Copyright Bangor Daily News
The University of Maine men’s and women’s basketball teams were each picked to finish second in the America East preseason coaches poll. Vermont was the preseason choice on both the men’s and women’s side. The men’s team shared second place with Albany in the coaches poll with 47 points. UMaine received one first-place vote. Vermont received 63 points and seven first-place votes. UMass Lowell was picked fourth with 39 points and the other first-place vote. Following UMass Lowell were Binghamton (37), Bryant (35), University of Maryland Baltimore County (31), the New Jersey Institute of Technology (13) and New Hampshire (12). The Vermont women matched their male counterparts with 63 points and seven first-place votes with UMaine receiving the other two first-place votes and 55 points. Bryant was next with 46 points followed by Albany (42), NJIT (37), Binghamton (26), New Hampshire (24), UMBC (23) and UMass Lowell (8). Chris Markwood’s UMaine men’s basketball team reached the America East championship game for the first time in 20 years a season ago. Bryant beat the Black Bears in the final 77-59. UMaine wound up 20-14 including a 10-6 record in America East regular season games. Markwood lost his five leading scorers due to graduation or the transfer portal but he does return eight players. That includes three players who appeared in at least 31 games in 6-foot-10 forwards Killian Gribben and Keelan Steele and 6-3 guard Logan Carey. He has eight newcomers including freshman Ace Flagg, a 6-7 forward from Newport who most recently played at Greensboro Day School in North Carolina, and Emmitt Byther, a 6-6 forward from Old Town High School. The UMaine women return just two of their top 10 scorers off last year’s 15-16 team (9-7 in America East) that lost to Albanby 49-41 in the semifinals. But Amy Vachon’s Black Bears regain the services of two-time America East first team selection and 2023 league Player of the Year Adrianna Smith, who missed all of last season due to a knee injury. Smith was chosen to the league’s preseason team. The Black Bears will also have two-time Gatorade Maine schoolgirl Player of the Year and Miss Maine Basketball recipient Maddie Fitzpatrick, who also missed last season with a knee injury. She is a redshirt freshman. Senior point guard Asta Blauenfeldt, who was chosen to the America East all-tourney team, and senior guard Sarah Talon from Windham headline the list of returnees.
