Hartford
2017-18 record: 19-14, 11-5 in the America East
Head coach: John Gallagher
Tenure at Hartford: 9th season
Career coaching record: 106–148
Home court: Chase Arena
Starters: G Jason Dunne, G J.R. Lynch, G Travis Weatherington, F John Carroll, F Eddie Davis III
Bench: G Max Twyman, G/F Romain Boxus, F George Blagojevic
Overview: Playing in the America East conference, it was impossible for the Hawks not be overshadowed by their conference champion, UMBC, which landed a historic upset against Virginia in the NCAA Tournament last season. However, Hartford was no slouch in the conference, making it to the semifinals before getting ousted by the Retrievers. Head coach John Gallagher was named a co-America East coach of the year, and the Hawks will be returning their top four scorers while adding graduate transfer forward Eddie Davis III, who started 20 games last season for Southern Mississippi.
Leading the charge will be a quadruplet of seniors in guards Jason Dunne, J.R. Lynch, Travis Weatherington and redshirt senior forward John Carroll, who led the team a season ago with 15.2 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. All four players are not afraid to let it fly from three-point range, and the guards all shot better than 35 percent from beyond the arc last year.
Hartford should get it done once again on the defensive end—opponents shot less than 44 percent from the field last season—and its wealth of experience should make it a tough out in any game.
One thing that needs to go right: With everyone focused on UMBC, everything jells for the Hawks, as they represent the America East in the NCAA tournament.
One thing that could go wrong: Davis struggles, and inexperience behind Carroll at forward doom Hartford to a finish in the middle of the conference.
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