The defending Northeast Conference regular season champion Fairleigh Dickinson University men’s basketball team was chosen to finish seventh in the league preseason coaches poll, as released by the NEC on Tuesday, October 31. Defending tournament champion Monmouth was tabbed as the 2006-07 NEC men’s basketball preseason favorite. The preseason rankings, along with the league’s preseason all-conference team, were announced during a media teleconference with coaches this afternoon as a prelude to the NEC’s 26th season.

Monmouth earned six first place votes from league head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own team. The Hawks narrowly edged out Robert Morris, which received the remaining five first place votes. With all five starters back, Long Island was chosen third, followed by Central Connecticut State and Quinnipiac tied for fourth. Wagner was picked sixth, while defending NEC regular season champion Fairleigh Dickinson landed in seventh. Rounding out the poll were St. Francis (NY) in eighth, followed in order by Sacred Heart, Mount St. Mary’s and Saint Francis (PA).

In 2005-06, Knights posted their second-straight 20-win season, notching a program-high 14 Northeast Conference wins en route to winning the NEC Regular Season Title. The squad was led by NEC unanimous Player of the Year, Chad Timberlake. The Knights lost Timberlake, Gordon Klaiber and Andrea Crosariol, who combined to contribute 52.3 percent of the Knights’ scoring last season and combined for 3,671 career points and 1,637 rebounds.

“It’s a new team, it’s a new season,” said Head Coach Tom Green, in his 24^th year guiding the Knights.  “We have senior Michael Peeples and junior Bernell Murray back, who were both starters for us. Senior Andre Harris, who returned for this season in the best shape of his life, was one of the best sixth man in the league and now will be a key starter for us. We have three seniors, Peeples, Harris and Jordan Ingram, who will be starting for us. We’re going to be a work in progress as the season goes on. The attitude has been great and the seniors have done a great job of leading us.”

“Replacing three starters is virtually impossible,” said Green.  “We are going to be very young at several positions.  Coming off two very good seasons, we have very valuable playing time and experience under our belt and I am hoping that a winning attitude will carry over to lead us down the right path.”

The Knights will look to continue their streak of postseason participation in 2006-07 after reaching the NCAA Tournament in 2004-05 and the NIT in 2005-06.

As has become characteristic over the past few years, Coach Green and his staff have compiled a tough non-conference schedule to prepare the Knights for league competition. “I think it’s a quality schedule,” said Green. “It’s got a good blend of road games along with some good home opponents.”  The Knights face Big East opponents Providence and Seton Hall, MAAC opponents Canisius, St. Peter’s and Rider and will compete at the College of Charleston Tournament, along with IUPUI, Radford and host Charleston.

This year marks the eighth time that Monmouth has been selected the NEC’s preseason favorite by league head coaches, the most in conference history by a wide margin. Of the seven previous occasions in which Monmouth was picked first, the only one that resulted in an NEC title came in 1996 when the Hawks defeated preseason co-favorite Rider, 60-59.

Conducted annually, NEC coaches have failed to correctly forecast the eventual league champion since selecting Mount St. Mary’s to win it all in 1998-99, and have proven inaccurate in 17 of the last 19 years. After its 1999 tourney win, Mount St. Mary’s was the choice to repeat the following season, but Central Connecticut State, tabbed third, captured the championship. CCSU was then installed as the favorite in 2000-01, but the title went to Monmouth, picked sixth in the preseason. Monmouth received the nod in 2001-02, but it was CCSU, predicted fourth, which went on to win its second title in three years. In 2002-03, NEC coaches continued their trend of selecting the previous year’s champion as preseason favorite when they went with CCSU, only to have Wagner earn its first-ever NEC Tournament crown. Three years ago, it was Quinnipiac that was placed on the preseason perch, but the Bobcats struggled all season and finished in 10th place. Monmouth garnered its third league crown that season after being selected third in the preseason. In 2004-05, the Hawks were the logical choice to repeat, and even won the conference regular season title, but were eliminated in the NEC semifinals as Fairleigh Dickinson went on to claim the championship. Fairleigh Dickinson was then installed as the 2005-06 favorite, but dropped a one-point decision to Monmouth in the title contest.

NEC Preseason Coaches Poll History (last ten years)          

          

Year       Preseason Favorite         NEC Tournament Champion 

           (actual regular season finish)     (preseason selection)

2005-06   Fairleigh Dickinson (1st)           Monmouth (2nd)

2004-05   Monmouth (1st)                      Fairleigh Dickinson (2nd) 

2003-04   Quinnipiac (10th)                   Monmouth (3rd)

2002-03   CCSU (3rd)                          Wagner (2nd)

2001-02   Monmouth (4th)                      CCSU (4th)

2000-01   CCSU(tie 5th)                       CCSU (3rd)

1999-00   Mount St. Mary’s (tie 7th)           CCSU (3rd) 

1998-99   Mount St. Mary’s (tie 5th)          Mount St. Mary’s (1st)

1997-98   Long Island (1st)                   Fairleigh Dickinson (2nd)

1996-97   Monmouth (3rd)                      Long Island (4th)

1995-96   Monmouth/Rider (tie 2nd/4th)                Monmouth (tie 1st)

1994-95   Rider (1st)                         Mount St. Mary’s (3rd)

1993-94   Fairleigh Dickinson (tie 5th)       Rider (3rd) 

1992-93   Wagner (2nd)                         Rider (3rd) 

1991-92   Monmouth (tie 2nd)                   Robert Morris (2nd) 

1990-91   Monmouth (4th)                      St. Francis (PA) (3rd) 

1989-90   Fairleigh Dickinson (6th)           Robert Morris (3rd) 

1988-89   Monmouth (3rd)                      Robert Morris (5th) 

1987-88   *Marist (tie 1st)                    Fairleigh Dickinson (2nd)

 



* Marist was ineligible for the NEC Tournament in 1987-88