Can NJIT top .500?

Over the past three seasons Jim Engles has taken NJIT from 1-30 to 10-21 to 15-15. Now with a schedule that includes 18 games against teams from the Great West, independents and outside of Division I it seems like this season is the time for the Highlanders to take the next step and finish with a winning record.

Ironically, NJIT actually had a winning record last season until the Highlanders’ final game, a 72-70 loss against Houston Baptist in the Great West Conference Tournament. That loss came after a 9-3 record in conference play. (That whole tournament was wacky.) Of course, because of how the schedule is set up, NJIT didn’t have a winning record until February 19 either.

This season the schedule breaks in much the same way. The only real change is that with South Dakota leaving the Great West, NJIT replaced the games with a double-dip against Cal State Bakersfield instead. The Roadrunners finished 321st KenPom last season, whereas the Coyotes were 289th, so this is a small, but meaningful, substitution. Thus there are still at least 18 games on the schedule that should be considered “winnable” for the Highlanders.

But honestly, Jim Engles’ crew should put a scare into anyone that isn’t one of the four Big East opponents they’ll play this season. After close losses to Manhattan, Army and Long Island in 2010-11, I’m sure they’re hoping to get revenge. Teams like Colgate, Lafayette and UMass, offer similarly challenging, but attainable opportunities.

From a personnel standpoint the key to a winning record will be replacing Jheryl Wilson. The 6’3″ guard was NJIT’s most efficient player last season and was second on the team at 13.2 PPG. There’s no way that CollegeInsider.com’s 2010-11 Great West Player of the Year Isaiah Wilkerson can do any more this season, so Engles will have to find him some help.

It seems like Lamar Kearse, who scored 8.4 PPG last season in 21.9 MPG last season, could expand his role be an even more valuable player in 2011-12. Then Engles could concentrate on getting some more production out of a front court that had no one average more than 3.1 RPG or 2.8 PPG last season. (It also turns out that lots of free throw shooting practice might help immensely as well.)

If it comes together, NJIT and Engles will have completed a dramatic turnaround from a 51-game losing streak to winners in just a few seasons.