BALTIMORE, Md. — At the Colonial Athletic Association’s annual media day, the William and Mary men’s basketball team placed a pair of players on preseason all-league teams, while the Tribe was picked fifth in the preseason poll.
Junior guard Marcus Thornton was selected Preseason First Team All-CAA, while senior forward Tim Rusthoven garnered second-team honors.
The Tribe welcomes back four starters and 10 total letter winners from a squad that won 13 games, including seven in CAA play, a season ago.
W&M returns its top four scorers, while bringing back 91.7 percent of its scoring (1892 of 2064), 84.8 percent of its rebounding (847 of 999), 79.9 percent of its assists (342 of 428), 84.3 percent of its 3-pointers made (188 of 223), 79.2 percent of its steals (122 of 154) and 97.8 percent of its blocked shots (89 of 91).
The Tribe’s fifth-place standing in the preseason is the best under head coach Tony Shaver and the highest for the program since 1998.
Towson was the preseason favorite for the CAA title followed by Drexel, College of Charleston and Delaware. W&M, Delaware and Drexel were the only three schools with multiple preseason All-CAA selections.
Last season, Thornton became just the second Tribe sophomore to be named Second Team All-CAA to go along with garnering First Team NABC All-District accolades. He ranked second in the CAA last season in scoring at 18.8 points per game and is among the top returning scorers in the country. Thornton led the CAA and ranked among the top 20 nationally in both 3-pointers made per game and 3-point field goal percentage in 2012-13. The Upper Marlboro, Md., native enters the 2013-14 campaign scoring in double figures in 32 straight games, the longest active streak in the country.
Rusthoven was a Third Team All-CAA honoree last season as one of just three players in the league to rank among the top 11 in both scoring and rebounding. One of the top low-post players in the CAA, he averaged 14.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game as a junior. Rusthoven turned in five double-doubles last season, the most for a W&M player since 2004-05 and the sixth-most in the CAA. He also led the CAA and ranked 26th nationally in field goal percentage at 56 percent.
Joining Thornton on the preseason first team was Towson’s Jerrelle Benion, Delaware’s Devon Saddler and two Drexel Dragons in Damion Lee and Frantz Massenat. Benimon, who was the league player of the year in 2013, was also selected as the Preseason CAA Player of the Year for 2013-14. Northeastern’s Quincy Ford, Adjehi Baru from College of Charleston, James Madison’s Andre Nation and Jarvis Threatt of Delaware were also selected to the preseason All-CAA Second Team along with Rusthoven.
The Tribe opens the 2013-14 campaign on the road against instate foe Hampton on Friday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m. W&M’s first home game of the year comes on Tuesday, Nov. 12 against Liberty at Kaplan Arena. For season ticket information, visit the ticket page at TribeAthletics.com or call the ticket office at (757) 221-3340.
