Tag: Chris Martin

Christian Bolsters Backcourt in Mount St. Mary’s Latest Recruiting Class

Khalid Nwandu athleticism and defensive prowess could find him minutes as a freshman. (Photo Credit - York Dispatch)
Khalid Nwandu (right) may possess the most upside of Jamion Christian’s 2013 recruiting class. (Photo Credit – York Dispatch)

When Jamion Christian accepted the head coaching position at Mount St. Mary’s last March, he saw that only one scholarship was available for his 2013-14 roster. With this in mind, Christian scooped up Khalid Nwandu last November to occupy the scholarship vacated by a soon to be graduating Raven Barber. Still, Christian and his staff continued to scour the landscape for 2013 recruits, just in case. Continue reading “Christian Bolsters Backcourt in Mount St. Mary’s Latest Recruiting Class” →

Season At A Glance — Wagner

This is the fifth of what will eventually be capsules for each of the NYC teams when I’m sure their season has concluded.

Team: Wagner

Record: 25-6 (15-3 in the NEC)

Season High: Winning at then #15 Pittsburgh

Season Low: Losing final regular season game to Central Connecticut

Really Good At: Defense — Wagner had the best defense by far in NEC play this season. The Seahawks led the conference in effective field goal percentage defense, three-point percentage defense and block percentage.

Struggled With: Fouling too much — The aggressive, pressing style that Wagner plays leads a lot to the interpretation of the officials. It might’ve been Wagner’s downfall in the conference semifinals against Robert Morris. The Seahawks finished 11th in the NEC in defensive free throw rate.

Key Losses:

  • Tyler Murray (All-NEC Second Team guard, 12.0 PPG, efficient scorer)
  • Chris Martin (spark off the bench, 7.1 PPG, 82.3% FT%)

Key Returnees:

  • Latif Rivers, So., G (All-NEC Second Team, 14.6 PPG)
  • Jonathon Williams, Jr., F (13.4 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 53.4% FG%)
  • Kenneth Ortiz, So., G (NEC Defensive Player of the Year, 4.5 RPG, 4.3 APG, 1.8 SPG)
  • Naofall Folahan, So., F/C (1.7 BPG, strong offensive rebounder)

Outlook: Great. The season came to an abrupt end for the Seahawks, but that doesn’t mean the future isn’t bright. Dan Hurley is going to keep bringing talent to Grymes Hill and it’ll just supplement the young core that’s already here. The addition of transfer Ortiz gives Wagner an amazing sophomore class that should just continue to develop. Also, another year of development and a healthy off season could mean Mario Moody is the NEC’s most improved player next season. After finishing second in the NEC to LIU this season, Wagner still has unfinished business left. It has the talent coming back to unseat the Blackbirds if everything goes right and return to the postseason, maybe even in the NCAA tournament.

Season Snapshot: Wagner

It’d be hard to categorize Wagner’s early season start as anything but a success. The Seahawks are 4-1, with the lone loss being to Connecticut. In the process they’ve defeated Princeton, Penn, Lafayette and North Carolina Central. Only one of those games was at home too, making the challenge all that more difficult. How has Wagner been successful? What’s working? Let’s check in on Dan Hurley’s club.

Continue reading “Season Snapshot: Wagner” →

Coming & Going Stony Brook – Old is new

Stony Brook didn’t need much in its recruiting class after reaching the America East championship game last season. The Seawolves learned to live without one of their two personnel losses Chris Martin, during the 13 games he was injured last season. It’s another return from injury, junior Tommy Brenton, who is going to make the biggest impact for Stony Brook this season.

Continue reading “Coming & Going Stony Brook – Old is new” →