By Chris DiSano

A-10 Chalktalk



As the curtain closed on January – act one of the Atlantic 10 conference season – the race for the A-10 crown is upon us. While A-10 programs are 104-56 overall at home, in conference play home teams are shade over .500 at 29-26 through Friday’s games, evidencing the competitiveness of league play night-in and night-out and, perhaps more importantly, the maturation of the young talent that’s widespread across the league’s footprint.

Dave Paulsen’s George Mason Patriots (7-1) and Bob McKillop’s Davidson Wildcats (7-1) pace the field, and a trio of teams in Dayton, Duquesne and VCU nip at them just a game back in the loss column.

The league is rife with storylines to examine, so let’s dig in.

“Fresh” impact. As in freshmen. Many freshmen. In fact, 23 newcomers are averaging 14.5 minutes or more for their respective programs. St. Bonaventure guard Kyle Lofton is the iron man among the class at 38.3 minutes per game, while five others eclipse the 30 minute mark each night.

The top scoring freshman is Fordham’s Nick Honor at 15.8 per game, good enough for 10th in the league. Davidson’s Luka Brajkovic and SBU’s Osun Osunniyi check in tied for 11th overall in rebounding at 6.2 per contest. And Sincere Carry of Duquesne threatens for the league lead in assists per game at 5.8, trailing sophomore Jalen Crutcher of Dayton who’s recording an even six nightly.

In the 13 weeks the Rookie of the Week has been awarded to date, nine different freshmen have snared the accolade. Fordham’s Honor and Obi Toppin of Dayton each have three on the mantle. Carry has two, as does Saint Joe’s guard Jared Bynum who continues to impress mentor Phil Martelli.

“Jared has been raised to see opportunities not challenges,” Martelli said. “He really listened during the recruiting process when he was told he couldn’t be, nor would he be treated, like a freshman in basketball. Academics and socially it was fine, but not hoops. Since summer workouts he has established himself as a ‘player.’ The additional minutes and responsibilities put on him by Fresh [Lamarr] Kimble’s injury have only altered his extra practice time which he craves.”

Far beyond the nine Rookie of the Week standouts, there’s a reservoir of top talent in the underclass ranks generally. Consider that freshmen and sophomores account for all but two (yes, 2) of Duquesne’s points in conference play.

We’re just beginning to see this youth deliver on its promise. Enjoy.

Speaking of the Dukes…

Keith Dambrot’s team is out quickly to a 15-6, 6-2 start, with a wild, rally-from-19-down win against Rhode Island earlier this week. Dambrot’s pedigree as a coach is well-documented, but less told is how he leverages his emotional intelligence to connect with his players. We touched upon it last year, how there’s nothing transactional about the way Dambrot and his staff go about their business. There’s a deep emphasis on cultivating meaningful relationships with players. The 17th-year college coach is equally comfortable calling out players needed and heaping praise when it’s warranted. But above all, he possesses a knack for keeping guys confident – like he’s done throughout the first half of the conference season and did on Wednesday. Digging out of a 19-point hole certainly requires a convergence of many on-court variables, but positioning a team to take advantage of those must begin with a shared belief from 1 through 12.

Gauntlet…

Anthony Grant has the Dayton Flyers clicking. Winning 9 of their last 11, UD sits at 14-7, 6-2 through January, flexing terrific offensive balance with six Flyers averaging between 9.5 and 14.8 points per game. Now it gets real. Dayton faces opponents with a combined 69-33 record over its next six contests, including three road tilts. Emerge at 4-2 or better over this treacherous February stretch and UD will be vying for the conference championship.

Quotable…

“This time, leadership is really tested with the team, myself and everybody. Leadership is really tested. We’ve got to hold these young men accountable to respond the best we can, and then they need great internal leadership. From the time they get up in the morning to the time they go to bed, they need to commit to being the best person they can be. From classwork, to practice, to doing the extra.”

- Saint Louis Head Coach Travis Ford

(postgame after the Billikens third straight defeat)

Full circle…

We’ve spotlighted the rookies. So let’s balance the equation some. At the conclusion of non-conference play, George Mason slogged its way to an uneven 6-7 record, despite possessing a rich blend of veterans and newcomers that had many excited about the Patriots’ prospects. Suffice it to say the excitement has returned as Mason has rattled off seven of eight to begin conference play, with the only loss to Davidson by five. What’s the secret?

“The big thing has been the transformation of our practice habits,” Dave Paulsen told us this week. “I thought we practiced well in the preseason, but we had a two week break between our game against James Madison on December seventh and our game on December 21st against Navy, and we kind of went into a mini boot-camp during exam period. Our guys really responded well. To this point, we’ve practiced at an exceptionally high level every day since December seventh -- as well if not better than any team I’ve coached in 25 years. The second thing is that we’ve done a much better job of not letting whether we make shots or miss shots have any impact on our defensive energy and focus. So we’ve defended at a really high level, starting with the JMU game.

“What we’ve tried to do is foster a spirit of ultra-competitiveness in practice every day. That’s one of the factors in our growth. Our second team is predominantly freshmen and sophomores and, as they’ve gotten more comfortable and poised in competing, our practices and level of competitiveness has been stronger. You want to compete with an edge, but at the end of the day we’re not solving world hunger so you have to have some fun and joy in doing it. So we try to create this mindset of a toughness that’s fun. We try to be demanding without being demeaning.”

That attentiveness to detail, appreciation of each possession, and spirited focus that Mason has harnessed recently is championship-grade stuff -- and exactly what the league’s maturing young talent is chasing. The challenge is maintaining it.

Chris DiSano, is a longtime Atlantic 10 television analyst and writer. He has served as the host of A-10 Live! at Men's Basketball Media Day and founded the former College Chalktalk. DiSano, who was named an NBC Sports top Atlantic 10 basketball follow, can be found on Twitter at @CDiSano44