Vermont Unanimously Chosen Men's #AEHoops Favorite

Read Time:2 Minute, 46 Second

Lamb Highlights Preseason All-League Team

BOSTON – Stacked with promising teams and talented players that are ready for the upcoming men’s basketball season, America East unveiled its preseason poll and all-conference team on Thursday morning, less than three weeks away from the start of the 2019-20 season. Perennial power Vermont was the unanimous pick as the preseason favorite in the poll with its star senior Anthony Lamb highlighting the six former all-leaguers earning preseason all-conference honors. The poll and all-conference team were voted on by the league’s nine head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own them.

Vermont, the reigning league champion, received all eight possible first place votes and topped the poll with 64 points while UMBC, runners up to the Catamounts last year, earned the final first-place tally and 53 points. A pair of youthful teams rounded out the top four in Stony Brook and UAlbany.

Lamb is one of four seniors on the preseason all-conference team that also features a pair of sophomores, including reigning America East Rookie of the Year Sam Sessoms. All six honorees were all-conference selections last year.

2019-20 America East Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
No.        School                 Points (1^st Place Votes)
1.           Vermont                           64 (8) – unanimous
2.           UMBC 53 (1)
3.           Stony Brook       48
4.           UAlbany       47
5.           UMass Lowell        38
T6.         Binghamton                     23
Hartford                           23
8.           Maine                           15
9.           New Hampshire    13

2019-20 America East Men’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
Andrew Fleming, Sr., Forward – Maine
Cameron Healy, So., Guard – UAlbany
K.J. Jackson, Sr., Guard – UMBC
Anthony Lamb, Sr., Forward – Vermont
Christian Lutete, Sr., Guard – UMass Lowell
Sam Sessoms, So., Guard – Binghamton

Twelve players who earned All-Conference, All-Defensive or All-Rookie honors last year return for the 2019-20, including Lamb, an All-American last year as well as the league’s leading scorer and rebounder.

The 2019-20 season begins on November 5 with conference play starting on January 4. Conference positioning will again prove key for the #AEPlayoffs. For the sixth-straight season, every round of the #AEPlayoffs will take place on the higher seed’s home court and earning home court advantage will prove crucial as home teams are 30-5 (.857) in the #AEPlayoffs with the #1 seed winning four titles and the #2 seed winning one.

The league champion will earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, where America East teams have won nine games all-time, including UMBC’s historic upset of Virginia in 2018. After Vermont earned a #13 seed in last year’s tournament, the conference is in the midst of its best four-year seeding average since 1999-2002.

Fans will once again be able to watch every #AEHoops home game on The AE on ESPN. The majority of games will air on ESPN+ or ESPN3.

Follow the @AEHoopsNews Twitter account to stay up-to-date on #AEHoops news all season long.

About America East: The America East provides its member schools and their athletic programs a platform upon which student-athletes can achieve both collegiate and life success through the promotion and nurturing of athletic excellence, academic achievement and leadership, on and off the field.

– #3Pillars – Building the Complete Student-Athlete –