RICHMOND, Va. – Hofstra, which won the program’s first CAA men’s basketball championship last March, is favored to claim the 2020-21 CAA men’s basketball championship, according to a vote of the league’s coaches, media relations directors and media members.

James Madison’s Matt Lewis was voted the CAA Preseason Player of the Year after a junior season in which he averaged 19.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game and earned Second Team All-CAA accolades. Joining Lewis on the preseason All-CAA First Yeam were the Drexel duo of James Butler and Camren Wynter, Hofstra’s Isaac Kante and Zane Martin of Towson.

Voted to the preseason second team were Delaware’s Ryan Allen and Kevin Anderson, Charleston senior guard Brevin Galloway, sophomore guard Hunter McIntosh, the 2020 CAA Rookie of the Year from Elon, and Northeastern sophomore guard Tyson Walker.

A year after five teams received first-place votes in the preseason poll, four teams – Hofstra, Delaware, Drexel and Towson – picked up first-place votes this season. The Pride finished atop the poll for the second straight season, earning 16 first-place votes and 290 overall points. Delaware was 20 points behind Hofstra with 270 points and 11 first-place nods. Drexel collected 240 points and seven first-place votes, finishing eight points in front of Towson for third; the Tigers received the remaining four first-place votes in earning 232 points. With 215 points, Elon was fifth, followed by Charleston, Northeastern, UNCW, James Madison and William & Mary.

Hofstra went 26-8 last season, earning its second consecutive outright CAA regular-season title before capturing the program’s first CAA championship. After the matriculation of all-CAA selections Desure Buie and Eli Pemberton, the Pride will turn to its trio of Tareq Coburn, Jalen Ray and Kante. Kante (11.4 ppg, 7.5 rpg) was a Third Team All-CAA pick last year after hitting nearly 66-percent of his attempts from the field, while Coburn (10.8 ppg, 41.2 3FG%) and Ray (11.8 ppg, 39.3 3FG%) were two of the Pride’s five starters to average 10 or more points per game in 2019-20. Both Coburn and Ray were among the CAA preseason honorable mention selections.

Delaware has improved its win total in each of its four seasons under Martin Ingelsby and will turn to its three returning starters – Allen, Anderson and Dylan Painter. Anderson collected Third Team All-CAA accolades in his junior year after posting 11.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists. Allen (12.2 ppg, 3.0 apg) was one of four Blue Hens averaging over 10 points last year, while Painter (9.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg) hit 61.7-percent of his field goals in just half a season. Reggie Gardner, a 2018 Second Team All-MEAC selection, joins the Blue Hens after sitting out last year.

The only team in the CAA with two preseason first team selections, Drexel has also increased its win total in each of head coach Zach Spiker’s four seasons. The Dragons will lean on Butler (13.2 ppg, 11.7 ppg, 20 double-doubles), a Third Team All-CAA pick last season, and Wynter (15.7 ppg, 5.1 apg), who earned Second Team All-CAA honors after a Rookie of the Year campaign in 2018-19. Zach Walton (12.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg) received a waiver for a sixth season, while Mate Okros (5.5 ppg, 41.4 3FG%) rounds out the quartet of returning starters for the Dragons.

After placing in the top three of the CAA for the third time in the last five seasons, Towson returns just one starter from a season ago. However, among its seven newcomers, is one extremely familiar within the CAA in Martin. In 2017-18, Martin collected Second Team All-CAA honors after averaging 19.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists with Towson before returning after two years at New Mexico. Nicolas Timberlake (6.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg) earned CAA Sixth Man of the Year honors last season, while Juwan Gray (7.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg) was also among the contenders for the award.

Elon came on late in the 2019-20 season, reaching the program’s first CAA championship semifinal in head coach Mike Schrage’s first season. The program was bolstered by the trio of Zac Ervin (8.4 ppg, 1.8 rpg), Hunter Woods (10.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and McIntosh (11.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.0 apg). Woods and McIntosh were both CAA All-Rookie Team picks last season, with McIntosh becoming the second Phoenix player to earn CAA Rookie of the Year accolades.

With Grant Riller preparing for the NBA Draft, Charleston will turn its attack over to Galloway and Zep Jasper. Galloway (11.3 ppg, 74 3FG, 2.2 spg) collected CAA All-Defensive Team accolades last year, and in concert with Jasper (7.6 ppg, 1.7 apg) will be tasked with bringing together a roster that has six newcomers, including graduate transfers Lorenzo Edwards (6.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg at Saint Joseph’s) and Payton Willis (8.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.0 apg at Minnesota).

Northeastern will be looking for its fourth straight appearance in the CAA championship game after falling to Hofstra in March. Walker (10.4 ppg, 3.4 apg, 1.8 spg), one of the CAA’s crop of talented sophomores, burst on the scene last year by becoming the sixth freshman in program history to surpass 100 assists. Shaq Walters (7.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg) came on late last season and is expected to emerge in a greater role in 2020-21.

After helping UNCW reach back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2016 and 2017, Takayo Siddle returns to lead the Seahawk program. The Seahawks boast four returning starters in Siddle’s first year, including preseason honorable mention pick Jaylen Sims (11.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg), who led UNCW in scoring as a sophomore. Shykeim Phillips (9.5 ppg, 2.3 apg) was thrust into the fire as a freshman, emerging as an all-rookie team selection.

Similarly, Mark Byington will guide James Madison after seven seasons at Georgia Southern. After his junior year in which he was top-14 in the conference in scoring, rebounding and assists, Lewis tested the NBA Draft waters before returning to Harrisonburg and the brand-new Atlantic Union Bank Center. Lewis will be tasked with helping to break in nine newcomers, including Jalen Hodge (7.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg at Louisiana-Monroe), Joel Mensah (36 games at San Diego State) and Vado Morse (10.8 ppg; 2019 NEC Rookie of the Year at Mount St. Mary’s).

A year after posting the program’s most wins since the 1949-50 season, William & Mary will feature a new look now that CAA Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year Nathan Knight is preparing for the NBA Draft. The Tribe will turn to Luke Loewe (10.7 ppg, 43.9 3FG%), an all-defensive team pick last season, and Thornton Scott (7.3 ppg, 4.4 apg) in the backcourt, while looking to Quinn Blair (4.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg) to continue his ascendance in the front court.

The 2020-21 season will tip-off on Wednesday, Nov. 25. Conference play will open on Saturday, Jan. 2 and is set to conclude on Sunday, Feb. 28.