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LOCATION: Lawrenceville, NJ
CONFERENCE: Metro Atlantic Athletic (MAAC)
LAST SEASON: 12-16 (.429)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 7-11 (t-7th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 4/1
NICKNAME: Broncs
COLORS: Cranberry & White
HOMECOURT: Alumni Gymnasium (1,650)
COACH: Dan Harnum (Susquehanna '86)
record at school 30-26 (2 years)
career record 30-26 (2 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Jim Engles (Dickinson '90)
Tony Newsom (Niagara'93)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 21-18-10-18-12
RPI (last 5 years) 115-97-188-113-188
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference quarterfinal.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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On paper, Rider looked like one of the better teams in the MAAC in 1998-99. All its starters were back from a 1998 NIT qualifier and the student section at the Broncs' Zoo (the nickname given to Rider's cozy 1,650-seat Alumni Gymnasium) had 1999 NCAA Tournament visions dancing in their heads. However, the team on paper rarely played on the court together. The reason? Injuries. And not just one here or there. No, Don Harnum's bunch was slowed by more maladies than TV viewers encounter in a three-week stretch of ER episodes. "Last year, when we were healthy, we were one of the better teams in the MAAC," Harnum said. "The problem was we weren't very healthy much of the time, with all of the concussions (six), cases of the flu (three), knee injuries (one tear, one sprain) and nose injuries (two broken)." This season, Harnum faces a "new" problem. Literally. You see, Rider graduated three seniors and suffered an unexpected blow in the spring when 6-9 forward Ken Lacey, who averaged 13 points and 7.7 rebounds as a junior, decided to skip his final season of eligibility to play professionally in Ireland. So, Harnum's team is in a rebuilding mode, or so it seems. "I'm comfortable that others do not have high expectations of us this year," Harnum said. "That doesn't mean that we're looking to live up to low expectations, we're not going to use youth as an excuse not to succeed. We expect to succeed, it's just a matter of how long it takes for us to mature. "I like our talent level and I like our kids. They'll play hard."
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C- BENCH/DEPTH C-
FRONTCOURT C- INTANGIBLES D
Rider coach Don Harnum enters the season with more questions than even your most inquisitive 5-year-old. Harnum's roster has some talent to be sure, but there are lots of "ifs" and "buts" in his offseason sound bites than most coaches would like to utter. Suffice it to say, this will be a wild, bumpy ride for the Broncs. The key here is patience. Rider doesn't return one double-figure scorer. Ten of the players on Harnum's roster are either freshmen or sophomores. So while the future may look bright, this season figures to be one of growing pains and a finish near, or at the very bottom of the MAAC standings. |
With Lacey gone, the Broncs will have to lean on 6-7 forward Jonathan McClark, the team's only senior, and 6-foot junior guard Michael Crawford, the top returning scorer. Crawford and McClark have played in 52 collegiate games. The other top returnees are all sophomores: forward Mario Porter (6-6, 210) and guards R.J. Wicks (6-4, 200), Dave Hutchinson (6-4, 195) and Mike Scott (6-4, 185). Harnum will build his young frontcourt around McClark (5.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 30 assists, 19 steals) and the 1998-99 MAAC All-Rookie choice Porter (5.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 19 assists, 19 steals, 10 blocks). McClark will be asked to log a whole lot more than the 20.4 minutes per game he played a year ago. He is a proven rebounder. Heck, if he can push his minutes played up into the 30-32 minute range every night, the 215-pound McClark is liable to average 10 points and seven or eight rebounds per night. Harnum also needs McClark to anchor the Broncs' last line of defense, now that Kevin McPeek has graduated. "Jon is the only senior and we're asking a lot of him in the leadership role this season," Harnum said. "Jon has shown flashes of being one of the best big people in the league and now we need him to be a consistent warrior." Porter has the potential to be among the best players in the MAAC, but we all know what potential means (have skills, but really hasn't done it yet). Porter will be asked to shoulder more of the scoring load this season, something the former second-team all-state and 1998 Essex County (N.J.) Player of the Year seems capable of doing. Porter averaged 22.1 points and 13 boards as a senior in high school and has impressed Harnum at Rider. "Mario has the potential as a sophomore to become one of the better scorers in the league," Harnum said. "His versatility makes him a very tough matchup. He's big enough to post up (6-6, 210), and he can go away from the basket. He's a good slasher and he has added strength that will make him a better rebounder and defender for us." In the backcourt, Harnum will put his trust in Michael Crawford. Crawford is Harnum's top returning scorer (7.5 ppg) and also posted a decent assist-to-turnover ratio (85 assists, 62 turnovers). Crawford does most of his damage from downtown (102 of his 165 shots came from three-point range last year) and he is effective from there (35 of 102, .343). Crawford has worked hard in weight room last summer so that he can be stronger with the ball and be a stouter on-the-ball defender. "Michael has to be the stabilizing force in the backcourt this season," Harnum said. "His job is to score and make others around him better." The $64,000 question is which of the sophomores will step up and be Crawford's backcourt mate. The two most likely candidates are Wicks, who came on strong toward the end of last season, and Hutchinson, who like Crawford has a knack for creating pretty pleasing arch-work. Wicks (2.1 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 40 assists, 27 steals) came back after breaking his nose last December and started the final four games of the 1998-99 season. He is the favorite to start alongside Crawford because he plays sticky defense and has the capacity to score (1,149 career high school points). "His defense helped him play a lot of minutes as a rookie and now he'll develop into a more well-rounded player," Harnum said. "Last year we didn't need his offense, but this year we may." The two other returning sophomore guards are Hutchinson (5.2 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 18 assists, 11 steals) and Mike Scott (4.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 5 assists, 4 steals). Hutchinson is a 6-4 long-distance shooter who actually shot more from three-point range (29-of-88) than he did from areas that counted for one point less (17-of-37 from two-point range). "Hutch has a chance to be one of the best shooters in the league," said Harnum, who believes that Hutchinson needs to be more well rounded (read: Show the ability to penetrate to the hoop every once in a while and also play much better defense). Scott is a 6-4 guard from Hyattsville, Maryland, who was lost just seven games into the 1998-99 season with a knee injury. "Mike is still an unknown. He's an unknown to the league and he's unknown to us," Harnum said. "He had a rocky start, as many freshmen do, but was coming on right before he hurt his knee." If 100 percent healthy, Scott can provide instant offense, probably off the bench as a sixth-man type. Of the newcomers, Alexander Iseghohi, a JUCO transfer by way of Nigeria, should also contribute immediately. The 6-5 forward played on one of the nation's top Division II teams at Cecil Community College in Maryland and received the "Mr. Hustle Award." Harnum said that Iseghohi works hard and is capable of making "highlight-film" athletic plays. If that's the case, then Iseghohi should quickly become a household name in Lawrenceville albeit a difficult one to spell and pronounce. The freshman class includes guards Mike Wilson and Junior Curtis, forwards Brandon "Tank" Wahlmann and Howard Williams and 6-10 center Robert Reed. Wilson is a 6-2 combo from Naugatuck (Conn.) High School, where he averaged 23.5 points, 6.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds. The 6-3 Curtis looks great on paper, too. He's a point guard with size from Queens who can beat guys off the dribble and find open teammates. Wahlmann is a 6-9, 225-pound forward from Olney, Maryland. He is very skilled as a passer and a shooter, but there are questions about whether he is strong enough to establish inside position at this level right now. Williams is a 6-4 swingman who averaged 12.5 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for a 16-7 Columbia (N.J.) High School team. Harnum is hoping that Williams' mature body (210 pounds) will allow him to post up smaller guards and even some small forwards. What's more, Williams can score slashing to the basket. Reed is a 6-10 center from London, England. Reed averaged 17 points and 14.6 rebounds last year at Marist High School in Bayonne, N.J. He plays with lots of emotion, which is often rare in a European big man, and appears to have an upside once he gets stronger (he's currently just 220 pounds). Rounding out the roster is 6-2 freshman walk-on Bobby Lynch, a first-team all-state selection at the New Jersey's Prep B level last year. Lynch scored a ton of points at Newark (N.J.) Academy, where he was an all-conference player in football and basketball. He'll play this season as a walk-on, in hopes of earning a full ride in 2000-2001.
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