Oct. 13, 2011
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Bronx, N.Y. -
Fordham University junior forward Chris Gaston (Union City, N.J./St. Anthony) was named Second Team Preseason All-Atlantic 10 in a vote of the conference coaches and media it was announced today. The announcement occurred during A-10 Media Day at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge. This marks the second straight season that Gaston has been named Second Team Preseason All-Atlantic 10.
Gaston, who was named Second Team All-Met and Honorable Mention All-Atlantic 10 in 2010-11, led the Fordham squad in both scoring and rebounding for the second straight year, averaging 15.9 ppg and 11.3 rpg. He also recorded 41 blocks, 38 assists and a team-high 26 steals. Gaston led the Atlantic 10 in rebounding, for the second consecutive season, and in defensive rebounding (7.9/game) and ranked ninth in the conference in scoring, seventh in blocked shots and third in offensive rebounding.
Gaston registered 17 doubles-doubles last year, the most for any Atlantic 10 player and the 15th most in the NCAA Division I. He was also fourth in the NCAA in rebounding.
On the year Gaston set new career highs in both scoring and rebounding, netting 27 points at Temple on February 9th and grabbing 20 rebounds at Lehigh on December 4th, the top rebounding game for an Atlantic 10 player this year.
Last year, Gaston, the 2010 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, had the most successful freshman campaign for any Fordham men's basketball player, leading the Rams in both scoring, averaging 18.0 ppg, and rebounding, averaging 11.4 rpg. His 504 points was a record for a Fordham freshman, surpassing Bevon Robin's former mark of 495 points in 1997-99, while his 319 rebounds was the second best for a Fordham rookie, four shy of Ed Conlin's freshman record of 323 set in 1951-52.
Over his career, Gaston has 950 career points and 635 career rebounds. He is ranked 39th on the Fordham all-time scoring list and 14th on the school's career rebounding list. Gaston is also among Fordham's top ten in career blocks (91) and has 36 career double-doubles in 56 career games.
"We really leaned on Chris Gaston last year and that took a physical toll on him," said Fordham head coach Tom Pecora. "I told him that this year I expect the same numbers from him but he will have to be more efficient as we will be cutting down on his minutes to keep him fresh."
Pecora fielded questions from the various print and electronic media members as well as taping spots for CBS Sports Network and the Atlantic 10 Conference.
A constant question for Pecora was how he will handle having such a young team, one with seven newcomers.
"Even though we're young this year we'll have better depth than last year," said Pecora. Last year we only played five or six guys and by the end of the year they were exhausted. But this year we can go with nine or ten guys. And even though we have a lot of young players who will make mistakes, they'll learn from those mistakes which will make them better players as juniors and seniors."
Pecora was also asked about his style of play which emphasizes the guards.
"I've always played a three guard system," said Pecora. "But to do that you need tough players who are not afraid of being outsized and I think we have that type of layer. In college basketball the guards dictate tempo and control the game so to be successful you need solid play from your guards."
In the team predictions, Xavier was chosen as the Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball preseason favorite, garnering 304 total points and 18 first-place votes to place first in the predicted order of finish. The Musketeers finished 24-8 overall and 15-1 in the A-10 last season and have clinched at least a share of the A-10 regular season record the last five years. XU also led all teams with five players selected for preseason awards. Temple, chosen second in the preseason poll, finished at 14-2 last year in the A-10 and 26-8 overall. The Owls, who have won three of the last four Atlantic 10 Championships, had four first-place votes and a total of 287 points for second place.
Saint Louis was picked third with 239 points, followed by St. Bonaventure (217 points), defending A-10 champion Richmond (196 points) and Dayton (168 points). Saint Joseph's was picked seventh with 165 points and George Washington tallied 163 points to earn the eighth place. Duquesne (151 points) and Rhode Island (117 points) completed the top 10, while Charlotte, Massachusetts, La Salle and Fordham rounded out the 14-team field.
Xavier senior guard Tu Holloway and St. Bonaventure senior center Andrew Nicholson were both named to the Preseason First-Team All-Conference team. Holloway, the defending A-10 Player of the Year, and Nicholson, last year's A-10 leading scorer and a postseason all-conference first-teamer, were both selected last week as preseason candidates for the prestigious Wooden Award.
Temple seniors Ramone Moore and Juan Fernandez were also selected to the Preseason All-Conference First Team. Moore was a second-team all-conference selection last season and Fernandez was named to the third team. George Washington's Tony Taylor, a second-team all-conference honoree in 2010-11, rounded out the first-team selections.
Seniors Chris Johnson (Dayton) and Kenny Frease (Xavier) were both named to the preseason all-conference second team. They were joined by juniors Mark Lyons (Xavier), Chris Gaston (Fordham) and Kwamain Mitchell (Saint Louis).
Seniors Scootie Randall of Temple and Charlotte's Derrio Green were both named to the third team. Green's teammate Chris Braswell and Saint Joseph's Carl Jones, both juniors were also on the third team as was Duquesne sophomore T.J. McConnell.
Holloway, Nicholson, McConnell were also selected for the All-Defensive team. Senior Darrius Garrett (Richmond) and sophomore C.J. Aiken (Saint Joseph's) were also named to the all-defensive team.
There was a tie in the All-Rookie team voting, resulting in a six-member team. Jerrell Wright (La Salle), Cady LaLanne (Massachusetts), Alonzo Nelson-Odada (Richmond), Anthony Lee (Temple), Dezmine Wells (Xavier) and Justin Martin (Xavier) were all named preseason all-rookie.
The Rams open the 2011-12 season with Ram Town on Friday night at 9:00 p.m. in the Rose Hill Gym as the men's and women's teams will be introduced and Fordham students will have the opportunity to win numerous prizes, including a flat screen television, books for a semester or a trip to Cancun.
The Rams will open the 2011-12 season on Saturday, November 12th, as they travel to Syracuse, N.Y., to face the Syracuse orange at 4:00 p.m.
