NORFOLK, Va. – Senior point guard Jamel Fuentes and junior forward RaShid Gaston were each named to the preseason All-MEAC second team, and the Norfolk State men's basketball team was picked to finish fourth as the preseason all-conference honors were announced on Thursday afternoon.
 
The Spartans garnered 225 points in the voting, ahead of No. 5 Delaware State (194 points) but behind No. 3 Morgan State (265 points). North Carolina Central was picked to finish first in the league this year with 15 first-place votes, while Hampton garnered nine first-place votes and ranked second.
 
N.C. Central, Hampton, Morgan State and Norfolk State finished first through fourth in the final standings last year as well.
 
Fuentes and Gaston enter the 2014-15 season as NSU's two most experienced players by far. The duo has combined for 67 starts and 877 points in their careers, while the rest of the team has made a collective 11 starts and scored 287 points while wearing an NSU uniform.
 
Fuentes averaged 6.0 points, 4.8 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.1 steals last year as the team's starting point guard, helping NSU finish 19-15 overall and 11-5 in the MEAC. He currently ranks fifth all-time at NSU with 414 career assists and is on pace to finish as high as second by the end of the year.
 
Gaston was a MEAC All-Rookie team member in 2012-13 and a third-team preseason pick last year. An injury in November forced him to miss 13 games in 2013-14, but the bruising forward still finished with 8.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in 20 contests.
 
James Daniel of Howard was picked as the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year. Joining him on the all-conference first time was Deron Powers of Hampton, Taariq Cephas of Coppin State, Delaware State's Kendall Gray and N.C. Central's Jordan Parks.
 
Voting was done by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
 
NSU returns seven players from last year's team and will have as many as eight new players on the roster this year. The Spartans earned their third straight postseason appearance last year after competing in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
 
The 2014-15 season kicks off on Nov. 14 against Pfeiffer at 8 p.m. at Joseph Echols Hall, part of a non-conference doubleheader with the women's team.

2014 MEAC Men's Basketball Predicted Order of Finish

1. North Carolina Central (15)	317 points
2. Hampton (9)	304 points
3. Morgan State	265 points
4. Norfolk State	225 points
5. Delaware State	194 points
6. Coppin State (1)	183 points
7. Savannah State	182 points
8. Howard	170 points
9. North Carolina A&T	153 points
10. Bethune-Cookman	132 points
11. Maryland Eastern Shore	95 points
12. South Carolina State (1)	90 points
13. Florida A&M	56 points

2014-15 Men's Basketball Preseason All-MEAC Teams

First Team
Name	School	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Cl.	Hometown
Deron Powers	Hampton	G	5-11	165	So.	Williamsburg, Va.
James Daniel	Howard	G	5-10	165	So.	Hampton, Va.
Taariq Cephas	Coppin State	G	5-10	165	Sr.	Bear, Del.
Jordan Parks	N.C. Central	F	6-7	200	Sr.	Queens, N.Y.
Kendall Gray	Delaware State	C	6-10	240	Sr.	Dover, Del.

 

Second Team
Name	School	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Cl.	Hometown
Mikel Trapp	Bethune-Cookman	G	6-2	195	R-Sr.	Blair, S.C.
Jamel Fuentes	Norfolk State	G	6-4	185	R-Sr.	Brooklyn, N.Y.
Prince Okoroh	Howard	F	6-5	190	Sr.	Greenbelt, Md.
RaShid Gaston	Norfolk State	F	6-9	230	Jr.	Warren, Ohio
Bryan Akinkugbe	North Carolina A&T	C	6-9	225	Sr.	Bowie Md.

 

Third Team
Name	School	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Cl.	Hometown
Kendall Williams	Delaware State	G	6-0	160	Sr.	Stone Mountain, Ga.
Brian Darden	Hampton	G	6-2	183	So.	Hampton, Va.
Blake Bozeman	Morgan State	G	6-2	170	Sr.	Bowie, Md.
Bruce Beckford	North Carolina A&T	F	6-7	215	Jr.	Silverspring, Md.
Karamo Jawara	North Carolina Central	F	6-8	235	Sr.	Bergen, Norway

Preseason Player of the Year: James Daniel, Howard University