The 2026-27 Coastal Athletic Association basketball season came into focus Oct. 15 as coaches and student-athletes from all 26 men’s and women’s programs previewed the season during the conference’s annual basketball media day.
The CAA is a 13-member NCAA Division I conference with schools stretching along the East Coast. The virtual media day was held in partnership with The Field of 68, a college basketball media network that helped produce and stream programming featuring CAA coaches and student-athletes. The conference also unveiled its preseason polls and All-CAA selections as part of the fourth consecutive year of the partnership.
Across the conference, roster turnover, player retention and building chemistry emerged as themes entering the season. CAA Commissioner Joe D’Antonio also addressed the changing college athletics landscape, including NIL, transfers and eligibility.
“Our membership is united, stable and well-positioned for the future,” D’Antonio said. “Myself, the conference staff, our presidents and chancellors, ADs and SWAs remain committed to making decisions that will strategically position our conference, the CAA, to be both sustainable and competitive within this era of change.”
Among the East Coast programs looking to make a move this season is Towson University. The Tigers finished 19-15 overall and 9-9 in conference play last season, advancing to the CAA tournament semifinals for the fourth consecutive year. Towson was picked fourth in the men’s preseason poll behind UNCW, Charleston and defending conference champion Hofstra.
Coach Pat Skerry, who has led Towson since 2011, has helped turn around a program that had endured 15 consecutive losing seasons before his arrival. Under Skerry, the Tigers have won at least 18 games in 11 of the past 14 seasons, including a program-record 25 wins in 2021-22, when Towson captured its first CAA regular-season title and earned a berth in the NIT. Skerry has won two CAA Coach of the Year awards and enters his 16th season with a 254-225 record at Towson.
Skerry returns junior forward Caleb Embeya while incorporating several transfers into a program built around defense and physicality.
“We’re not quite as tall as we’ve been, but we’re stronger, a little bit faster, deeper,” Skerry said. “So I think our ability to kind of hit everything that moves on the defensive side of the floor is something I think we have a chance to become pretty good at.”
Down the coast, Hampton University faces a different challenge. Coach Ivan Thomas enters the season with 11 newcomers as the Pirates look to improve on a 13-win campaign. Senior guard Etienne Strothers is among the few returning players expected to help connect the new roster to Thomas’ system.
“You have to fight for connectivity before you go into battle,” Thomas said. “The sooner a team can connect and trust, I think that the output of those things will determine the success of how fast they get off.”
Hampton will receive an early test through games against Georgia Tech and Wake Forest as part of “Two Traditions, One Court,” an initiative connecting ACC and HBCU basketball programs. For Thomas, those games are opportunities to showcase Hampton while maintaining the same approach regardless of the opponent.
“Whether we’re playing ACC or whether we’re playing College of Charleston or whether we’re playing Norfolk State or Howard University, our mantra is the same,” Thomas said. “We’re going out there to compete.”
At William & Mary, the men’s and women’s programs enter the season from opposite positions when it comes to roster continuity.
The women return an experienced core from last season’s 17-14 team and were picked fourth in the CAA preseason poll. William & Mary also received the lone first-place vote that did not go to preseason favorite Monmouth.
“Practice has been super competitive and I think very intentional and focused,” coach Erin Dickerson Davis said. “To be able to have experience come back and people that have gone through it, that knows what it takes to win in this league, to know what happened when we lost, I think has just been very impactful for us.”
The William & Mary men, meanwhile, are integrating 13 newcomers. Graduate guard Tre Blassingame, who has played 90 collegiate games, gives coach Brian Earl an experienced piece within the new-look roster.
That mix of established contenders and rebuilt rosters will have to go through the conference’s preseason favorites.
On the men’s side, the University of North Carolina Wilmington enters at the top after receiving 11 first-place votes in the coaches’ poll. Charleston was picked second, followed by defending CAA champion Hofstra and Towson. UNCW went 27-7 last season, captured the CAA regular-season title at 15-3 and earned its fifth consecutive 20-win season.
Graduate center Patrick Wessler was named the CAA Men’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year after averaging 13.6 points and 9.5 rebounds and recording 17 double-doubles last season.
“It’s an honor, obviously,” Wessler said. “But I’m also not putting too much stock into it. At the end of the day, we’ve got to go out there and do it as a team. So it’s just something that we want to use as more fuel for the fire.”
On the women’s side, Monmouth University received all 12 available first-place votes to enter the season as the unanimous preseason favorite. Elon was picked second, followed by Drexel, William & Mary and Towson.
Monmouth senior guard Gigi Gamble was named CAA Women’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year after averaging 15.2 points per game last season. The Hawks finished 21-12 and reached the second round of the WNIT.
Coach Cait Wetmore said the Hawks understand the expectations surrounding them but remain focused on what happens after the preseason predictions.
“We’re not going to pretend like we don’t have a target on our back and certainly not shy away from that,” Wetmore said. “But I think it’s really important for us to make sure we’re still focused on our day-to-day process, and then the outcome hopefully takes care of itself.”
Those expectations will soon be put to the test. CAA men’s and women’s teams begin taking the court Nov. 2, starting the road to the conference championships at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C.
If recent history is any indication, the preseason rankings are only a starting point. Seven different programs have won the CAA women’s championship over the past eight seasons, while UNCW and Monmouth enter this year carrying the expectations as the men’s and women’s preseason favorites.
With Towson looking to break through after four consecutive men’s semifinal appearances, Hampton blending a largely new roster and William & Mary balancing experience and change, plenty remains to be decided once the ball tips. Fans can follow the action throughout the season on FloCollege, with select games airing on CBS Sports Network.
