*** College Basketball Preview - Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference ***
The My Sportsbook
By Gregg Xenakes, College Basketball Staff Writer
OUTLOOK: Over the last few seasons the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference has pumped out some of the best, never-heard-of players in the nation, and this year that tradition should continue. Despite losing two-time MAAC Player of the Year Luis Flores to the NBA, the Manhattan Jaspers appear poised to again take the league title. The only difference this season is that it probably won't be a runaway for the squad from the Big Apple. As the only team to finish without double-digit losses in 2003-04, the Jaspers have produced a model of consistency that many of the other programs in the MAAC would be smart to emulate. This year it appears as though a couple other teams are going to make a run at unseating Manhattan, those squads being Fairfield and Niagara. The Stags have one of the top big men in the nation in forward Deng Gai and the Purple Eagles have scoring machine Juan Mendez to turn to in a pinch. St. Peter's had the nation's leading scorer a year ago in Keydren Clark, but to expect him to lift the Peacocks out of obscurity is a lot to ask. Then there's the rest of the league, teams like Siena, Rider and Iona that will play just well enough to survive, while Canisius, Marist and Loyola- Maryland will again struggle for respect. The Greyhounds, who claimed the longest losing streak in the nation for awhile last year, could pick up where they left off since then have a new coach and quite a number of new players after several chose to transfer rather than endure another disappointing campaign.
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Manhattan
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH: 1. Manhattan; 2. Fairfield; 3. Niagara; 4. Iona; 5. Siena; 6. Rider; 7. Saint Peter's; 8. Marist; 9. Canisius; 10. Loyola-Maryland
TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS:
MANHATTAN: He's been one of those coaches to watch for a number of years now, taking his Jaspers to remarkable heights, but it appears as though Bobby Gonzalez is now off the market, so big-time programs should stop asking to speak with him, at least until 2010 when his new contract extension runs out. Gonzalez, who is entering his sixth season with the Jaspers, has increased his win total both in conference and overall in each of his campaigns with the program, which shows that he knows how to recruit and motivate his players to reach their potential and beyond. Even though he no longer has Flores to hand the ball to, Gonzalez, who led the Jaspers to a 16-2 mark in the MAAC last season to set a new league standard, still has senior forward Peter Mulligan (10.9 points, 4.4 rebounds per game) to call upon. As one of the top recruits he has ever brought to Riverdale, freshman guard C.J. Anderson (6-6) could possibly be Flores' successor. Junior guard Mike Konovelchick has been in the system long enough to know what is expected of him and should make an even bigger impact at both ends of the floor this year.
FAIRFIELD: With a total of three players being named to the All-MAAC preseason teams this year, the Stags are finally getting some respect in the conference. Last year the team finished with a record of 12-6 in league action and was an impressive 19-11 overall, even without standout forward Deng Gai on the floor for 16 games. As one of the most dominant big men at the Division I level, Gai was one of the leading shot blockers in all of college basketball with just over four rejections per game. Add to that 13.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per contest, and the 6-9 senior is poised to make a huge impact this season. In addition to Gai, seventh year head coach Tim O'Toole also has fellow forward DeWitt Maxwell with plenty of experience (10.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 50 percent field goal shooting). Maxwell may be just 6-5, but his deceptive height is what allowed him to register more than half his 147 boards last year at the offensive end of the floor. With Maxwell and Gai hitting the glass opponents will have a difficult time getting second shots and/or getting out on the fast break. The team has untapped scoring potential coming into the season in Marty O'Sullivan and Alvin Carter, but thanks to a scoring defense that held to just 64.2 ppg, the Stags may not need it to collect wins.
NIAGARA: Entering his seventh year at the helm of the Purple Eagles, head coach Joe Mihalich has a lot of expectations to live up to in 2004-05. Last season Niagara made the postseason for the first time in 11 years, rolled up a 20-win campaign and was ranked in the top-20 among Mid-Major schools. All the pieces that made the Purple Eagles so successful last year are once again in place, specifically scoring machine Juan Mendez. As a Player of the Year candidate in the MAAC again, Mendez has a lot to live up to by his own standards after he led the team in scoring (20.5 ppg) and was second in rebounds (8.8 rpg). A two-time first team All-MAAC selection, Mendez led the squad in field goal percentage (.521) and blocked shots (1.75 bpg) a year ago. Heading up the backcourt for the group will be senior Alvin Cruz who for the last two seasons has been the leading assist man in the conference and has the best assist-to-turnover ratio of anyone in the Metro Atlantic as well at almost 3-to-1. Cruz added nine points per game at the offensive end of the floor last year and could pick up even more this time around if he can boost his 70.5 percent accuracy at the free-throw line. Perhaps being overlooked (and the Purple Eagles would like to keep it that way) is senior wingman David Brooks who is capable of doing whatever the team needs of him from one possession to the next. Brooks dropped in 12.5 points, collected 4.2 rebounds and handed out 2.5 assists last year, all while picking up close to one and a half steals per outing. The pieces are there in New York, now Niagara just has to figure out the best way to make them fit.
IONA: Aside from Gonzalez at Manhattan, the Gaels have the most recognizable head coach in the league in Jeff Ruland. A former NBA center who banged around in the paint with the best of them, sometimes all a team needs in order to be successful is some old war stories where David (Ruland) was able to slay Goliath and survive on sheer grit and determination. The seventh-year head coach acknowledges that he has a lot of talent in New Rochelle again this season, but the real key to making it all work will be getting these semi- stars on the same page and keeping them up for games night after night. When the preseason All-MAAC teams were announced during the first week of November, senior Greg Jenkins and junior Ricky Soliver had their spots on the second team while Steve Burtt grabbed a seat on the third team thanks to the coaches and media. Jenkins, who put up 12.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in 2003-04, led the conference in both field goal shooting percentage (.551) and blocks per game (2.2 bpg). Soliver, a constant threat to find his stroke out n the perimeter, was third on the team in scoring with 11.3 ppg). Burtt, a 6-0 guard who spends much of his time trying to direct traffic n the floor, is the top returning score for the unit with 13.5 ppg and keep opponents on their heels with his nearly 37 percent accuracy from beyond the arc.
SIENA: Whether they want to admit it or not, the winds of change are blowing hard through Loudonville, New York this season as the Saints try to figure out what exactly they have to work with for the upcoming 2004-05 campaign. The squad now contains no less than six freshmen on the 13-man roster which means there are going to be some serious growing pains in the early going. Add to that the fact that the list now includes as many as nine guards means that Siena, which has been one of the nation's best rebounding teams over the last couple of campaigns, is probably going to have trouble making it three years in a row. However, head coach Rob Lanier refuses to throw in the towel even before the first tip-off of the season against Oregon State in North Carolina on November 17th. In fact, Lanier is thinking that this could be his greatest coaching effort as he enters his fourth year with the Saints. A Second-Team All-MAAC selection last year, junior forward Michael Haddix gives this team enough punch up front that it would be all that easy to push them around in the paint. Haddix put up very strong numbers in 2003-04, sporting averages of 15.6 points and nine rebounds per contest and could get even better production if junior guard Antoine Jordan returns to form now that he should be fully recovered from a severe ankle injury that limited his availability last year. Put Tommy Mitchell (10.4 ppg) next to Jordan in the backcourt again and when healthy the duo is one of the best in the MAAC.
RIDER: It has now been a decade since the Broncs have advanced to the NCAA Tournament, even though the team tied for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season title in 2002. Don Harnum, now entering his eighth season as one of the elder statesmen as far as head coaches is concerned in the MAAC, knows that he has some big holes to fill in his lineup, but has to be somewhat comforted knowing that senior guard Jerry Johnson is back for another run in Lawrenceville. Already having been named a two-time member of the All-MAAC First Team in his collegiate career, Johnson was again selected as a preseason first team choice based on the fact that very few people at his position can quiet his 18.7 points and 3.9 assists per game. Johnson isn't afraid to take the tough shot from anywhere on the court, but in the past that may have let his teammates off the hook all too often. This year forwards Edwin Muniz (11.2 points, 5.7 rebounds per game) and Paul Johnson have to take on more of the scoring burden and convert most, if not all, of the passes that Jerry Johnson sets them up with in scoring situations. Senior center Steve Castleberry is a competent scorer (10.6 ppg) and rebounder (6.5 rpg), who could do so much more for Rider at the offensive end of the floor if he simply turned up the aggression a bit.
ST. PETER'S: For the last few years the small town colleges that dot the map all over the country are the ones that have produced the most surprising talent. Take St. Peter's junior guard Keydren Clark for example, who at just 5-10 led the nation in scoring a season ago with an average of 26.7 ppg. In doing so, he became the first sophomore to lead all Division I schools in scoring in 30 years. Clark, who has been chosen as the preseason MAAC Player of the Year for 2004-05, ranked third nationally in three-point field goals per contest with almost four per outing. Should something happen to Clark, head coach Bob Leckie could find himself and the program back where it was just three years ago when St. Peter's was a dismal 4-24. Leckie, entering his fifth season with the Peacocks with a record of just 35-79 at the helm, could have easily been the favorite in the MAAC to take over the mantle from Manhattan if 2003-04's conference freshman of the year Shane Nichols had not bailed on the program and bolted for powerhouse Wofford. Jamie Sowers, a preseason Third-Team All-MAAC selection, was the team's third leading scorer a year ago (10.3 ppg) and was the top man on the glass (6.4 rpg), but even when you add that to the 4.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game being produced by Clark, this team is still in trouble.
MARIST: The date was January 29, 2004 and that's when it all fell apart for the Red Foxes last season. Not that the team hadn't been struggling during the 2003-04 campaign to begin with, but it was on that date in Baltimore that Marist allowed the nation's longest losing streak to come to a halt as the squad fell to fellow MAAC member Loyola-MD. In fact, it was the only win of the entire season for the Greyhounds, which sort of tells you the direction in which the Foxes were heading. So out with head coach Dave Magarity this past March and in with first-year head coach Matt Brady who knows a little something about winning after being an assistant with Saint Joseph's (PA) for 11 years. Unfortunately, this may not be the ideal situation for a young man to learn the ropes, if this program doesn't get turned around. Senior center Will McClurkin (10.8 points, 5.7 rebounds per game) is perhaps the one proven commodity that Brady has to count on this season. Senior guard Pierre Monagan could be a valuable asset for the team as long as he is fully recovered from knee surgery, but it is obviously too early to make such a determination. With just six wins in 28 chances a year ago, Marist has some major rebuilding ahead, with part of that process starting with freshman guard/forward Kaylen Gregory, an import from the Virgin Islands who should challenge for significant playing time right off the bat.
CANISIUS: Tragedy struck the Golden Griffins during the offseason when junior forward Richard Jones collapsed during workouts with his coach and several fellow Canisius players in early May at the Koessler Center, the 21-year old passing away due to a genetically enlarged heart (hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy). It's one thing to bring a team into a new season with new players, a change of schemes, etc., but to try and overcome the unexpected loss of a teammate is simply too much to ask, especially the way in which the event took place. Head coach Mike MacDonald and the rest of the Griffins might play this year to honor the memory of Jones, but every time they take the court in Buffalo they'll be reminded of what took place there only a few months prior. MacDonald now has to be more than just a basketball coach, he needs to be a mentor, counselor and friend to his legions, which is a lot to ask of anyone. In terms of the team's outlook this season, the three-guard trio of Dewitt Doss, Kevin Downey and Chuck Harris all bring something unique to the table, while Mike Hanley and Darnell Wilson are the only frontcourt players with any meaningful minutes behind them, which means MacDonald is going to lean a bit heavier on Central Connecticut State transfer Jon Popofski and freshman Steve McLean. In another year the Griffins might be challenging for one of the top spots in the MAAC once transfers Corey Herring (Baylor) and Ola Matti (Lamar) are eligible to hit the floor with the school. Until then, Canisius can only dream of a more successful future.
LOYOLA-MARYLAND: Then there was one. In this case the one meaning victories in 2003-04 for the Greyhounds. The team carried the longest losing streak in the nation last year until the end of January when it finally toppled a stunned Marist group. Just days (games) away from becoming the answer to a trivia question (What team holds the all-time longest losing streak in Division I basketball?) the Greyhounds gave fans at Reitz Arena in Baltimore a reason to celebrate for a few minutes before finishing off the season with a 1-27 record. Not only did head coach Scott Hicks not have his contract renewed, but some of the players also chose to cut their ties with the school and move on, which leaves new head coach Jimmy Patsos in quite a bind. Nearly half the roster is filled with underclassmen, five of those being freshman, but one has to believe that Patsos will leave no stone unturned when trying to sort out this mess in Maryland. The few players that the coach knows that he can count on without fault are Shane James and Charlie Bell, who will provide stability and experience in the backcourt for the unit. Freshman and local product Freddie Stanback, who won two state championships in high school, could be the missing piece for the Greyhounds up front.
