Week two of action in the Atlantic 10 Conference saw multiple game-winners, several breakout performances and even two teams taking home some early season hardware.
Our resident A10 reporter, Riley Frain, is bringing you a weekly notebook this season to recap all the latest news from his coverage around the league.
This week, Fordham is showing some gradual improvement, Richmond has been an early surprise and Davidson, George Washington and Duquesne might all have new blossoming stars.
Davidson 3-0 as Hunter Adam continues to impress
Davidson certainly hasn’t dealt with the A10’s tough schedule through the first two weeks of the season, but credit to the Wildcats for a 3-0 start. Matt McKillop and Co. opened with a blowout win over Division-III DeSales and followed that up by handedly beating former high-major Washington State at home 85-69.
On Tuesday, Davidson traveled cross-county to face local-rivals Charlotte in the annual Battle for the Hornets Nest Trophy. While the 49ers were favored, the Wildcats emerged with a 62-55 victory for the program’s third straight win in the series.
The development of 6-foot-7 redshirt junior forward Hunter Adam has been the catalyst for Davidson’s second consecutive 3-0 start on the season. After averaging just 3.2 PPG in 2024-25, he’s taken a Reed Bailey-sized leap in 2025-26 and has already put up double-digits in each of the Wildcats first three.
It started with 18 points over DeSales, 14 points to help defeat Washington State and ultimately, a game-high 16 points and the eventual game-winning shot as Davidson knocked off Charlotte.
Welcome back to Pittsburgh, John Hugley IV!
Former top-100 prospect John Hugley IV began his career under the tutelage of Pittsburgh head coach Jeff Capel and spent the first three seasons of his career with the Panthers. In 2021-22, he started 31 out of 32 games and averaged 14.8 PPG and 7.9 RPG despite the program’s struggles. But the following season, he suffered a preseason knee injury and made just eight more appearances with Pittsburgh before transferring over to the SEC with Oklahoma.
Hugley continued to battle injuries but was still a solid contributor in 24 appearances with the Sooners as he managed 8.4 PPG while primarily coming off the bench. The 2024-25 season marked another major setback for the Cleveland native as he once again hit the portal and joined Xavier where he was completely relegated to a reserve role. Hugley made 34 appearances for the Musketeers but played just 9.9 MPG and averaged a career-low 2.9 PPG.
That brings us to 2025-26 where a healthy Hugley is playing out his final season of eligibility back in the city where it all started: Pittsburgh. Head coach Dru Joyce III welcomed Hugley in from the portal this offseason on a rebuilt Duquesne roster where he’s returned to form over the past week.
Following a season opening win over Niagara, Hugley finished tied for the team-high with 25 points, adding eight rebounds and four assists as the Dukes beat out Sacred Heart 92-80. He later picked up his first double-double of the year with 27 points and 11 rebounds against Queens and is now Duquesne’s leading scorer on the season.
Fordham’s transfer class shows growth in wake of week one
As I wrote in last week’s FridA10 Notebook, Mike Magpayo’s debut on Rose Hill went anything but according to plan with Fordham falling in a massive upset at the hands of NJIT. The Rams’ offense came out ice cold and never found any momentum allowing the Highlanders to lead almost from wire-to-wire in a 72-61 win.
Magpayo’s team responded by closing out the week with a win over Division-III Mount Saint Mary’s (NY) in which Fordham released all that frustration with a 106-37 beatdown. However, this week has shown some significant signs of growth for the Rams who managed a 63-61 comeback win over Wagner on Tuesday night.
It might only be a two-point win in a game from which Fordham was a double-digit favorite, but Magpayo raved about the early development from transfers like Dejour Reaves and Rikus Schulte.
“These guys have pride,” he said following the win. “I saved it till this morning before shoot around but we showed them all the comments [on social media] from last week. These guys have pride and heart and I knew it. I told them even if [our mentality] came into question, I’m there with these guys and I’m gonna fight.”
Schulte finished with a team-leading 14 points and seven rebounds to keep the Rams in range all night while Reaves chipped in 11 points and the eventual game-winning shot in the dying seconds.
Still in the early stages of a massive rebuild, Fordham will have its first major test tonight as the Rams travel to Iona to face Magpayo’s former colleague and new Gaels head coach Dan Geriot.
Tre Dinkins and GW keep on rolling after win over South Florida
George Washington’s season opener with Maine at the Smith Center wasn’t much of a challenge for the Revolutions who defeated the Black Bears by 20. However, transfer guard Tre Dinkins had noticeably finished with just three points on 1-for-7 shooting, coming off a season in which he led Duquesne’s scoring.
There was no let off for head coach Chris Caputo who took his team into battle with South Florida last Friday. The matchup provided everything we expected between two of the nation’s premier mid-majors in a back-and-forth bout that saw GW emerge victorious, 99-95. Dinkins put any concerns to rest and responded by carrying the Revolutionaries for most of the night with 22 points, four rebound and three assists.
Dinkins and Co. picked up right where they left off this week with a dominant 107-67 win over American on Wednesday. Despite coming off the bench for the third straight game, Dinkins once again led all scorers with 23 points on 7-of-9 from three.
GW will host Old Dominion this weekend with the brunt of their non-conference schedule ahead including McNeese State, Murray State and No. 10 Florida. But if Dinkins can continue producing at this rate, Caputo should have no problems leading another 20+ win season in Washington, D.C.
Maybe we need to keep an eye on Richmond?
The Richmond Spiders were selected to finish 10th out of 14 in the Atlantic 10’s 2025-26 preseason men’s basketball poll. It would have been head coach Chris Mooney’s second consecutive season in the bottom half of the A10, but instead, Richmond is thriving early with a surprise cast of contributors.
The Spiders are just one of seven undefeated teams remaining in the A10, but according to KenPom, are in the league’s top-five for non-conference strength of schedule. It’s only led to matchups with Division-III Southern Virginia, along with East Carolina and William & Mary, but it’s hard to ignore the early success.
The emergence of former three-star prospect and freshman guard Aiden Argabright has played a major role in Richmond’s 3-0 start. At 5-foot-11, he’s one of the shortest players on this Spiders’ roster, but through those three games, he’s the team’s leading scorer with 13.3 PPG.
A10 Preseason Third-Team selection Michael Walz hasn’t quite made the offensive leap many expected this season which has left others to pick up the slack. Senior forward Jonathan Beagle is the Spiders second-leading scorer with 12.3 PPG, Loyola Marymount transfer Will Johnston is shooting 41% from deep, and Mikkel Tyne is making strides on offense.
St. Bonaventure steamrolls local rivals and secures Franciscan Cup
St. Bonaventure has long made an effort to annually schedule its most local rivals in Canisius, Niagara and more recently, Buffalo. It’s a rivalry that goes back to 1946 with the foundation of the Western New York Little Three Conference which featured St. Bonaventure, Niagara and Canisius. Since Buffalo’s return to Division I in 1993, the group has become known as the “Big 4” and regularly make attempts to schedule each other as part of the non-conference.
The Bonnies also maintain a historic rivalry with Siena as upstate New York’s two Franciscan schools and annually play for the Brother Ed Coughlin Franciscan Cup.
St. Bonaventure kicked off this year’s rivalry slate by hosting Canisius last weekend in which the Bonnies thrashed the Golden Griffins, 89-70. Senior forward Frank Mitchell, who started his career at Canisius before a season in the Big Ten with Minnesota, led the way for St. Bonaventure with a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double.
Earlier this week, the Bonnies met with Siena at the Reilly Center and in a back-and-forth battle that saw nine lead changes and 26 turnovers, Mark Schmidt’s side managed a 75-66 win. Mitchell put together another double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, but similarly to last week, Buddy Simmons II stole the show with 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting.
Despite a game-high 25 points from Siena’s Gavin Doty, it’s the third straight season in which St. Bonaventure will retain the Franciscan Cup over its local rivals. While a visit to Buffalo awaits on Dec. 6, the Bonnies are off to a great start against their rivals but sadly enough will not play Niagara this season.
Takeaways from VCU first’s two weeks with NC State looming
There’s no denying that under new head coach Phil Martelli Jr., this VCU team is very good. The Rams took Utah State, KenPom’s 48th-ranked team, to the brink on a neutral court in an 80-77 loss. The way VCU adjusted in the second half was impressive after a slow offensive start and a nine-point halftime deficit.
The Rams followed that up beating Saint Peter’s 78-61 on Wednesday, but what’s caught my attention is the plethora of contributors VCU has that can score double-digits on any given night.
Oregon transfer Jadrian Tracey has already proven the leading scorer and is averaging 13.3 PPG. LSU transfer Tyrell Ward chipped in 15 points in the win over Saint Peter’s. Former Charleston forward Lazar Djokovic has been a bit of a surprise. Though he averaged 7.9 PPG in the CAA, he is already contributing 10.7 PPG for the Rams.
Sophomore guard Terrence Hill Jr. has made a similar leap. After averaging just 3.4 PPG in 23 appearances last season, has already worked his way into an increased role under Martelli. Meanwhile, four-star freshman Nyk Lewis looks like an early candidate for potential A10 Rookie of the Year after dropping 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting to keep VCU in range of Utah State.
Next up on the schedule for VCU is one of the best offenses in the country in Will Wade’s NC State. The Wolfpack currently rank 14th in adjusted offensive efficiency and already managed dominant wins over UAB and UNC Greensboro. It’s possibly the toughest test on the Rams schedule this season, but VCU certainly has the defensive tenacity to match and the offensive capability to keep pace on Monday night.
