer, most recently an assistant at George Mason and one who has spent a lot of his career at elite academic schools like William & Mary, takes over. With that, Northeastern head coach Bill Coen is now the CAA dean of coaches at 13 years and counting.
Transfers are having another impact already, as a number of players have moved on since the season ended. UNCW has been hit hardest with five players transferring out, while William & Mary is losing four and Northeastern has watched two important players move on. It’s the new reality for mid-majors, and the CAA is no different.
Final Standings
| Hosftra | ||
| Northeastern | ||
| College of Charleston | ||
| William & Mary | ||
| Delaware | ||
| Drexel | ||
| Elon | ||
| James Madison | ||
| Towson | ||
| UNCW |
Conference Tournament
The opening round started with a squeaker as No. 8 James Madison edged No. 9 Towson 74-73, then the first of just three upsets came as No. 10 UNCW took out No. 7 Elon 93-86 in what would be Matt Metheny’s final game on the Elon bench.
The first session of the quarterfinals saw a couple of close ones as No. 1 Hofstra held off James Madison 76-67, then No. 5 Delaware edged No. 4 William & Mary 85-79. The evening session was quite different, as it featured the only two games of the tournament to be decided by double digits with No. 2 Northeastern hammering UNCW 80-59 and No. 3 College of Charleston handling No. 6 Drexel 73-61.
The semifinals were a pair of dandies, starting with Hofstra needing overtime to survive a scare from Delaware 78-74. Justin Wright-Foreman set a CAA Tournament record with 42 points in that game. Northeastern then edged College of Charleston 70-67 in a rematch of last season’s title game.
That set up the championship game, which featured two teams that won on their home floors during the regular season, though Hofstra needed a buzzer-beater for their win. Northeastern got off to a great start and rode that to a 42-26 halftime lead, but that would be relatively short-lived. Hofstra stormed back in the second half, capped off by a 10-0 run to tie the game at 54 a little past the halfway point. But the Pride seemed to run out of gas a bit, as tournament MOP Vasa Pusica (21 points) hit three big three-pointers in a decisive run and the Huskies made more than enough free throws late to hold off the Pride by an 82-74 margin to win their second CAA championship.
Postseason Awards
Player of the Year: Justin Wright-Foreman, Hofstra
Rookie of the Year: Camren Wynter, Drexel
Coach of the Year: Joe Mihalich, Hofstra
Defensive Player of the Year: Desure Buie, Hofstra
Sixth Man of the Year: Sheldon Eberhardt, Elon
All-Conference Team
Jarrell Brantley, Sr. F, College of Charleston
Devontae Cacok, Sr. F, UNCW
Nathan Knight, Jr. F-C, William & Mary
Vasa Pusica, Sr. G, Northeastern
Grant Riller, Jr. G, College of Charleston
Justin Wright-Foreman, Sr. G, Hofstra
Season Highlights
What we expected, and it happened: This was a down year for Towson. Pat Skerry’s teams always play good defense, and this year was no different, but the Tigers lost a ton of production from a year before in part due to transfers, and it showed on the bottom line.
What we expected, and it didn’t happen: James Madison didn’t make a big jump despite some promising talent. It might be the case that we’re a year behind, as the Dukes could do that next year, but they managed to tie for eighth after being picked sixth in the preseason poll.
What we didn’t expect, and it happened: Hofstra was the clear best team in the conference. The Pride figured to be a contender along with Northeastern and College of Charleston, but many had them pegged third among those three. Justin Wright-Foreman led a great group of guards, and graduate transfer Jacquil Taylor settled the frontcourt after a key departure.
Team(s) on the rise: James Madison. The Dukes have two straight years of good recruiting classes and should be poised for a jump next season, especially with a lot of teams who finished ahead of them taking personnel hits due to graduation, transfer or a combination of the two.
Team(s) on the decline: William & Mary. There’s no way to put this gently: firing Tony Shaver will mean a big drop in the short term. Very quickly, four players transferred, though Nathan Knight, who would likely be the preseason Player of the Year, opted to return after declaring for the NBA Draft.
2019-20 CAA Outlook
With transfers hitting teams left and right, this gets harder to project, but we have some idea to start. It won’t be with the team one might have originally gone with when the season first ended.
William & Mary would have been an easy pick, as they were set to return just about everyone, but once Shaver was fired, player after player transferred. Fortunately, Nathan Knight opted to return after pulling out of the NBA Draft, and he’ll be a preseason Player of the Year candidate, but that’s all they have now. That means the Tribe will be picked a ways down in the standings. Instead, the thinking is that Delaware and the three who were at the top this season – Hofstra, Northeastern and College of Charleston – are good places to start.
Delaware jumped to fifth in the conference and gave Hofstra all they could handle before a tough loss in the CAA Tournament semifinals. They will miss Eric Carter, but return just about everyone else and get UAB transfer Nate Darling and Villanova transfer Dylan Painter eligible, the latter in December. Ryan Allen, Ithiel Horton, Kevin Anderson and Darien Bryant are a solid base to build around.
Hofstra will certainly miss Wright-Foreman and Taylor, but they still have another star returning in Eli Pemberton, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in Desure Buie, and had good depth on the perimeter. Northeastern will likewise take a hit with Vasa Pusica and underrated big man Anthony Green leading the departed, as well as the transfers of Donnell Gresham Jr. and Shawn Occeus, but the Huskies were very deep this past season and still have Bill Coen on the bench. College of Charleston will take a hit with Jarrell Brantley and underrated Nick Harris and Marquise Pointer finishing their eligibility, but they return a solid Player of the Year candidate in Grant Riller and much of the other support, and Earl Grant is still in town running the program.
James Madison is a dark horse, as the Dukes have now accumulated a good deal of talent that also has some experience playing together, led by classmates Matt Lewis, Darius Banks and Dwight Wilson. They should be ready for a jump; will that be a big jump to contending for the top spot? It is possible.
Among the others, UNCW takes a hit with Cacok’s departure and five players transferring out, though Toews is a good building block and those who return will be with a team that faced adversity from the get-go as they were forced to leave campus for a time in the fall due to Hurricane Florence. Drexel has the conference Rookie of the Year, but loses Alihan Demir to graduate transfer. Towson will bring back Brian Fobbs and continue to be solid defensively and on the glass, and they could be a sleeper if they improve offensively as well. Elon will begin the Mike Schrage era in rebuilding mode with their three best players all graduating.
