Northeast Conference preview
A team-by-team glance at the Northeast Conference heading into the 2009-10 season.
(In CBSSports.com predicted order of finish)
1. Mount St. Mary's
The Mountaineers are good.
After all, they're led by a guy named Goode.
Jeremy Goode, the point guard, is the preseason pick as Player of the Year in the conference.
Mount St. Mary's was the league champ two years ago, reached the NEC final last year, lost at Robert Morris by two points in the final game and then played in the first CBI tournament. The Mount went 19-14, lost some experience up front but should be fine in 2009-10.
The 5-9 Goode averaged 14.9 points, 4.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game. He runs in the backcourt with Jean Cajou, while Kelly Beidler (10.9) and Shawn Atupem (9.6 off the bench) return as solid scorers. Beidler was also fifth in the league with 6.9 rebounds per game last year from the wing.
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| Quick facts |
| Defending regular-season champion: Robert Morris |
| Defending tournament champion: Robert Morris |
| Top returning scorer: James Feldeine (Quinnipiac), 17.0 ppg |
| Top returning rebounder: Justin Rutty (Quinnipiac), 9.8 rpg |
| Predicted Finish |
| 1. Mount St. Mary's |
| 2. Quinnipiac |
| 3. Robert Morris |
| 4. Long Island |
| 5. Central Connecticut State |
| 6. Monmouth |
| 7. St. Francis (N.Y.) |
| 8. Sacred Heart |
| 9. Wagner |
| 10. St. Francis (Pa.) |
| 11. Bryant University |
| 12. Fairleigh Dickinson |
| First Team All-Conference |
| G - Sean Baptiste, Fairleigh Dickinson |
| G - James Feldeine, Quinnipiac |
| G - Jeremy Goode, Mount St. Mary's |
| G - Jaytornah Wisseh, Long Island |
| F - Ken Horton, C. Connecticut State |
| season previews & primers |
"For us as a team, there's unfinished business," Goode said. "We talked about getting to the championship, winning the championship, and we got to the championship and didn't finish off the job. We played 38 minutes well. The last two minutes came back and bit us. Now it's all about finishing."
2. Quinnipiac
Injuries put a huge crimp in Quinnipiac's plans last year as the Bobcats played through an almost unbelievable list of physical troubles before ending the season a game under .500 with a loss to eventual champion Robert Morris in the conference semifinals.
The final record was 15-16. The injured players ... well, some of them ... are back. Others have been lost, but there's a big incoming class and reason for optimism.
The offense revolves around James Feldeine, the NEC scoring champion last year with a 17.0 average. He has help, led by Justin Rutty, the league's leading rebounder, and the return of previously injured folks like Evann Baker and Jonathan Cruz can only help.
Tom Moore, the former UConn assistant, is one game under .500 in his two years in Hamden, Conn., and you just get the feeling this program is about to bloom.
The Bobcats have to avoid injuries to fulfill their potential.
3. Robert Morris
Two years ago, Robert Morris ran away with the NEC regular season title and was then upset in the conference tournament. Last year, Robert Morris won the league again and this time also won the tournament, advancing to an NCAA tournament loss to Michigan State.
What's next?
Mike Rice, the fiery former Pittsburgh assistant, is 50-19 in his two years as a head coach and should have more success this year, but the Colonials have to get past losing NEC Player of the Year Jeremy Chappell and conference Defensive Player of the Year Bateko Francisco.
Three starters return but Rice faces his first semi-rebuilding project in his third year.
"This team is going to have to learn how to win basketball games, regardless of what's happened over the last couple of years," Rice said. "Every year is a new year, and you never know how a team is going to come together.
"One thing I've been extremely pleased with, however, is the way our upperclassmen have taken the younger guys under their wing. We have a tight bunch of guys that interact well with each other, and they play for each other. That's at the heart of, and the beginning of, a successful team."
Jimmy Langhurst will become more of the focus of the Robert Morris attack with the departure of Chappell. Langhurst was second on the team last year in 3-pointers and 3s attempted, going 66-for-156 from behind the arc.
"Jimmy is a shooter, pure and simple," said Rice. "He also brings tangible leadership qualities and is one of five seniors that I feel are going to be important for us this season, not only for their play on the court, but their abilities off the court."
4. Long Island
LIU won 16 games last year and was hoping for a run at the conference title this year. But some bad new news just before the start of practice quieted those hopes.
Julian Boyd, the newcomer of the year in the NEC last year, was diagnosed with a heart problem that will keep him off the court at least this season.
Boyd, who averaged 10.5 points and 6.4 rebounds off the bench last year, was diagnosed with a heart murmur after experiencing cramping while working out. His left ventricle wasn't pumping blood at the right rate.
An MRI was next and there was no word on the immediate future of the talented young sophomore. But the Blackbirds were proceeding as if he's out for the year.
"The kids don't find out they've had a heart problem until the coroner tells him his heart is enlarged," said LIU coach Jim Ferry said. "It's scary, and we're very, very fortunate to find this info out about Julian more so by accident."
Boyd would have teamed with guard Jaytornah Wisseh to form a potent 1-2 punch. Now, Wisseh -- who averaged 15.2 points and had 133 assists and 47 steals last year -- is the main man, even though fellow guard Kyle Johnson averaged 13.8 a game.
But Boyd was needed.
The loss of Boyd followed the summer losses of center Aurimas Adomaitis, who returned to his native Lithuania, and Argentine guard Lucas Faggiano, who returned to his homeland after his mother was diagnosed with cancer.
"It's disheartening, but no one will feel sorry for us," said Ferry. "We'll make the proper adjustment, get ourselves together and make a run in the conference late in the year. It's so fragile, especially at this level. We can't go to the bench and get more experience. Jaytornah Wisseh is a potential Player of the Year, and we'll keep our fingers crossed with Julian that he's healthy."
5. Central Connecticut State
It just doesn't seem right. Howie Dickenman, one of the better coaches around, has been under .500 the past two years.
Now, armed with experience and talent, and happy with his recruiting class, Dickenman enters his 14th season and seems to have a lineup that can make a real run at the top of the NEC.
He has two of the better players in the league in forward Ken Horton and guard Shemik Thompson.
Horton averaged 16.5 points and 5.8 rebounds a game last year, while Thompson, who runs the show, scored at an 11.5-a-game clip and had 135 assists and 106 turnovers.
Guard Robby Ptacek was the other double-figures scorer, at an even 10 points per game.
One problem was that Horton averaged just 14.4 in conference play, a number that needs to improve.
The Blue Devils recruited well, with forward Joe Elese highlighting a class of four players.
6. Monmouth
A terrible thing happened to Monmouth last season as the Hawks attempted to return to NEC contention: They lost their best player in the first game of the season.
Whitney Coleman scored nine points in nine minutes in that opening game against Florida Atlantic, then tore up his knee, ending his season. But from the moment it happened, Coleman vowed to return, and his injury may have served Monmouth well.
Coleman averaged 11.9 points per game two years ago and has 108 3-pointers.
While he was gone, three freshmen grew into college players. Freshmen Travis Taylor, Will Campbell and Mike Myers Keitt combined to average 30.4 points and 11.3 rebounds per game last year.
Sure, the 8-23 final record and missing the NEC tournament is nothing to be happy about, but things should be better for the Hawks as they open their new gym, the 4,100-seat MAC.
The Hawks did make some strides with the young kids last year, but just couldn't win. Those kids are a year older and can now be joined by Coleman.
Things could get interesting in the new building but let's not expect a huge leap.
7. St. Francis (N.Y.)
A season-ending knee injury to Kayode Ayeni last December short-circuited any hopes St. Francis had to win the league, but the Terriers still went 7-11 and made the NEC tournament.
Now, Ayeni is back, and things should be looking up.
"We really like our chances this season," says St. Francis coach Brian Nash, who has won just 36 games in four seasons as he tries to build a program in Brooklyn. "We have some exciting athletes who can't wait to display their skills each and every night, and I think our fans are really going to enjoy watching us play."
Nash added, "We have some established returners in Ricky Cadell, Stefan Perunicic and Kayode Ayeni, as well as some really good newcomers like Alex Harrington, Branden Fisher, Akeem Bennett."
Floor leader Jamaal Womack is gone, but there is talent here.
Ayeni was averaging 13.3 points and a team-high 8.5 rebounds per game when he went down. The team scoring title went to guard Cadell, a second-team All-NEC performer who averaged 15.3 points per game and shot 40 percent from behind the arc.
However, Cadell coughed the ball up too much, with 103 turnovers to go with 76 assists.
Perunicic set an NEC freshman record with 87 3-pointers last year, hitting almost 39 percent from behind the arc.
"I believe that we are a lot more balanced this season than we may have been in the past and certainly a lot deeper," Nash said. "This will help play the style of basketball that we would like to play in terms of putting pressure on our opponents."
8. Sacred Heart
Dave Bike isn't going anywhere.
Tom Green, second in tenure among NEC coaches, was let go by Fairleigh Dickinson, but Bike has no such problems as he enters his 32nd year running this program.
Things will be a little tougher for the Pioneers after the loss of Joey Henley and Ryon Howard inside. But the outside trio of Corey Hassan, Ryan Litke and Chauncey Hardy all return. They combined to go 174-for-433 from 3-point range last year, an impressive .402 percentage.
The Pioneers won 17 games last year, the season ending with a 68-63 loss at Mount St. Mary's.
They bombed away from behind the arc last year (611 3-point attempts and a.394 percentage) and figure to do more of the same. The rebounding of Henley and Howard will be missed.
Liam Potter, a 7-footer who sat out last season, could help fill the void inside.
Jerrell Thompson, who played 13.9 minutes per game last year, making three starts, is expected to start at the point.
9. Wagner
Mike Deane may be eccentric -- OK, anyone who has a seat belt installed in his chair on the bench to thumb his nose at the technical foul rule is eccentric -- but know this: The veteran coach is one of those guys who can teach and get lots out of a team expected to do nothing.
Deane, who has 432 wins as a college coach and has taken three different programs to the NCAA tournament, won 39 games with Wagner the past two years but has lost his top four scorers from last season's 16-14 team.
He's looking at a roster loaded with seven freshmen.
One of the rookies, redshirt freshman Josh Thompson, is listed among the likely starters, but more freshmen will have to play.
Chris Martin is the leading Seahawk returning scorer, and he averaged just 6.1 points per game as a freshman last season. He takes over the long-range bombing duties from the graduated Joey Mudweiler. For more bombing help, Deane can turn to freshman Danny Mudweiler, Joey's brother.
"We are young and untested in many areas with seven of our 14 players being freshmen," Deane said. "After winning 23 games two years ago and 16 last year, I suspect we'll be picked near the bottom of the league, which is understandable. We've got some guys back with experience but they've been in support roles and will now have to step to the fore. It will be an interesting and challenging season for us."
10. St. Francis (Pa.)
Don Friday went 6-23 in his first year in Loretto, but sees a chance for his team to be better.
They're young, but should improve.
"Our depth is greatly improved, and our success will depend on our practice habits and then taking that into our 29 regular-season games," said Friday, who will rely on his first incoming class, a big one, to step right in and start turning things around.
It's not like Friday doesn't have any veterans to count on. Swing man Devin Sweetney averaged 16.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game a year ago. However he turned the ball over 70 times against 25 assists.
The Red Flash were last in the NEC in offense last year, scoring just 61.1 points per game. Friday has to hope the new group, of seven, will hit the ground running.
Guards Chris Johnson and Umar Shannon will get looks at the point, and forwards Will Felder and Tony Peters have huge numbers on their resumes. Shooting guard Anthony Irvin comes in after two years of prep school.
11. Bryant University
Entering the second year of their transition to Division I, the Bryant Bulldogs will play a full Northeast Conference schedule this season, however, they won't be eligible for the conference tournament until completing NCAA reclassification in 2012-13.
The Bulldogs were 8-21 in their first year under the direction of Tim O'Shea. Against NEC competition, Bryant was a respectable 6-8, which bodes well for their first full conference slate.
"I think we'll make a significant jump this year," O'Shea said. "Recruiting really went better than I thought and I am pleased with the talent we were able to bring in this year. With a stronger freshman class and the returners back, we have a chance to surprise a few people."
O'Shea will count on three seniors to lead the way.
Cecil Gresham was the Bulldogs' leadings scorer last season at 13.4 ppg, knocking down 57 3-pointers. Nick Pontes gives the team a strong inside presence, while Chris Birrell runs the show from the point. Birrell dished out a team-best 3.5 assists per game a season ago.
Newcomers include three international recruits: Papa Lo (Theis, Senegal), Vlad Kondratyev (Nikolayev, Ukraine) and Clay McMath (Adelaide, Australia). The 6-foot-9 Lo, a transfer from Massachusetts, blocked 25 shots as a freshman for the Minutemen in 2007-08.
12. Fairleigh Dickinson
The news came as a surprise. Tom Green, who had 407 wins in Teaneck, N.J., was out and assistant Greg Vetrone was named the interim head coach.
Vetrone's first task in his new job? Simple. Get the Knights back in the NEC tournament for the first time in three years.
"Yes, it's my first head coaching job at the college level, but whether I'm coaching my kid's eighth-grade team or in college, I have the same intensity," Vetrone told NJ.com. "I have a lot of energy. I don't know if I'm the greatest coach. If there is one thing that I know, it's that we're going to work to get better.
"I've been around the game my whole life. I was fortunate that I was hired by my college coach and I've been in the game ever since."
FDU was 7-23 last year, 6-12 in the conference.
Now, they need to get better.
One thing that won't make it any easier is that the on-again/off-again academically challenged career of talented point guard Cameron Tyler is off again. He is in school but is not expected to play any more basketball.
Sean Baptiste, who averaged 16.3 points per game last year, will be playing, though, and he is the key to the FDU attack. But Tyler's 13.3 points, league-high 188 trips to the foul line and 160 assists will be sorely missed.
