The Fordham men’s basketball team is going to look a bit different this year when it opens its season on Nov. 14 in Arlington, Texas against the University of Texas at Arlington. The Rams brought in Jeff Neubauer, former head coach at Eastern Kentucky, to replace Tom Pecroa as head coach of the program. After five seasons, Pecora ended his Fordham career with a 44-106 record, 13-69 in Atlantic 10 conference, finishing higher than 14th in the A-10 Conference just once this past season.
Neubauer comes to Fordham after coaching Eastern Kentucky for 10 years, making two appearances in the NCAA Tournament while compiling a 188-134 record. Last season, the team tied for first in the Ohio Valley Conference with an 11-5 conference record, a 21-12 record overall, making it to the CIT Quarterfinals. He played for the La Salle University Explorers from 1989-1993 under head coach William “Speedy” Morris. The Explorers clinched an NCAA tournament berth in Neubauer’s freshman season, and he was named a captain in his senior season.
The goal this season for Neubauer is simple: to be the most improved team in Division I basketball. It has been a tough few seasons for Fordham Men’s Basketball with double digit wins in only three of the last five seasons, and only 10 wins each season. They tema has been at the bottom of the A-10 Conference for all five seasons with four conference wins last season being its most. While the Rams have recruited high-quality talent in the past few years, such as guards Jon Severe and Eric Paschall, they have not been able to get over the hump and take the next step towards being a serious threat in the A-10. Neubauer comes in to the Rose Hill Gym looking to change that. He said that this is not going to be a four or five year rebuilding plan, and believes the team could be competitive this season. The team does have talent, but has lost a few key pieces. Senior guard Bryan Smith graduated, while Paschall and fellow forward Manny Suarez transferred to different schools.
Senior forward and captain Ryan Rhoomes leads the front court after appearing in all 31 games last season; he also led the team in rebounding and was sixth in scoring. He will be joined by graduate student Ryan Canty, who missed last season due to a back injury, but was extremely effective in his sophomore and junior years. As one of the best on the team in rebounding those years, proven by his 19 rebound performance in an A-10 tournament game against Dayton in 2013-14, Canty’s return to the front court will be key to the Rams’ success this season.
German forward Christian Sengfelder adds youth to the group, after an impressive freshman season. Thesix-foot-seven-inch sophomore was named A-10 Rookie of the Week five times last season, was third on the team in scoring and second in rebounding. Lastly, with Jessse Bunting, David Pekárek and Chris Downing also joining the front court with sophomore Dekeba Battee-Aston, depth past those three players will be extremely important.
In the front court, senior Mandell Thomas, sophomore Nemanja Zarkovic and junior Jon Severe share the burden of making up for the loss of Smith. Thomas is one of 35 Fordham players to reach 1,000 points in his college career, and was second in scoring on the team last season. He is also one of Fordham’s best defenders, with a team-high 73 steals and leading the A-10 in steals per game. Zarkovic was fifth on the team in assists in his freshman season, and the Canadian also started 27 games at the guard position. He now joins his former teammate, freshman Joseph Charouny in Canada, and their chemistry together could prove to be vital in the Ram back court.
After a sparkling freshman season, Jon Severe took a leave of absence from the team in the middle of the season and his numbers dropped to 6.7 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. The Brooklyn native looks to play a key role in the teams’ success this season, as one of the elder members of the Fordham front court. If he performs the way he did in his freshmen year he can very well do that. Charouny is one of three freshman joining the Fordham back court, adding to the talent already brought by redshirt sophomore Antwoine Anderson and junior Matt Massimino.
The Fordham men’s basketball team brings a talented mix of veterans and promising youths this season. With Neubauer at the helm, a new coaching staff and a new outlook, the sky is the limit for the Rams.
Their out-of-confernce schedule only sees them leave the Rose Hill Gym twice, the other aside from their season opener in Texas being a game against Boston College in the Barclays Center. This will allow the team to build chemsity in their friendly confines in the Bronx, while also building hype around the new season for Fordham fans.
The team was picked 14th in the A-10 this season, but after picking up a victory in the tournament last season, there is reason to believe this Rams’ squad will be much better than initially thought.
