# 2009–10 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball season

The 2009–10 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball season marks the 34th season of Atlantic 10 Conference basketball.

## Preseason

In the preseason, talk centered around the University of Dayton, who returned four starters from a 27–8 team that advanced to the second round of the 2009 NCAA tournament. Dayton forward Chris Wright was named to the John R. Wooden Award preseason top 50 candidate list on August 19, the only Atlantic 10 player so honored. Wright also was named to the Naismith Award watch list on October 29. In other preseason recognition, Jason Duty of Duquesne and Yves Mekongo of La Salle were named to the 30-man preseason candidate list for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award.
In a vote of league coaches and media, Dayton was named the preseason favorite to win the league. Dayton also received national recognition as the Flyers were ranked in both preseason polls – #21 in the AP Poll and #22 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll.

### Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll

| Rank | Team |
| 1 | Dayton (33) |
| 2 | Xavier (18) |
| 3 | Richmond (4) |
| 4 | La Salle (2) |
| 5 | Duquesne |
| 5 | Temple |
| 7 | Charlotte |
| 8 | Rhode Island |
| 9 | Massachusetts |
| 10 | Saint Joseph's |
| 11 | St. Bonaventure |
| 12 | Saint Louis |
| 13 | George Washington |
| 14 | Fordham |

### Preseason All-A10 Team

First Team
* Lavoy Allen, Temple
* Kevin Anderson, Richmond
* Rodney Green, La Salle
* Ricky Harris, Massachusetts
* Chris Wright, Dayton
Second Team
* David Gonzalvez, Richmond
* DiJuan Harris, Charlotte
* Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
* Marcus Johnson, Dayton
* Damian Saunders, Duquesne
Third Team
* Bill Clark, Duquesne
* Keith Cothran, Rhode Island
* Jordan Crawford, Xavier
* Dan Geriot, Richmond
* Kwamain Mitchell, Saint Louis

### Preseason A10 All-Defensive Team

* Dante’ Jackson, Xavier
* Jason Love, Xavier
* Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
* London Warren, Dayton
* Garrett Williamson, Saint Joseph’s

### Preseason A10 All-Rookie Team

* Shamarr Bowden, Charlotte
* Chris Gaston, Fordham
* Aaric Murray, La Salle
* Freddie Riley, Massachusetts
* Terrell Vinson, Massachusetts

## Postseason
### Atlantic 10 tournament

Beginning this season, the Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament changed formats so that first-round games would be played on the home court of the higher-seeded team, then the tournament would move to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. In 2009, all rounds were held at the same site.

## Conference awards & honors
### Weekly awards

Atlantic 10 Players of the Week Throughout the conference season, the Atlantic 10 offices name a player and rookie of the week.
| Week | Player of the week | Rookie of the week |
| November 15 | Damian Saunders, Duquesne | Shamarr Bowden, Charlotte |
| November 15 | Chris Wright, Dayton | Aaric Murray, LaSalle |
| November 22 | Jordan Crawford, Xavier | Carl Jones, Saint Joseph's |
| November 22 | Damian Saunders, Duquesne | Lasan Kromah, George Washington |
| November 29 | Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure | Akeem Richmond, Rhode Island |
| November 29 | Shamari Spears, Charlotte | Akeem Richmond, Rhode Island |
| December 6 | Ricky Harris, Massachusetts | Chris Braswell, Charlotte |
| December 6 | Damian Hollis, George Washington | Chris Braswell, Charlotte |
| December 13 | Keith Cothran, Rhode Island | Chris Gaston, Fordham |
| December 20 | Juan Fernandez, Temple | Terrell Vinson, Massachusetts |
| December 27 | Kwamian Mitchell, Saint Louis | Carl Baptiste, Saint Joseph's |
| December 27 | Kwamian Mitchell, Saint Louis | Mark Lyons, Xavier |
| January 3 | Kevin Anderson, Richmond | Chris Braswell, Charlotte |
| January 3 | Derrio Green, Charlotte | Chris Gaston, Fordham |
| January 10 | Jordan Crawford, Xavier | Lasan Kromah, George Washington |
| January 10 | Chris Johnson, Dayton | Lasan Kromah, George Washington |
| January 17 | Ryan Brooks, Temple | Aaric Murray, LaSalle |
| January 24 | Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure | Chris Braswell, Charlotte |
| January 31 | Derrio Green, Charlotte | Chris Gaston, Fordham |
| January 31 | Derrio Green, Charlotte | Aaric Murray, LaSalle |
| February 7 | Kwamian Mitchell, Saint Louis | Chris Gaston, Fordham |
| February 7 | Shamari Spears, Charlotte | Chris Gaston, Fordham |
| February 14 | Ricky Harris, Massachusetts | Dwayne Smith, George Washington |
| February 14 | Jason Love, Xavier | Dwayne Smith, George Washington |
| February 21 | Kevin Anderson, Richmond | Lasan Kromah, George Washington |
| February 21 | Bill Clark, Duquesne | Akeem Richmond, Rhode Island |
| February 28 | Jordan Crawford, Xavier | Cody Ellis, Saint Louis |
| February 28 | Jonathan Hall, St. Bonaventure | Cody Ellis, Saint Louis |
| March 7 | Lavoy Allen, Temple | Carl Jones, Saint Joseph's |
| March 7 | Ricky Harris, Massachusetts | Carl Jones, Saint Joseph's |

### All-Conference Awards

* Player of the Year: Kevin Anderson, Richmond
* Rookie of the Year: Chris Gaston, Fordham
* Defensive Player of the Year: Damian Saunders, Duquesne
* Chris Daniels Most Improved Player of the Year: Chris Johnson, Dayton
* Sixth Man of the Year: Ramone Moore, Temple
* Student-Athlete of the Year: Yves Mekongo, La Salle
* Coach of the Year: Fran Dunphy, Temple

#### Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams

First Team
* Kevin Anderson, Richmond
* Lavoy Allen, Temple
* Jordan Crawford, Xavier
* Damian Saunders, Duquesne
* Chris Wright, Dayton
Second Team
* Ryan Brooks, Temple
* David Gonzalvez, Richmond
* Rodney Green, La Salle
* Kwamain Mitchell, Saint Louis
* Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
Third Team
* Keith Cothran, Rhode Island
* Ricky Harris, Massachusetts
* Delroy James, Rhode Island
* Jason Love, Xavier
* Shamari Spears, Charlotte
Honorable Mention
* Juan Fernandez, Temple
* Damian Hollis, George Washington
* Willie Reed, Saint Louis
Rookie Team
* Chris Braswell, Charlotte
* Cody Ellis, Saint Louis
* Chris Gaston, Fordham
* Lasan Kromah, George Washington
* Aaric Murray, La Salle
* Akeem Richmond, Rhode Island
Defensive Team
* Lavoy Allen, Temple
* David Gonzalvez, Richmond
* Damian Saunders, Duquesne
* London Warren, Dayton
* Garrett Williamson, Saint Joseph’s
Academic Team
* Brian Conklin, Saint Louis
* Jason Duty, Duquesne
* Kurt Huelsman, Dayton
* Will Martell, Rhode Island
* Yves Mekongo, La Salle

## Rankings

2009–10 Atlantic 10 Conference Weekly Rankings Key: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. RV = Received Votes :
| AP Poll | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 |
| Charlotte | | | | | 37 | 38 | 37 | | | | | | 36 | 30 | | | | | |
| Dayton | 21 | 18 | 37 | 42 | 45 | 36 | 34 | 28 | 34 | 31 | | | | | | | | | |
| Duquesne | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Fordham | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| George Washington | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| La Salle | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Massachusetts | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Rhode Island | | | | | | 49 | 53 | 49 | 32 | | 37 | | 32 | 32 | | | | | |
| Richmond | | | | | 39 | | 51 | | 37 | | | | | 41 | 25 | 23 | 27 | 27 | 24 |
| Saint Louis | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| St. Bonaventure | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| St. Joseph's | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Temple | | | 47 | | | 30 | 21 | 18 | 21 | 19 | 16 | 15 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 12 |
| Xavier | 37 | 35 | 31 | | | | | | | | 44 | 37 | 30 | | 35 | 31 | 25 | 24 | 25 |