The strength of Drexel's backcourt has never been disputed -- the combination of Frantz Massenat, Damion Lee, and Chris Fouch, who was granted a sixth year of eligibility earlier this season, means the Dragons have arguably the top backcourt in the CAA. The team, however, vastly underperformed a year ago, and while injuries and (perhaps) unfair expectations hindered Bruiser Flint's squad, Drexel will likely still contend for the conference's title in 2013-14.

What will boost Drexel this season will be the presence of a raw but talented frontcourt. The team will miss Daryl McCoy, a big who was almost immovable from the interior, but the presence of numerous perimeter options means more open space for Dartaye Ruffin to operate in the post. Ruffin's 6.9 points per game may not be overly impressive, and while the forward showed flashes in 2013, he will need to improve upon his 46.4 percent shooting within the arc. Soon-to-be junior Kazembe Abif progressed smoothly throughout his soph season, nearly posting a double-double several times in conference play, and he was one of the team's most offensively efficient players. Flint and his staff also brought in a recruiting class chock full of bigs, led by Mohamed Bah, a 6-foot-9 forward whose high school nickname of 'Baby Shaq' underscores his physicality. The increased frontcourt depth could also help Drexel get back to the free throw stripe, an area the team somehow avoided for most of the season -- Drexel's in-conference free throw rate (35.3 percent) ranked within the bottom half of the CAA, and only two Dragons managed to attempt more than 100 free throws, a far cry from the rate posted in 2012 (43.7 percent).