Jamie Skeen was named All-CAA Second Team at the end of the 2010-11 regular season. He was not on any of the All-CAA preseason teams.

On Tuesday, the Colonial Athletic Association will hold its annual men’s and women’s basketball media day in Arlington, Va., where it’ll reveal its Preseason All-Conference Teams. I think this is the perfect opportunity to apologize for my profession and the rest of my media brethren. These preseason All-Conference teams, they’re our fault.

I know how fun it is to prognosticate, to predict how an entire season will shape up on a single sheet of paper. Believe me, I’ve done it and enjoyed the heck out of it.

As a former voting member of both the All-CAA Men’s and Women’s awards body, I have contributed to this affliction for the preseason crowning of the best of the…well, I don’t know, actually. What are we rewarding people for with these preseason All-Conference teams again?

It’s a simple equation. Take last year’s All-Conference team, subtract the graduating seniors, injured players and suspended/ineligible/dismissed troublemakers. Move everybody up into the available spots. Then, with what’s left, take some educated guesses to fill the remaining slots and voila! You have voted for your very own preseason All-Conference team.

There’s the rub. There’s little or no science to this. We’re not rewarding an accomplishment, unless we’re talking about last year’s accomplishments, which we already rewarded – last year. It doesn’t – and can’t – account for so many unforeseen circumstances. How about an underperforming junior who figures it out as a senior? May I present, Jamie Skeen? How about the player whose career arc levels off, like, say, Julius Wells? What about new transfers or breakout freshmen?

Most coaches aren’t a huge fan of these teams either, because it’s another distraction. It’s an expectation from an uncontrollable outside entity that could produce a false sense of accomplishment, unless they can frame it in a motivational context. If your guy wasn’t named preseason All-CAA, well, it’s him against the world, proving everybody wrong. “Everybody”, by the way, is the league coaches, basketball SIDs, play-by-play announcers and beat writers*.

No, these teams are our fault, the SIDs, the media. It’s an opportunity to grab a headline, to create a buzz, to promote the upcoming season. It doesn’t matter if there’s no substance or context behind it. It’s all a show, and in that sense, it’s been an undeniable success.

Bradford Burgess was not named to an All-CAA Team last season.

Just do me a favor, when these teams come out tomorrow, view them for what they are, a media creation meant to provoke and tease. Nobody has won a thing. You’ve still got to prove it on the court.

Now, for the ultimate dose of hypocrisy, here’s what I think the Preseason All-CAA First Team will look like:

Here are last year’s All-CAA Men’s Basketball First and Second Teams:

First Team
Chaisson Allen, Sr., G, Northeastern
Denzel Bowles, Sr., F, James Madison
Frank Hassell, Sr., F, Old Dominion
Charles Jenkins, Sr., G, Hofstra
Cam Long, Sr., G, George Mason

(The preseason first team was Allen, Bowles, Jenkins, Long and Joey Rodriguez, so the voters went 4-for-5. Allen, Bowles and Jenkins had literally zero chance of failing, barring serious injury).

Second Team
Kent Bazemore, Jr., G/F, Old Dominion
Samme Givens, Jr., F, Drexel
Ryan Pearson, Jr., F, George Mason
Jamie Skeen, Sr., F, VCU
Chad Tomko, Sr., G, UNC Wilmington

Okay, let’s subtract the seniors, which leaves us with:

Kent Bazemore, Jr., G/F, Old Dominion
Samme Givens, Jr., F, Drexel
Ryan Pearson, Jr., F, George Mason

Congratulations! You just picked 3/5 of the Preseason All-CAA First Team. Let’s look at third team from last year:

Third Team
Jawan Carter, Sr., G, Delaware
Chris Fouch, So., G, Drexel
Luke Hancock, So., F, George Mason
Quinn McDowell, Jr., G/F, William & Mary
Joey Rodriguez, Sr., G, VCU

Carter and Rodriguez have graduated, while Hancock transferred to Louisville. That leaves Fouch and McDowell. You’re done, right? Slow down there, Slugger. Fouch is out until after the first of the year following knee surgery. Bazemore is hurt too, but will be leaned on heavily enough in Norfolk that he’ll have plenty of chances to make up for lost time. Fouch has more help.

Here’s the tricky part. This doesn’t happen every year, but VCU’s Bradford Burgess was straight up snubbed last year. It’s an imperfect process and sometimes, reputation and name recognition get in the way of common sense. However, Burgess blew up in the NCAA Tournament and now everyone and their grandmama knows the Rams’ 6-6 guard/forward. So, Burgess jumps to first team, just like that.

Bazemore, Givens, Pearson, McDowell and Burgess, your Preseason All-CAA First Team. So easy, a blogger could do it.

* – That’s the procedure for the men, four voting members from each school for a total of 48 votes. The women’s voting used to function the same until a couple of years ago. Now it’s solely a coaches vote.

P.S.: As much as I enjoy predicting the order of finish for the upcoming year (which I actually think is more valuable than picking All-Conference teams), as a VCU employee, I don’t feel comfortable doing it for a myriad of reasons. What I will say is that my expectations are in line with a number of previews I’ve read, for what it’s worth.

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