Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Rider's Thompson Leads All-Star Picks

A Rider player, senior guard Ryan Thompson, is the conference's top individual according to the coaches' preseason poll, but Siena has the greatest collection of talent.

Thompson was picked as the conference's preseason Player of the Year. Siena had two first-team selections and two more picks on the second team, the only MAAC team with more than two players among the preseason's top 10.

Including the top 15 (the league released three preseason all-star teams), Niagara (two first-teamers), Rider (two third-teamers, along with Ryan's first-team honor) and Canisius (two third-teamers) are the only other team with multiple all-stars.

Here's the list of preseason all stars:

FIRST TEAM

Ryan Thompson, Rider
Edwin Ubiles, Siena
Ronald Moore, Siena
Tyrone Lewis, Niagara
Bilal Benn, Niagara

SECOND TEAM

Greg Nero, Fairfield
Jamel Barney, Loyola
Wesley Jenkins, Saint Peter's
Alex Franklin, Siena
Ryan Rossiter, Siena

THIRD TEAM

Greg Logins, Canisius
Frank Turner, Canisius
Darryl Crawford, Manhattan
Novar Gadson, Rider
Mike Ringold, Rider

Some observations ...

- Siena's Franklin could easily wind up as a post-season first-team pick.
- Not much argument here over Thompson's position as the preseason Player of the Year over Ubiles. The Siena standout is part of a more-balanced attack, and Thompson's numbers are likely to be better.
- If Ubiles does indeed earn first-team status at the end of the season, he would become the 14th player in MAAC history to be a first-team honoree in three seasons.
- Most glaring omission? Saint Peter's junior forward Ryan Bacon

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