# 2019–20 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball season

The 2019–20 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball season was the 44th season of Atlantic 10 Conference basketball. The season began with practices in October 2019, followed by the start of the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. League play began in early January and ended in early March.
The 2020 Atlantic 10 tournament was to be held from March 11–15, 2020, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, but on March 12, the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
VCU is the defending regular-season champion, while Saint Louis is the defending Atlantic 10 Tournament champion.
Dayton won the regular season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no Atlantic 10 Tournament champion.

## Head coaches
### Coaching changes

On March 15, 2019, George Washington announced that Maurice Joseph would not return after three seasons as head coach of the Colonials. Six days later on March 21, George Washington announced that it had hired Siena head coach Jamion Christian to replace Joseph.
On March 19, 2019, Saint Joseph's announced that head coach Phil Martelli would not be retained following 24 seasons leading the Hawks. On March 28, Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach Billy Lange was named head coach.

### Coaches

| Team | Head coach | Previous job | Seasons at school | Overall record at school | A-10 record | A-10 championships | NCAA tournaments | NCAA Final Fours | NCAA Championships |
| Davidson | Bob McKillop | Long Island Lutheran High School | 30 | 578–350 (.623) | 59–31 (.656) | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Dayton | Anthony Grant | Oklahoma City Thunder (asst.) | 2 | 35–29 (.547) | 21–15 (.583) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Duquesne | Keith Dambrot | Akron | 2 | 35–30 (.538) | 17–19 (.472) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fordham | Jeff Neubauer | Eastern Kentucky | 4 | 51–72 (.415) | 22–46 (.324) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| George Mason | Dave Paulsen | Bucknell | 4 | 65–67 (.492) | 34–38 (.472) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| George Washington | Jamion Christian | Siena | 0 | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| La Salle | Ashley Howard | Villanova (asst.) | 1 | 10–21 (.323) | 8–10 (.444) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UMass | Matt McCall | Chattanooga | 2 | 24–41 (.369) | 9–27 (.250) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rhode Island | David Cox | Rhode Island (asst.) | 1 | 18–15 (.545) | 9–9 (.500) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Richmond | Chris Mooney | Air Force | 14 | 250–215 (.538) | 125–110 (.532) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Saint Joseph's | Billy Lange | Philadelphia 76ers (asst.) | 0 | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Saint Louis | Travis Ford | Oklahoma State | 3 | 52–50 (.510) | 25–29 (.463) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| St. Bonaventure | Mark Schmidt | Robert Morris | 12 | 210–168 (.556) | 106–95 (.527) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| VCU | Mike Rhoades | Rice | 2 | 43–23 (.652) | 25–11 (.694) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Notes:
* All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
* Overall and A-10 records are from time at current school through the end of the 2018–19 season.

### Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team will play 18 conference games: one game vs. eight opponents and two games against five opponents.
| | Davidson | Dayton | Duquesne | Fordham | GM | GW | La Salle | UMass | Rhode Island | Richmond | St. Joseph's | Saint Louis | St. Bonaventure | VCU |
| vs. Davidson | – | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| vs. Dayton | 0–1 | – | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| vs. Duquesne | 0–1 | 2–0 | – | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| vs. Fordham | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | – | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| vs. George Mason | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | – | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. George Washington | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | – | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| vs. La Salle | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | – | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| vs. UMass | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | – | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| vs. Rhode Island | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | – | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| vs. Richmond | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | – | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. Saint Joseph's | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | – | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| vs. Saint Louis | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | – | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| vs. St. Bonaventure | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | – | 1–0 |
| vs. VCU | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | – |
| Total | 10–8 | 18–0 | 11–7 | 2–16 | 5–13 | 6–12 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 13–5 | 14–4 | 2–16 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 8–10 |

## Preseason
### Preseason poll

Prior to the season at the conference's annual media day, awards and a poll were chosen by a panel of the league's head coaches and select media members.
| Rank | Team |
| 1 | VCU (19) |
| 2 | Davidson (8) |
| 3 | Dayton (1) |
| 4 | Rhode Island |
| 5 | St. Bonaventure |
| 6 | Richmond |
| 7 | Saint Louis |
| 8 | Duquesne |
| 9 | George Mason |
| 10 | La Salle |
| 11 | Massachusetts |
| 12 | George Washington |
| 13 | Saint Joseph's |
| 14 | Fordham |
| (first place votes) ||

### Preseason all-conference teams

| Award | Recipients |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team | Kellan Grady, Davidson |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team | Jón Axel Guðmundsson, Davidson |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team | Obi Toppin, Dayton |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team | Cyril Langevine, Rhode Island |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team | Jacob Gilyard, Richmond |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team | Marcus Evans, VCU |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Second Team | Jalen Crutcher, Dayton |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Second Team | Justin Kier, George Mason |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Second Team | Jeff Dowtin, Rhode Island |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Second Team | Grant Golden, Richmond |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Second Team | Kyle Lofton, St. Bonaventure |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Second Team | Hasahn French, Saint Louis |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Third Team | Sincere Carry, Duquesne |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Third Team | Fatts Russell, Rhode Island |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Third Team | Osun Osunniyi, St. Bonaventure |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Third Team | Jordan Goodwin, Saint Louis |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Third Team | De'Riante Jenkins, VCU |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Third Team | Marcus Santos-Silva, VCU |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Defensive Team | Cyril Langevine, Rhode Island |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Defensive Team | Jacob Gilyard, Richmond |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Defensive Team | Osun Osunniyi, St. Bonaventure |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Defensive Team | Hasahn French, Saint Louis |
| Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Defensive Team | Marcus Evans, VCU |

## Regular season
### Early season tournaments

| Team | Tournament | Finish |
| Davidson | Orlando Invitational | 6th |
| Dayton | Maui Invitational | 2nd |
| Duquesne | Junkanoo Jam | 1st |
| Fordham | Paradise Jam | 6th |
| George Mason | Cayman Islands Classic | 1st |
| George Washington | The Islands of the Bahamas Showcase | 5th |
| La Salle | Gulf Coast Showcase | 1st |
| Massachusetts | Hall of Fame Tip Off | 4th |
| Rhode Island | Jamaica Classic | 2nd |
| Richmond | Legends Classic | 2nd |
| Saint Joseph's | Charleston Classic | 8th |
| Saint Louis | Gotham Classic | 1st |
| St. Bonaventure | Boca Beach Classic | 1st |
| VCU | Emerald Coast Classic | 4th |
* Source:

## Conference awards

On March 10, 2020, the Atlantic 10 announced its conference awards.
| Award | Recipients |
| Coach of the Year | Anthony Grant, Dayton |
| Player of the Year | Obi Toppin, Dayton |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Jacob Gilyard, Richmond |
| Rookie of the Year | Tre Mitchell, Massachusetts |
| Chris Daniels Most Improved Player of the Year | AJ Wilson, George Mason |
| Sixth Man of the Year | Javonte Perkins, Saint Louis |
| First Team | Jalen Crutcher, Dayton Obi Toppin, Dayton Fatts Russell, Rhode Island Jacob Gilyard, Richmond Kyle Lofton, St. Bonaventure Jordan Goodwin, Saint Louis |
| Second Team | Kellan Grady, Davidson Marcus Weathers, Duquesne Tre Mitchell, Massachusetts Blake Francis, Richmond Grant Golden, Richmond Hasahn French, Saint Louis |
| Third Team | Jón Axel Guðmundsson, Davidson Trey Landers, Dayton Jeff Dowtin, Rhode Island Osun Osunniyi, St. Bonaventure Ryan Daly, Saint Joseph's Javonte Perkins, Saint Louis |
| All-Academic Team | Ryan Mikesell, Dayton Jeff Dowtin, Rhode Island Jaren Holmes, St. Bonaventure Toliver Freeman, Saint Joseph's Marcus Santos-Silva, VCU |
| All-Defensive Team | Fatts Russell, Rhode Island Jacob Gilyard, Richmond Osun Osunniyi, St. Bonaventure Hasahn French, Saint Louis Jordan Goodwin, Saint Louis |
| All-Rookie Team | Lee Hyun-jung, Davidson Jamison Battle, George Washington Tre Mitchell, Massachusetts Yuri Collins, Saint Louis Bones Hyland, VCU |