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[/insert_php]The Howard Men’s Basketball Team will be in unfamiliar territory to start the 2016-17 basketball season as the Bison has been picked to win the MEAC by the league’s head coaches and sports information directors.
Howard last won the MEAC tournament 25 years ago.
Where the Bison will be in familiar territory is injuries.
The nation’s leading scorer and Bison senior guard James Daniel, III is injured and will be out 4-6 weeks with a severe high ankle sprain, seventh-year head coach Kevin Nickelberry confirmed on the MEAC preseason teleconference Thursday morning. Daniel went up for a jumpshot in a scrimmage on earlier in the week and came down on his ankle awkwardly.
“When it first happened it was like being punched in the gut,” Nickelberry said. “I didn’t get much sleep that night.”
Nickelberry said other guys would have to step up, like preseason first team All-MEAC selection guard Marcel Boyd who averaged 10.4 points, 9.9 rebounds and shot 53 percent from the field and third team All-MEAC selection, swingman Damon Collins who averaged 10.1 points per game last year.
The Bison had to endure many injuries last year. Bison players missed a total of 51 games due to injury. They look forward to the return of junior guard James Miller who played in only five games last year and was averaging 15 pointer per game before missing the rest of the season due to injury.
The Bison had an excellent recruiting class and Nickelberry will be looking for his freshmen to have an immediate impact, including guard/forward Charles Williams (Richmond, Va./Millwood), Kai Tease (Antelope, Calif./Antelope) and Ibrahim Dosunmu (Chicago, Ill./Lincoln Park). Tease finished sixth all-time in three-point field goals made in the history of high school basketball in California.
The Bison opens the season on November 11 against Michigan. Over the first month of the season, Howard will play at Marquette, at Georgetown, at Maryland and at George Washington.
Last year’s MEAC Tournament champion Hampton was picked to finish third, behind second-place South Carolina State.
2016-17 MEAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Predicted Order of Finish
As voted on by the MEAC’s head men’s basketball coaches and sports information directors.
(First place votes in parenthesis)
Team Points
- Howard (14) 299
- South Carolina State (9) 292
- Hampton (2) 250
- North Carolina Central 234
- Norfolk State 203
- Bethune-Cookman 182
- North Carolina A&T State 141
- Maryland Eastern Shore 140
- Morgan State 136
- Coppin State 123
- Savannah State 121
- Delaware State 104
- Florida A&M 50
2016-17 MEAC Men’s Basketball Preseason All-MEAC Teams
Preseason Player of the Year: James Daniel, III, Howard
First Team
| Name | School | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Cl. | Hometown |
| James Daniel, III | Howard | G/F | 6-0 | 175 | Sr. | Hampton, Va. |
| Eric Eaves | South Carolina State | G | 6-3 | 195 | Sr. | Columbia, S.C. |
| Jordan Potts | Bethune-Cookman | G | 5-10 | 185 | r-Sr. | Columbus, Ohio |
| Sam Hunt | North Carolina A&T | G | 6-2 | 175 | r-Jr. | Greensboro, N.C. |
| Marcel Boyd | Howard | G | 6-10 | 230 | Sr. | Accokeek, Md. |
Second Team
| Name | School | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Cl. | Hometown |
| Patrick Cole | North Carolina Central | G | 6-5 | 210 | r-Sr. | Newark, N.J |
| Edward Stephens | South Carolina State | G | 6-2 | 185 | Jr. | Columbia, S.C. |
| Phillip Carr | Morgan State | F | 6-8 | 200 | Jr. | Brooklyn, N.Y. |
| Devin Morgan | Delaware State | G | 5-10 | 180 | So. | Chester, Va. |
| Bakari Copeland | Maryland Eastern Shore | F | 6-6 | 235 | Sr. | Decatur, Ga. |
Third Team
| Name | School | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Cl. | Hometown |
| Troyce Manassa | Savannah State | G | 6-4 | 215 | Sr. | Mobile, Ala. |
| Terry Harris, Jr. | Coppin State | F | 6-8 | 205 | Sr. | Baltimore, Md. |
| Jordan Butler | Norfolk State | F | 6-6 | 240 | Jr. | Hartford, Conn. |
| DeAndre Haywood | Delaware State | G | 6-2 | 200 | Sr. | Paterson, N.J. |
| Damon Collins | Howard | G/F | 6-5 | 180 | Sr. | Grand Prairie, Texas |