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LOCATION: Moon Township, PA
CONFERENCE: Northeast (NEC)
LAST SEASON: 15-12 (.556)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 12-8 (3rd)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 2/3
NICKNAME: Colonials
COLORS: Blue & White
HOMECOURT: Charles L. Sewell Center (3,056)
COACH: Jim Boone (West Virginia State '81)
record at school 27-54 (3 years)
career record 255-125 (13 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Glenn Gutierrez (West Liberty St. '85)
Dave Pilipovich (Thiel '86)
John Maloney (Robert Morris '98)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 4-5-4-8-15
RPI (last 5 years) 291-297-287-283-193
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference first round.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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Nice turnaround. For three years running, the Colonials were getting mail (when the postman decided to show up at all) in the NEC dungeon, living on gruel and the occasional cockroach. Then last season, thanks in large part to the arrival of Gene Nabors (a former LSU point guard), Robert Morris was one of the NEC's surprise teams. How good were the Colonials in 1998-99? They won 15 games nearly doubling their victory total of the previous season. Picked to finish close to the NEC outhouse again, Jim Boone's club instead went 12-8 in conference play, good for third place during the regular season. But Robert Morris' feel-good season ended on a sour note when the Colonials were pounded, 80-63, by Mount St. Mary's in the first round of the NEC Tournament. From all indications, it was an inside job. Literally. The Mount blocked 11 Robert Morris shots, including six by 6-10 Melvin Whitaker. With their best inside option, All-NEC power forward Keith Jones, virtually erased from the game plan (two points, three rebounds, 1-of-7 shooting), the Colonials shot 25 percent from the floor and were sent packing. If Robert Morris is to continue its winning ways, its backcourt must remain one of the NEC's best and the frontcourt needs some assertiveness training. Last season, the Colonials feasted on teams their own size, but lost their lunch money to teams with a talented bully or two in the painted area. Let's start with the good news, namely the Colonials' high-scoring backcourt duo of Nabors, a 6-2 senior, and Kevin Covert. Nabors, a 1999 first-team All-NEC selection, was a revelation last season. In his first year at Robert Morris, Nabors led the team in the following statistical categories: Scoring (16.9 ppg), rebounding (5.9 rpg), assists (123), minutes (35.4 per game), steals (3.1 spg, fifth in the nation) and three-point field goals (57). Nabors scored in double figures nearly every night (22 of his 27 games) and led the team in assists 23 times last year.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT B+ BENCH/DEPTH D
FRONTCOURT C+ INTANGIBLES C
The Colonials won't sneak up on anybody this winter. Robert Morris notched seven more victories last season than in 1997-98, largely because of the inspired play of LSU transfer Gene Nabors. Nabors and Kevin Covert form one of the best backcourts in the NEC. The Colonials, however, will have to find a way to replace the lost rebounding and scoring of All-NEC power forward Keith Jones to compete for the NEC's top prize in 1999-2000. Replacing Jones won't be a one-man job. Coach Jim Boone will rely on senior power forward Robert Shirley as well as sophomore centers Steve Pettyjohn and Matt Smith to replace Jones' lost production. If they are up to the task, then Robert Morris could challenge Mount St. Mary's and Maryland-Baltimore County for NEC supremacy. If not, the Colonials could slip to fourth or fifth place in the 12-team NEC. |
Suffice to say RMC fans and coaches love thy Nabors. Opposing coaches would also love to have this former LSU starter (under Dale Brown) running the show for them. "He's very good," Monmouth coach David Calloway said. "He just seems like he's in complete control out there. He was the difference for them last year." So, how did a one-time SEC starter end up in Moon Township, Pa., you ask? It's actually a story, or more accurately a friendship, that goes back a quarter-century. Robert Morris coach Jim Boone grew up in Winfield, W.Va., with a guy named Bob Starkey. They played junior high ball together; even served on the same coaching staff at West Virginia State before Boone eventually got the head job at Robert Morris and Starkey became an assistant at LSU. One day, Nabors came into Starkey's office to talk one West Virginia man to another (Nabors grew up in Beckley, W.Va.). Turns out that Nabors wasn't happy in the Bayou once Dale Brown retired and he wanted to transfer to any Division I program. So guess who Starkey called? His old buddy Boone. Boone converted the assist from Starkey, talking Nabors into giving Robert Morris a try. Boone is one happy camper. "Gene is this team's leader," Boone said. "You can pick captains, but you can't pick leaders. We have not had leaders here. Now we have one." While Nabors is the leader here, his running mate Covert (11.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 78 assists, 28 steals) is no slouch. In fact, Covert is in an inspiring story, coming back from reconstructive surgeries on both knees to score in double figures last season. Covert is not quite the player he once was at the University of Akron (where he played for one season), but he is getting there. Covert injured his left knee in June, 1996 just one month after he had announced that he was transferring to Robert Morris. Then just 14 minutes into the 1997-98 season, his first at RMC, Covert's right knee gave way. He had torn almost all the ligaments and tendons in his good knee. "Kevin is an amazing story," Boone said. "It tells you what kind of individual he is. He has the ability to focus on the singleness of purpose, which is something you have to do when you rehabilitate from a serious injury. "It's hard enough to come back from one major surgery. It's even tougher to come back from a second major surgery. It tells you what kind of competitor and person this guy is." Covert will be around for one more season, at least. He has one more year of eligibility left, but Robert Morris compliance officer Tom Olson plans to petition the NCAA on Covert's behalf in hopes of getting him a sixth season. The NCAA has the power to grant players an extra year of eligibility in cases of injury and have done so in recent years (i.e. Danny Earl at Penn State, T.J. Lux at Northern Illinois). Backing up Nabors and Covert this season will be 6-5 junior Naron Jackson and 5-10 first-year sophomore Ricky Richburg, the Pittsburgh Player of the Year in 1997 and 1998, respectively. Jackson appeared in 25 games for the Colonials last season, averaging 3.0 points and 2.2 rebounds. In order to see more action, Jackson must do a better job in terms of ballhandling (20 assists, 45 turnovers in 1998-99) and foul shooting (.444 free-throw percentage last season). Richburg, academically ineligible last year, will give Nabors an occasional blow at the point. With Nabors becoming the team's go-to guy and Covert 100 percent healthy, 6-3 senior guard Niall Phelan from Dublin, Ireland has become an afterthought at RMC after averaging 11.4 points two seasons ago. Last year, Phelan (3.0 ppg, 0.8 rpg) played just more than 10 minutes per game. That playing time number could drop even further with Richburg now academically eligible. The crowd at the guard spots might result in the redshirting of 6-0 freshman John Caruso (Rocky River HS/Rocky River, Ohio). If he does dress this season, Caruso will have the luxury of learning the system slowly by watching Nabors and Covert perform. Sitting next to him on the pine will no doubt be 5-10 sophomore Mike Britzki (0.7 ppg, 0.3 rpg), who appeared in only three games last year. The forward rotation is less settled for Boone. The small-forward slot will once again be manned by 6-6 senior Brandon Welsch (8.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 47 assists, 11 blocked shots). Welsch, one of four Colonial players to start all 27 games last season, really blossomed in Boone's system after transferring from Kirkwood (Iowa) Community College. Welsch is equally dangerous shooting from behind either stripe. He made 26 of his 68 three-point shots (.382) and also led the NEC in free-throw percentage (.877). "I thought Brandon really grew as last season progressed," Boone said. "He works hard at both ends of the court and was more assertive as the year went on." Funny Boone should say assertive, because the entire key to Robert Morris' 1999-2000 season will be how assertive the team's new starting power forward (Robert Shirley) and the team's two-headed sophomore center combo of Steve Pettyjohn and Matt Smith are. Boone is out and out challenging Shirley a 6-7 senior who missed 12 games last season with a separated shoulder to be the man at power forward. He has some large hightops to fill there as Jones, RMC's second-leading scorer and rebounder last season, has graduated. Shirley, when healthy, averaged 6.3 points and 3.1 rebounds while shooting a robust .552 from the floor. He is Boone's best athlete down low, now that Jones is gone. Another possibility at power forward is 6-7 freshman Josh Steele (Shelby, HS/Shelby Ohio), who averaged 16.3 points and 12.6 rebounds a year ago. But if Boone had his druthers, he would prefer to start the senior Shirley and bring Steele off the bench. Six-foot-five sophomore Wesley Fluellen, who redshirted last year, and 6-5 freshman Lindbergh Chapman (Hoban HS/Akron, Ohio), will back up Welsch. Chapman may redshirt this year. Fluellen is not the world's most polished perimeter shooter or ballhandler (although he worked hard on both during his non-medical redshirt year). Instead, he seems most comfortable operating on the low blocks. Speaking of the low blocks, Boone's two sophomore centers, Pettyjohn (4.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 14 assists, 13 steals) and Smith (3.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 12 blocks, 10 steals), must step up their play after being thrown into the fire as freshmen. Their increased production is a must, in order to ease the loss of proven power forward Jones, Robert Morris' fourth all-time leading scorer and its second all-time leading rebounder.
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