Men’s Basketball: Terriers Picked to Finish Second in Poll, Fanning Named to Preseason All-League Team
By: Matt Doherty
The Patriot League released their 2016-2017 men’s basketball preseason poll on Wednesday afternoon, with the Boston University Terriers picked to finish second in the league.
The Terriers garnered three first-place votes which were outdone by the 17 first-place votes received by the Lehigh Mountain Hawks.
Lehigh returns two-time reigning Patriot League Player of the Year in senior center Tim Kempton.
Kempton, who was also recently named to the Kareem Abdul-Jabaar preseason watch list for the nations top center, was tabbed as the Preseason Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.
The league also announced the 2016-2017 Patriot League Preseason All-League Team. Boston University senior forward Eric Fanning was named to the team after taking home first-team honors a season ago. Fanning averaged a team high 15.2 ppg and 5.4 rpg as a junior.
The Trenton, N.J., resident will be joined by redshirt junior Cedric Hankerson on the wing this season. Hankerson, who missed all but one game last season while recovering from a torn ACL, was a second team all-league member during the 2014-2015 season.
Expectations are certainly high for Head Coach Joe Jones’ team this year, evident by the preseason poll.
Reigning regular season champion Bucknell was picked to finish third in the league and reigning conference champion Holy Cross was tabbed in the fourth spot.
Here is a look at the rest of the preseason poll as well as the All-League Team according to the Patriot League website.
2016-17 Patriot League Preseason Poll Points
1. Lehigh (17 first place votes) 161
2. Boston University (3) 139
3. Bucknell 132
4. Holy Cross 115
5. American 86
6. Colgate 83
7. Loyola Maryland 69
8. Navy 49
9. Lafayette 43
10. Army West Point 23
Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year
Tim Kempton, Lehigh, Sr., F/C
Patriot League Preseason All-League Team
Tim Kempton, Lehigh, Sr., F/C
Eric Fanning, Boston University, Sr., G
Nana Foulland, Bucknell, Jr., C
Kahron Ross, Lehigh, Jr., G
*Delante Jones, American, So., G/F
*Andre Walker, Loyola Maryland, Jr., G
*denotes a tie in voting for the fifth spot