Moon Township, Pa. – According to a poll of Horizon League head coaches, communication professionals and select members of the media, the RMU men's basketball team has been picked to finish fourth in its first season in the league in 2020-21. The poll was announced Thursday by the Horizon League.
Wright State, which earned 37 first-place votes and 517 points, was tabbed as the preseason favorite in 2020-21. Youngstown State, which earned three first-place tallies and 423 points, was picked second, while Northern Kentucky compiled four first-place votes and 413 points and was selected third. Following the Colonials (345) in the poll and rounding out the top five was UIC (312).
RMU senior forward
AJ Bramah earned a spot on the 2020-21 Preseason All-Horizon League Second Team, joining Algevon Eichelberger (Cleveland State), Te'Jon Lucas (Milwaukee), Rashad Williams (Oakland) and Naz Bohannon (Youngstown State).
Bramah, a native of San Leandro, Calif., appeared in 33 games for the Colonials in 2019-20, averaging 13.4 points and a team-high 8.2 rebounds per contest. He shot 56.9 percent (173-for-304) from the field and also finished second for RMU in blocks (16).
Named to the 2020 All-Northeast Conference (NEC) Second Team, Bramah reached double figures in scoring 29 times last year, including 23 consecutive games during the season. That streak stands as the fourth longest in program history. Bramah also notched a team-high eight double-doubles on the 2019-20 campaign, including an 18-point, 20-rebound performance in a 67-55 triumph over Sacred Heart (1/20/20) at the
UPMC Events Center in which he tied an RMU single-game record for rebounds that had stood since 1980.
Louden Love of Wright State was selected as the 2020-21 Preseason Horizon League Player of the Year and was also named to the 2020-21 Preseason All-Horizon League First Team. He was joined by Antoine Davis (Detroit Mercy), Amari Davis (Green Bay), Marcus Burk (IUPUI) and Darius Quisenberry (Youngstown State).
RELATED: RMU Announces 2020-21 Schedule (11/4/20)
RMU returns three starters and five letterwinners from a 2019-20 squad that posted an overall record of 20-14 (.588), the fifth time in 10 seasons under Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole the Colonials have reached the 20-win plateau. Joining Bramah as a starter is senior guard
Jon Williams and junior guard
Dante Treacy.
Williams, a native of Akron, Ohio, has started each of his 102 career games at RMU, a school record for consecutive starts. He enters the 2020-21 campaign as the program's active leader in assists (401) while owning a career shooting percentage of 40.4 percent (161-for-399) from beyond the arc.
Treacy, a native of Orlando, Fla., was named the 2020 NEC Tournament MVP after averaging 12.3 points, 5.7 assists and 2.7 steals in leading the Colonials to their ninth NEC Tournament championship. Overall on the 2019-20 season, Treacy played all 34 games and paced RMU in assists (153) and steals (44) while averaging 8.7 points and 2.8 rebounds per contest.
Toole enters his 11th season leading the Colonials and 14th overall at RMU in 2020-21. He has compiled an overall record of 188-154 (.550) and is the program's all-time leader for victories. During his 10 seasons as head coach, the Colonials have earned bids to six national postseason tournaments, including two each in the NCAA Tournament (2015, 2020), National Invitation Tournament (NIT) (2013, 2014) and CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) (2012, 2019).
Since the beginning of the 2007-08 season, a span of 13 years, RMU has posted an overall record of 261-185 (.585), an average of 20.1 wins per year. During that stretch the Colonials have earned four automatic berths in the NCAA Tournament (2009, 2010, 2015, 2020), played in the NIT on three occasions (2008, 2013, 2014) and played in the CIT twice.
RMU, which announced its
2020-21 schedule Wednesday, opens its 45th season Wednesday, Nov. 25, by hosting Point Park at the
UPMC Events Center.
2020-21 Horizon League Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
| School (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. Wright State (37) |
517 |
| 2. Youngstown State (3) |
423 |
| 3. Northern Kentucky (4) |
413 |
| 4. Robert Morris |
345 |
| 5. UIC |
312 |
| 6. Oakland |
288 |
| 7. Cleveland State |
283 |
| 8. Green Bay |
253 |
| 9. Detroit Mercy |
185 |
| 10. Milwaukee |
172 |
| 11. Purdue Fort Wayne |
127 |
| 12. IUPUI |
114 |
Follow The Colonials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Snapchat | YouTube
