Atlantic 10 Media Day: Ray Floriani's Photo Essay

BROOKLYN, NY - ­ One of the nicer things regarding media days is the upbeat attitudes. Coaches are all undefeated and brimming with enthusiasm and hope. For a number of media members, it is an opportunity to reconnect with the coaches, school personnel and colleagues, not seen in many cases since over six months ago.

The Atlantic Ten Conference media day was held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn earlier this week. Among the praises for the league were the six NCAA bids the A­-10 earned last March. The outstanding group of coaches present in the conference membership was another common theme.

The coaches of teams predicted for the first division, especially favorite VCU, spoke about how every night is competitive in conference play. Simply, nothing is guaranteed. Second division picks discussed the element of surprise and the proverbial ’stepping up’ of key players that might get said team in the upper group.

A lot of the remarks seem almost scripted. With this group is a lot of originality and light-hearted interjection, which is greatly appreciated. When he was recruited by Pete Carril at Princeton, Chris Mooney, the Richmond mentor, asked Carril what he needed to work on.

“There isn’t a book in Philadelphia (Mooney’s home) to list all the work you need,” Carril said. Mooney ‘fondly’ remembered it like yesterday.

All part of the scenario. Between electronic, video and print interviews, the coaches get to tell a story or two. Why not? They are relaxed, upbeat and as noted, still undefeated.

The view outside Barclays Center:

George Washington's Mike Lonergan makes a point:

From left: Tom Pecora of Fordham, Roger Rubin of the New York Daily News, and George Mason's Paul Hewitt share some New York stories:

Daly Dose colleague Jason Schott posing near the distinctive and attractive new A-10 logo:

Shaka Smart of VCU meets the media: