College Basketball: Picking First and Second Team Preseason All-Mid-Major

Early season upsets by teams like Kent State of the MAC—at West Virginia—and Loyola Marymount of the WCC—at UCLA—have served notice that the power conferences have no monopoly on basketball talent. Some of the nation's top individual stars are plying their trade in mid-major conferences. 

Every year, the Gonzaga Bulldogs are one of the standard-bearers for mid-major teams, and 2011-12 will be no exception. The leader of a talented Gonzaga frontcourt is senior Robert Sacre, a 7'0" center with shooting touch.

Read on for a closer look at Sacre and the rest of the picks for a hypothetical pair of preseason lineups showcasing the best of the mid-major conferences.

Second Team: G D.J. Cooper, Ohio

The Ohio Bobcats are far from the MAC’s best team, but they certainly boast the conference’s best player in D.J. Cooper. The 5’11” point guard finished second in the nation with 7.5 assists per game, in 2010-11.

Cooper, who also posted dazzling numbers as a scorer—16.2 points a night—and defender—2.3 steals per contest—has picked up where he left off last season. In a pair of Bobcat wins to start the year, he’s averaging 16.5 points and 6.5 assists.

Second Team: G Matthew Dellavedova, St. Mary’s

The key to St. Mary's' chances at an NCAA tournament berth is the performance of junior point guard Matthew Dellavedova. The latest in a line of Australian stars at St. Mary’s, Dellavedova averaged 13.4 points and 5.3 assists a game last season.

With Mickey McConnell’s graduation, Dellavedova has been focusing more on his role as a distributor in the early going in 2011-12.

He’s averaging six assists a night in leading the Gaels to a 2-0 start—including a win against fellow recurring bracket-buster Northern Iowa.

Second Team: F Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure

St. Bonaventure has plenty of question marks as the season gets underway, but the Bonnies don’t have to worry about where their offense will come from.

Only two returning players in the country posted higher scoring averages last season than 6’9” forward Andrew Nicholson’s 20.8 points per game.

Nicholson, who also led the team in rebounding (7.3) and blocks (1.5) a year ago, is up to his old tricks to start 2011-12. He poured in 24 of the Bonnies’ 79 points in their season opening win over Cornell.

Second Team: F C.J. Aiken, St. Joseph’s

In 2010-11, C.J. Aiken gave St. Joseph’s one of the most impressive freshman debuts the school has seen in years. The 6’9” forward blocked more shots—3.5 per game—than any returning player in the nation.

Aside from his defensive instincts, Aiken is still developing—he averaged just 7.4 points and 4.3 rebounds a game last season.

He’s off to an encouraging start to the year, though, with 12 points, six rebounds and five blocks in a win on the road at Western Kentucky.

Second Team: C Robert Sacre, Gonzaga

True 7'0" players are a rare breed at the college level, but 2011-12 is looking like a good year for them.

Tyler Zeller of North Carolina is the marquee attraction, but Gonzaga senior Robert Sacre will be right behind him after posting 12.5 points and 6.3 boards a game last season.

Sacre will step into a bigger role in the Bulldog offense with Steven Gray gone, and he’s adjusted well in the early going. Sacre has averaged 18.5 points and 10 rebounds a game through two early victories for the Zags.

First Team: G Tu Holloway, Xavier

For pure talent at the mid-major level, there’s not a player in the country to match 6'0" Xavier’s Tu Holloway. The third-team All-American averaged 19.7 points, 5.4 assists and five rebounds a game in 2010-11.

Suspended for the Musketeers' season opener against Morgan State, Holloway returned against IPFW to score 24 points along with six assists in an easy win. Look for Holloway to lead Xavier to another A-10 title and earn another All-America nod to cap his senior year.

First Team: G Will Barton, Memphis

Memphis landed at No. 9 in the preseason USA Today poll because last year’s freshman-loaded lineup is now a group stocked with athletic, seasoned starters. The leader of that now sophomore class of Tigers is Will Barton.

A high-flying 6’6” shooting guard, Barton led the Tigers in scoring in 2010-11—12.3 points a game—while finishing second in rebounds (4.9) and steals (1.5). In the Tigers’ season opener, he torched a talented Belmont team for 23 points and five boards.

First Team: G Bradford Burgess, Virginia Commonwealth

The best of the three-point gunners remaining from VCU’s Final Four squad of a year ago, Bradford Burgess averaged 14.3 points a game—second on the team to now-graduated Jamie Skeen.

The then junior also shot a team leading 43.4 percent from beyond the arc.

At 6’6”, Burgess provides some needed muscle to the guard-heavy Rams. In VCU’s opening win over St. Francis (Pa.), he suffered through a woeful 0-for-12 shooting night from the field, but still chipped in with seven rebounds and three assists.

First Team: F Arsalan Kazemi, Rice

Rice’s leading scorer at 15.2 points a game last season, Arsalan Kazemi made an even bigger mark on the glass. The 6’7” sophomore averaged 11 rebounds a game, the seventh best mark in Division I for 2010-11.

Kazemi, a native of Iran, will face a stiff challenge trying to make Rice (14-18 a year ago) a contender in Conference USA.

He started his junior season on the right foot by racking up 11 points and 12 boards in a season opening win over no-longer-Division I New Orleans.

First Team: F Chris Gaston, Fordham

The only bright spot in last year’s dismal 7-21 campaign for Fordham was the play of sophomore forward Chris Gaston. The 6’7” Gaston is the nation’s leading returning rebounder, having pulled in 11.3 boards a game last season.

Gaston has also led the Rams in scoring each of his first two seasons—averaging a combined 17 points per game—and 2011-12 looks likely to be no different. Even in a season-opening mismatch against mighty Syracuse, Gaston managed 13 points and five rebounds.