The America East Conference held it's annual Men's Basketball Media Day Luncheon on Thursday at Boston University's Eilberg Lounge. The 2003-04 men's and women's basketball preseason polls and preseason all-conference teams were released to the many media members that were in attendance.
Coaches from each of the 10 America East institutions– University at Albany, Binghamton University, Boston University, University of Hartford, University of Maine, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC); University of New Hampshire, Northeastern University, Stony Brook University and University of Vermont– were on hand to commence the 2003-04 season, as well as Northeastern's Jose Juan Barea and Vermont's T.J. Sorrentine, both preseason all-conference selections.
America East's Assistant Commissioner for Communications Matt Bourque started off the festivities by welcoming everyone to the special occasion. Bourque then turned the program over to Commissioner Chris Monasch, who spoke briefly about his excitement surrounding the upcoming basketball seasons. The media was then allowed access to the 10 coaches and two players in attendance for preseason interviews.
America East Conference also highlighted activities surrounding the 2004 Choice Hotels International America East Men's Basketball Championship, hosted by Boston University. The championship will feature 10 teams for the first time since 2001. Binghamton, which was not eligible for the NCAA Championship the past two seasons in its transition to Division I, will compete in the America East Championship for the first time. UMBC, which was added to membership on April 22, will also participate.
The Terriers, who were co-hosts with Northeastern at Matthews Arena in 2002 and at Walter Brown Arena in 2003, will host first round games on Friday, March 5, with quarterfinals Saturday, March 6 and semifinals Sunday, March 7 at the 3,165-seat Walter Brown Arena. Semifinal games will be produced as part of the America East TV package. The championship game will be played Saturday, March 13 at the home court of the higher-seeded team, and will be televised by ESPN, beginning at 11:30 a.m.