Will any team be able to stop Colgate’s quest for a fifth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance?
Colgate has represented the Patriot League in four consecutive NCAA Tournaments, with the Raiders of Hamilton, New York, winning the regular-season title in five of the last six seasons. Much like Vermont in the America East, it may be time to pencil in the toothpaste school as the Patriot League winner until there’s confirmation that someone, anyone is going to give them a fight.
There are plenty of rumblings that Colgate will get that fight from two other schools this season, especially as the Raiders look to replace a group of senior leaders, including Patriot League Player of the Year Braeden Smith, who defected to Gonzaga. The reloading is noteworthy as the Patriot is usually a league built on roster retention and groups who have played 2-3 years together. This year, the Raiders’ biggest competition will likely come from American, a team boasting 10 upperclassmen on its roster, and Lehigh, which returns its two leading scorers by average and five of its seven major minute-earners.
It could ultimately be a year where Colgate’s lead on the rest of the league is simply not as large, while the middle and lower levels benefit from maturation and guys staying at their schools. Across analytics platforms, last year’s Patriot League was simply the worst it’s been in recent memory. The bottom four teams in the league were viewed by both KenPom and Bart Torvik as bottom-40 teams in Division I, and Colgate was the lone team within the top 200. With its attrition and the nature of rising bottom dwellers, the league figures to be tighter than in recent years.
Projected Order of Finish
1. Colgate Raiders
The aforementioned loss of Smith looms large for Matt Langel’s team, but the Raiders must also replace the contributions of guard Ryan Moffatt and forward Keegan Records. Colgate’s hopes of staying on top will bank on continued efficiency in a larger role from fifth-year center Jeff Woodward (7.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 62.9 FG%) and the opportunity for sophomore Jalen Cox to move over and be the on-ball guard.
Cox was as a reserve for most of the season until injuries in the backcourt allowed him to start against American on Jan. 27, and he held his place in the starting lineup for the rest of the season. During that final 15-game stretch, Cox averaged 5.3 points and 2.7 assists on 51 percent shooting from the field and 45 percent from 3-point range. Another wild card is the impact freshman Josh Ahayere might provide as a scorer. The 6-4 Canadian guard received all-star honors in his postgraduate season at Crestwood Prep in Toronto, averaging 24.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists. If Ahayere takes the next step at a higher level of competition, Colgate has a dangerous backcourt compared to the rest of this league.
Log in to your HC+ account or sign up now to view this content.
You must be logged in to post a comment.