Leadership entry is coming. It’s taking a little longer than expected–there is philosophy and is therefore more like a good chili: needs to cook awhile…

That said, I frequently refer to my personal All CAA Favorite Player Team. Since it’s preseason, this is the perfect time to unveil it:

Cornelius Vines, Hofstra: Vines defines fun-to-watch. He has that guard cocky that is a good cocky. He sports an oversized mouthguard that is never completely in his mouth. He’s an emotional player who has no issue laughing, crying, bullying, or pumping up his teammates–and you get to see every bit of it because he doesn’t care.

Vines will shoot from anywhere at anytime, and he doesn’t remember the last shot. He will score nothing one game and come back with 20 points the next. High motor.

Kirill Pishchalnikov, VCU: Forget that after four years I still need to look up how to spell his name. He’s big, slow, and can’t jump. He does everything the team needs to win, including taking charges when guys half his size run into him. Kirill touches the basketball to his chin as he hoists a free throw.

Anytime he hits a 15-foot jumper you laugh, because a guy that big shouldn’t be able to do that. He held down a regular job this summer, and his sister is an Olympic discus thrower. And he has one of the best angry faces in the league. He doesn’t actually look mad. When something goes wrong, Kirill looks more like your face when your 12-year old declares she wants to be Lady Gaga for Halloween.

Ousman Krubally, Georgia State: Everything Krubally does isn’t necessarily fast, but it’s done with urgency. There’s on the court, but this guy sprints to the huddle during timeouts and sprints to the Gatorade bucket when he needs water–probably accidentally elbowing a team manager in the process.

We have a soft spot for walk-ons who earn scholarships, too. We’ve seen OK bank in a free throw–he’s never shot more than 50% from the stripe. The kid is 6-6 and judiciously listed at 195 pounds. He reminds me of one of the kids on Fat Albert–maybe Rudy. When he runs, he looks like he has eight-foot long arms.

Baptiste Bataille, Northeastern: Speaks multiple languages and doesn’t care how good Matt Janning is. You get the same effort if he plays two minutes or 22 minutes.

Fonzie Dawson, Delaware: Really, have you ever heard him speak one word? Have you even noticed him in the game? I guarantee you that I could give you a grid of nine police photos–eight felons and Dawson–and you couldn’t pick out the kid.

That’s the beauty of Dawson–he goes about his business and goes home. Doesn’t want or need the hype. All he does is score points in bunches, from inside or out. He is one of the better rebounding guards in the league. Dawson makes the list because he is a basketball player you should appreciate.

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Side note: they all have thing in common, and it went unnoticed until the list was completed: each of them has a really cool name.