Men's Basketball Picked Number 1

The Fairfield University Men's Basketball team was picked to finish atop of the conference on Tuesday at Media Day. The Stags picked up 96 votes which was 5 more than runner up and 3 time defending champions Siena. The squad has been picked first by numerous college basketball magazines, including SI and ESPN.

The team also includes a couple of players who were named to all-MAAC teams. Derek Needham and Yorel Hawkins both picked up the preseason nods. Needham, the MAAC Rookie of the Year, was picked to the conference first team. The sophomore guard was named to the All-American freshmen team last year and broke almost every Fairfield freshmen record as he was the team's leading scorer and in the top ten in the nation for assists among freshmen. The freshman led the team to the Championship game and one shot away from upsetting the Saints. He became one of the most successful freshmen athletes ever to pass through the MAAC by winning a record 10 Rookie of the Week awards.

Sophomore slump? It's happened to the best of them. Teams are no longer going to have to worry about Anthony Johnson and will be focusing more on Needham. Can he handle the pressure of leading the team that is supposed to win the title?

Yorel Hawkins was picked to the finish on the All-MAAC Second Team. The senior was injured at the end of last year which forced him to miss several regular season games plus the conference tournament. He was one of the leading scorers on the team before falling victim to the injury bug, can he sustain it this year? He is going to be asked to score at will and become their offensive threat. He has never had that responsibility before and it will be interesting to see if he can handle it.