Atlantic 10 head coaches and media placed men’s basketball fourth and women’s basketball 10th in their preseason polls released Tuesday.
The poll sees the men’s team — who went 9-9 in the conference and finished tied for seventh last year — with stronger chances this year but less optimistic than some sports betting markets, including ESPN where the Revs are tied with Virginia Commonwealth University for the best odds to win the conference. The women’s poll forecasts a slight improvement for the squad during new Head Coach Ganiyat Adeduntan’s first season leading the program, placing them two spots higher than their 12th place finish in the conference last year.
The men’s team improved nine spots on last year’s poll result which picked them to finish 13th, ahead of Fordham and La Salle. The last time the preseason poll selected the Revs to clinch fourth place was 2015, the year the Revolutionaries won the NIT and ended the season ranked fifth in the conference.
The men’s poll predicted VCU will repeat their regular season championship from last season followed by Saint Louis and Dayton in second and third respectively. Men’s basketball will face off against Dayton at the Smith Center on Feb. 27, which will also mark the Revs’ first home game televised on ESPN since 2017.
In addition to the team results, the poll also selected preseason honors for the top A-10 athletes. The conference recognized four athletes on the men’s squad — a boost after the Revs’ received only one preseason honor last year — which ties GW with VCU for the most in the A-10.
This year’s poll named men’s redshirt senior forward Rafael Castro to the Preseason All-Conference First Team and the Preseason All-Defensive Team, an honor he achieved at the end of last season. Castro led the Revs in scoring last season averaging 14 points per game and made the A-10 All Conference Second Team.
The conference also gave graduate transfer guard Tre Dinkins, who led Duquesne in scoring last year and averaging 12.9 points per game, an All-Conference Second Team selection. Returning sophomore guard Christian Jones and junior guard Trey Autry received All-Conference Third team nods. The four players named to conference teams is the most in the conference.
The women’s poll selected Richmond to defend their title as A-10 champs. Sophomore guard Gabby Reynolds was named to the Preseason All-Conference Second Team in the women’s poll, picking up on her A-10 All-Conference Rookie Team selection as a freshman last year.
Women’s basketball finished last season 5-13 after former Head Coach Caroline McCombs stepped down in the middle of the season. GW Athletics officials announced they selected Adeduntan — who served as a Revs assistant coach from 2017-21 before heading to Colgate University to serve as head coach for four years — to take over the Revs’ program in March.
The men’s season kicks off on Oct. 18 with an exhibition against Georgetown University in the Smith Center, while the women’s season will begin on Nov. 3, when they host the University of the District of Columbia.
