Men's Hoops Projected for Fourth-Place Finish in America East

Complete America East Release
Hartford Preseason Poll Video (Courtesy of the America East)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – In a poll of the nine head men's basketball coaches of the America East Conference, the University of Hartford was picked to finish fourth. The Hawks return 10 players, including four starters, from a squad that is fresh off one of its best seasons in program history.

Recording six of eight possible first-place votes (coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams) and 64 points, the Vermont Catamounts are the coaches' preseason choice to top the standings again in 2012-13. Last season, Vermont, the conference tournament runner-up, went 21-12 overall and 11-5 in league play to close out the season tied for second with Boston University.

Claiming the three remaining top votes and 58 overall points for second in the preseason poll was Stony Brook, which earned the regular season crown in 2012-13. Coming in third with 49 points was last season's America East Tournament champion, Albany. Hartford, which earned 44 points, finished 13 points ahead of New Hampshire, which was picked to finish fifth in the conference with 31 points.

Following the Wildcats in the standings is UMBC which calculated 28 points for sixth. The Retrievers precede the Binghamton Bearcats who recorded four points less (24) for seventh place. Maine and UMass Lowell round out the nine-team poll, ranking eighth and ninth, respectively, with 20 and eight points.

Four starters – Yolonzo Moore II, Corban Wroe, Nate Sikma and Mark Nwakamma – make their return from a squad that posted the second-most Division I wins (17) in school history while earning the program's first-ever Division I postseason appearance by way of a CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament bid.

A forward, Nwakamma was named to the America East Preseason All-Conference Team just one day ago. Coming off a season that saw the Leander, Texas native grab Hartford's first America East All-Conference First Team honor since the 2007-08 season, Nwakamma was the league's fifth-best scorer, averaging 14.7 points per game last year. He also ranked among the conference's leaders in rebounding (5.5 rpg), field goal percentage (47.5 percent), steals (1.4 spg) and blocks (0.7 bpg).

Five new faces join the squad for the upcoming 2013-14 season. In the frontcourt, redshirt sophomore Yasin Kolo, a transfer from East Carolina, joins rookie Dougal Weir and senior Adam Oresky while freshmen Preston Anderson and Justin Graham round out the backcourt for the Hawks.

The Hawks begin the season on Saturday, November 9 with the fifth annual Connecticut 6 Classic, held at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Conn. Following the opener against Quinnipiac at 3:30 p.m., Hartford heads south to take on NCAA Sweet 16 team Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday, November 12 at 7 a.m. as part of ESPN's Marathon Day. Also highlighting the non-conference slate for 2013-14 are dates with Louisville, the reigning national champion, on Tuesday, November 19 as well as a matchup with another NCAA Sweet 16 squad in La Salle on Wednesday, December 4.

Starting on Friday, November 15, Hartford kicks-off its four-game, non-conference home schedule with Fairleigh Dickinson at 7 p.m. Also visiting the Chase Family Arena in West Hartford in 2013 are Yale (November 30), Holy Cross (December 7) and Saint Peter's (December 22).