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LOCATION: Worcester, MA
CONFERENCE: Patriot League
LAST SEASON: 7-20 (.259)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 3-9 (6th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 1/4
NICKNAME: Crusaders
COLORS: Royal Purple
HOMECOURT: Hart Center
COACH: Ralph Willard (Holy Cross '67)
record at school First year
career record 144-124 (9 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Roger Breslin (Holy Cross '93)
Kevin Nickleberry (Virginia Wesleyan '86)
Sean Doherty (Worcester State '92)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 15-16-8-7-7
RPI (last 5 years) 200-242-296-291-295
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference quarterfinal.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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Last Feb. 17, new Holy Cross athletics director Richard M. Regan, Jr., fired fifth-year head coach Bill Raynor and said, "It was not an easy decision." Keep in mind that the announcement that Raynor's contract would not be renewed came with the Crusaders still having a game left to play in their regular season, as well as the Patriot League Tournament. It seems fair to say that Regan was saying what all administrators say when they have to sack a coach who's not a despicable piece of slime. And, truthfully, it seemed like the right time for Raynor to go. Holy Cross played well during his initial two seasons but by the time his own players were cycling through, the Crusaders' wheels were falling off. Consecutive seasons of eight, seven and seven victories had left this once-proud program limping along as one of the worst in the country. "I was hired to do the best job I could for Holy Cross," Regan said at the time, noting Raynor's personal integrity and hard work. "We've made a clear commitment to elevate the basketball program and to take whatever steps we feel necessary to do that. In light of that, I just concluded that it was time to make a change." Three days after Regan announced the news, Holy Cross faced Lehigh in its last regular-season game. Playing strictly for pride, the Crusaders squeezed out a four-point victory over Lehigh, the conference's worst team, then rolled over and played dead while Bucknell romped for a 24-point victory in the quarterfinal round of the Patriot Tournament. A month later, the Crusaders rolled out the red carpet for their new head coach, 1967 Holy Cross graduate Ralph Willard, who brings some good credentials to the program. In four seasons with Western Kentucky, he led the Hilltoppers to three postseason tournaments, including the 1993 NCAA Sweet 16. Willard then moved on to Pitt for five seasons and helped the Panthers to the NIT once. His resume also includes assistant slots with Hofstra, Syracuse, Kentucky and the New York Knicks, under Rick Pitino.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C BENCH/DEPTH D+
FRONTCOURT C INTANGIBLES B
The Crusaders are a tough team to figure out. There seems to be plenty of young players with enough talent to win more than seven games. Perhaps the problem is that they just don't know how to win yet. And that's where Ralph Willard comes in. He has coached big-time programs and been reasonably successful at it. Not only that, he's a Holy Cross alum. Put it all together and it's easy to see why Willard landed the job. His first task will be to see who can play the game the way he likes it played. This makes it difficult to envision how Holy Cross will look when it takes the floor just before Thanksgiving, but don't be surprised to see Ryan Serravalle, Juan Pegues, Jared Curry and Patrick Whearty heavily involved. If these guys can earn a few early victories, they may be able to start righting the ship and looking to contend in the Patriot. But not until next year at the earliest. |
Willard's running style should be put to effective use in breathing life into the moribund Holy Cross offense. Holy Cross averaged 57.1 points per game last season, on .401 shooting from the field. The good news for Willard is that four of his starters return, including two members of the Patriot League All-Rookie team. And the merit-based scholarships the school is now permitted to offer are helping to attract better candidates to campus. "With the return of scholarships, there has been a visible commitment to the basketball program," Willard said. "I wouldn't have come here if I wasn't happy with the situation or if I didn't feel that we could win here." To be fair, Raynor's Crusaders also suffered from a bit of hard luck that Willard will hope to avoid. One of last season's scholarship players sustained a preseason foot injury and rode the bench all season. Another, one of the Patriot's All-Rookie selections, missed a month with a foot injury of his own. Willard was unwilling in the preseason to make any predictions about who would play where, who would start, and so on. He preferred, he said, to check everyone out during the preseason practices before deciding where everybody fit. When a team has won so few games, that's not a bad idea, but there are a few educated guesses that can be made. For example, 6-0 sophomore guard Ryan Serravalle (11.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg), enjoyed a good debut season while starting all 20 games in which he appeared and was chosen to the Patriot's All-Rookie team. Serravalle also threw in 54 assists and 26 steals. A foot injury cost him seven games and possibly the league's rookie-of-the-year award. More importantly, it hurt the Crusaders is a big way. And while the Canadian native is a born scorer, he needs to work on his shooting; .355 from the field just isn't going to cut it. Also likely to return as a starter is 6-6 junior forward Juan Pegues (11.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg), the team's second-leading scorer and its top rebounder. The athletic Pegues hits the boards hard and showed a nice resiliency by starting all 27 games as a sophomore after losing his starting slot as a freshman. He gives the Crusaders a solid, if slightly undersized, presence inside. The second Holy Cross player to land on the all-rookie team last year was 6-9 sophomore Patrick Whearty (8.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg), a talented big man who blocked a team-high 26 shots. Whearty also played well offensively around the basket, leading the Crusaders in field-goal shooting, (.462). He, too, started all 17 games, and he and Serravalle proved a nice inside-outside tandem. Another former all-rookie selection is 6-5 junior Jared Curry (9.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg), a versatile small forward who can score, rebound and pass. His 83 assists tied for tops on the squad. He also chipped in with 28 steals. Curry has slowly improved his game each season and will look to jump to the ranks of double-figure scorers this year. Graduated senior John Hightower handled duties at the point last year and turned in a so-so performance with 86 assists and 83 turnovers. However, he also played sticky defense, garnering 44 steals, and provided a few points a night. His replacement, at least initially, will be Serravalle. Swingman James Stowers (7.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg), a 6-5 senior, has been unable to find his niche with Holy Cross. He lost his starting spot two seasons ago but proceeded to play well off the bench. His game seemed to take a step backward last year. Stowers' biggest contribution to this point-starved team is his outside shot. He hit a team-high 45 three-point shots and shot an impressive .395 from beyond the arc. Willard may just want to turn him loose this year and hope that he can recover his touch. The shooting-guard picture is crowded. In addition to Serravalle, who may see time at shooting guard and at the point, and Stowers, who will see time at the two and the three, 6-1 senior Chris Spitler (3.0 ppg, 0.9 rpg) and 6-3 senior Malik Waters (3.3 ppg, 0.4 rpg) are seeking minutes as well. Spitler is a former walk-on who has played himself into a role on this team, even earning the occasional start. Waters saw action in 20 games but shot just .284 from the floor, a figure he must improve. A role player with point experience is Army transfer Tony Gutierrez (2.1 ppg, 0.4 rpg), a 6-4 senior who appeared in 21 games. He's a gamer but hardly the one to lead Holy Cross into the 21st century. Mike Alexander (0.7 ppg, 0.0 rpg), a 6-1 sophomore, appeared in just six games. The newcomers in the backcourt are 6-0 freshman Mark Jerz (Bergen Catholic HS/Oradell, N.J.) and 6-2 freshman Brian Wilson (St. Joseph's HS/Metuchen, N.J.). In the frontcourt, last year's reserves and this year's newcomers are a tall but unproven lot. Eligible to play this year is 7-1 junior center Josh Sankes (St. Joseph's HS/Buffalo, N.Y.), who sat out all of last season after transferring from Rutgers but practiced the entire season with the Crusaders. Ideally, Sankes would plant himself in the paint, swat away shot after shot, inhale every rebound he sees and grab lots of garbage points plus allow Whearty to slide over to power forward. Such a scenario would give Holy Cross a menacing, powerful frontcourt duo for which opponents must contend. Also missing in action last year was 6-8 freshman forward Dekker McKeever (Santa Margarita HS/LaGuna Niguel, Calif.), whose preseason foot injury kept him on the shelf. He should get a considerable look from Willard, two years after averaging 14.0 points and 9.0 rebounds as a high school senior. Six-foot-six junior Dylan Kalbacher (1.5 ppg, 0.3 rpg) is listed as a center, but given the Crusaders' height at center, he may be better off at forward. Kalbacher hasn't been able to contribute substantial minutes or numbers in his two previous seasons at Holy Cross. Backup center Scott Hall (0.0 ppg, 0.2 rpg), a 6-7 junior, played in only eight games, the same as during his freshman season. The frontcourt rookies are 6-7 freshman forward Kris Clemmons (Whitney Young HS/Chicago, Ill.) and 6-8 freshman forwards Ralph Okafor (Berkshire School/Bronx, N.Y.) and Tim Szatko (Naperville Central HS/Naperville, Ill.).
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