WASHINGTON, D.C. – St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team’s preseason hype continued Tuesday as senior guards Jaylen Adams and Matt Mobley were both named to the Atlantic 10’s Preseason All-Conference first team.
The Bonnies were also picked to finish second in the Atlantic 10 at the conference’s annual Media Day.
Rhode Island was chosen to win the A-10 with 27 first place votes and 390 points. The Bonnies received one first place vote and earned 345 points.
Saint Joseph’s was picked third, VCU fourth and Dayton fifth. Both the order of finish and preseason all-conference teams were chosen by vote of the conference’s head coaches and a panel of media members.
The preseason No. 2 rank is the highest for St. Bonaventure in any season when the A-10 was not split into two divisions. Last year, the Bonnies finished 20-12 overall and were fifth in the Atlantic 10 with an 11-7 mark.
Davidson forward Peyton Aldridge, Rhode Island guard E.C. Matthews and VCU forward Justin Tillman join Adams and Mobley on the first-team. All five players are seniors.
Adams, a 6-2 point guard from Baltimore, Md., was a first team All-Conference selection both his sophomore and junior seasons. Last season, he also was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches District 4 First Team and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-District II team.
Adams was the only NCAA Division I player to rank in the top 25 nationally in scoring (24th) and the top 10 in assists (seventh). He finished second in the Atlantic 10 in scoring at 20.6 points per game.
Adams has scored 1,377 points career points thus far, which ranks 21st in program history. He has led the Bonnies to back-to-back 20-win seasons the past two years.
Last season, which was his first at St. Bonaventure, Mobley finished fourth in A-10 in scoring at 18.5 points per game. The 6-3 guard led all Division I players in minutes per game at 38.3. Mobley finished 13th in the A-10 in rebounding at 5.8 per game and also ranked second in the A-10 in three-pointers (2.7 per game), second in free throw percentage (.861) and 11th in steals (1.6).
The season opener is Nov. 10 against Niagara at the Reilly Center. Bonnies season tickets are now on sale. For information on purchasing season tickets, contact the SBU Ticket Office at (716) 375-2500 or visit GoBonnies.com/tickets. Single game tickets go on sale October 20.
2017-18 Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Preseason Predicted Order of Finish:
| TEAM (1st place votes) | Total Voter Points |
|---|---|
| 1. Rhode Island (27) | 390 |
| 2. St. Bonaventure (1) | 345 |
| 3. Saint Joseph’s | 300 |
| 4. VCU | 299 |
| 5. Dayton | 266 |
| 6. Davidson | 245 |
| 7. Saint Louis | 225 |
| 8. Richmond | 198 |
| 9. La Salle | 194 |
| 10. George Mason | 140 |
| 11. George Washington | 132 |
| 12. Massachusetts | 79 |
| 13. Fordham | 66 |
| 14. Duquesne | 61 |