Jeff Neubauer has called getting to know every single player on the Fordham roster his top priority since becoming the head coach of the Rams.
“We’ve tried to spend as much time with those guys as possible,” Neubauer said. “We’ve been on the court, we’ve been in the weight room and just getting to know those guys even off the court. That’s been our number one priority.”
He said he has watched more than 100 clips on his current group of players, but has learned plenty from their workouts working out their group he has seen some players take strides over the course of just a few weeks.
What does @FordhamBball new head coach Jeff Neubauer do on his first day at Fordham? Practice! pic.twitter.com/8D6Y65m7vH
— Fordham Athletics (@FordhamRams) March 31, 2015
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“There are certain guys that I’m just learning about them as we go on the court,” Neubauer said. “One guy that I guess he would be considered an enigma here, over the last two years of Fordham basketball, is Jon Severe.”
“He really scored the ball as a freshman, he was 17 a game, and then last year just averaged six a game, so as a new coach walking into a program, there’s a curiosity about him and about how that happened. That’s one guy that I’m trying to get to know everyday to try to figure out how to get the most out of him and help him be the best player that he can be.”
Neubauer said his priorities are to fix the Rams three-point shooting, which ranked 329th in the country last season, and teach the team to value the ball. Fordham’s turnover rate ranked 331st in the nation, turning it over on 22.2% of their possessions according to Kenpom.
“I’m coming in with eyes wide open, my objective is to help these young men be successful,” Neubauer said. “There’s a lot of room for improvement.”
Barely a few weeks in to his tenure, Neubauer faces a tall task in helping lift the Fordham program to prominence in the Atlantic 10. His answer to what the greatest hurdle will be for the Rams to have success, in a conference where they have finished over .500 twice in 20 seasons, lies in bringing in the right talent.
“We have to be very successful in recruiting right now,” Neubauer said. “We need to go out right now and convince really talented guys, meaning Atlantic 10 talented guys, to come play for Fordham.”
“I think we have a great coaching staff in place, I think the personalities in our locker room are winning personalities, like I really like these guys. Now we’ve got to add some pieces to our puzzle, we’ve got to convince some talented guys to come help us win. That’s probably every job in the country, but that certainly is the case right now, if we don’t convince talented young people to come here and play at Fordham then we’re not going to be successful.”
Ryan Restivo wrote the America East conference preview for the 2014-15 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. He covers the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, the America East conference among others for Big Apple Buckets. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ryanarestivo or contact Ryan at rrestivo[at]nycbuckets.com.
NYC Buckets Archive 
Rams have had only 1 A-10 caliber PG since joining the league in Kevin Anderson. Withe the signing of Jahshire Hardnett Rams have much promise for next season.
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Love this quote from Neubauer:
“He really scored the ball as a freshman, he was 17 a game, and then last year just averaged six a game…”
Here is how that happened Jeff. Severe is a high volume shooter who doesn’t pass, can’t finish at the rim, and hits for a very low percentage. Pecora let him do whatever he wanted to do in his freshman year, and the result was a kid who pissed off his team mates while being an extremely inefficient scorer. No D either. Sophomore year Pecora limited Severe’s time, and the kid still managed to piss off his team mates, in part by disappearing for part of the season. Truth is that Fordham would be better off if Severe left.
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I really have a problem with what your saying Johnnyrockets. College basketball has seen so many transfers the last couple of years with kids leaving for numerous reasons. Kids dont play enough they leave, the coach doesn’t run the entire offense through them and they leave. And we criticize them for not being tough enough to stick it out and figure out a way to mature. How about Coach Newbauer figure out a way to get this kid on track and earn his salary because thats his Job. That what they are paying him hundreds of thousands of dollars to do!! This kid Severe obviously has talent was Mr. NY State basketball for a reason and A10 all rookie, now lets see if the new coaching staff can get him to buy into playing defense and better shot selection. Thats why you pay 3 assistants and your head coach for.. You p[ay them to coach and mentor not just say it would be better off if the kid left….. That the problem now with College basketball either players are soft and quit and just leave or coaches force them out and not earn their pay!
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I agree it is up to the new staff to try to salvage Severe’s career. But his being Mr. Basketball coming out of HS is irrelevant. We’ve now seen him play for 2 years in D1, and Severe has shown more problems than promise at this point. I stand by my original point; a weak and rebuilding program like Fordham’s doesn’t need a head case like Severe. However, Fordham is stuck with him and now has to make the best of it. Don’t be surprised to see Severe take another LOA when things don’t go his way again.
By the way the new Fordham coach is recruiting like crazy. He clearly sees the need to upgrade a very weak roster. Look for more deoartures from current players and darma from Severe and at least one other current player.
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