Saint Joseph's has been picked to finish second in the Atlantic 10's 2018-19 men's basketball preseason poll, which was announced Thursday in conjunction with its annual Media Day, held at Barclays Center, home of the 2019 A-10 Men's Basketball Championship. SJU's Charlie Brown, Jr. , and Lamarr Kimble have been named to the Preseason All-Conference Third Team.

Saint Louis was selected to finish first in the league, garnering 348 points and 15 first-place votes. The individual awards and poll were chosen by a panel of the league's head coaches and select media members.

The Hawks totaled 324 points, including four first-place votes, as they return Kimble and Brown, along with starters Taylor Funk , Pierfrancesco Oliva and Chris Clover . Both Kimble and Brown are comeback stories, after missing the 2017-18 season due to injuries. Kimble averaged 15.5 points per game in 2016-17 while Brown posted 12.8 points per game and earned All-Rookie honors. Saint Joseph's finished at 16-16 last year, and 10-8 in the A-10, while reaching the conference semifinals.

Defending champion Davidson was picked third in the poll with 314 points and six first-place votes, while George Mason garnered 287 poll points and a first-place vote to rank fourth, followed by 2017-18 regular season champion Rhode Island, which had 221 points for fifth place. Dayton was sixth with 206 points and VCU seventh with 195 points in the voting. Massachusetts (175 points), St. Bonaventure (167 points) and Richmond (156 points) finished eighth, ninth and 10th in the poll, while Duquesne, La Salle, George Washington and Fordham rounded out the preseason rankings, respectively.

Saint Joseph's opens the season on November 9 when it hosts Old Dominion at Hagan Arena. TICKETS

Conference play begins on Thursday, January 3, when the Hawks host George Mason. The season will culminate with the 2019 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship, to be played at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The league's premier event will begin Wednesday, March 13 and the A-10 will crown its 2019 champion on March 17, Selection Sunday. Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster, institutional box offices and the Barclays Center box office.

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