Manhattan Jaspers
2009: 4th Place. 16-14 (9-9)
2010: 6th
Darryl Crawford almost doubled his production in scoring the basketball, improving from 8.5 PPG to 14.4 PPG between his sophomore and junior seasons. Manhattan will no doubt rely on the senior from Harlem, NY to lead the squad. Head coach Barry Rohrssen will return to Manhattan for his 4th season at the helm. He brings in 6′10″ Kevin Laue, the one handed basketball phenom, JUCO transfer Rico Pickett, and George Beamon from nearby Roslyn High School on Long Island. Manhattan will need Crawford’s production to increase again as their success will depend highly on the impact of their incoming players.
Fairfield Stags
2009: 5th Place. 17-15 (9-9)
2010: 4th
According to head coach Ed Cooley, Greg Nero is home taking online classes this semester as he tries to deal with a sinus issue that just won’t go away. Last we heard, he is in serious jeopardy to miss all of the 2009-10 season. When Johnathon Han left the team last season, Nero was the focal point of the offense. Junior forwards Yorel Hawkins and Warren Edney were both impressive in the MAAC tournament last year and will both need to step up for the Stags. When healthy, the Stags feature one of the best front courts in the MAAC. They will need better and more consistent guard play to compete for a top spot in the MAAC this season.
Loyola Greyhounds
2009: 8th Place. 12-20 (7-11)
2010: 7th
Brett Harvey has been the team’s most versatile player. He brings 3 years of experience and two summer foreign tours with him. Harvey can fill it up and is not a guy you want to foul. Junior PG Brian Rudolph is a very fast paced player, more than capable of distributing the rock efficiently. Loyola is a team who can shoot lights out from 3, or lose by 30. They’re the typical play ‘no-defense’ team from the MAAC. We think it will be tough for them to finish above .500 in the MAAC this season.
Loyola might be significantly better than you project. Guard Jamal Barney averaged 18.1 points last year. As you indicated, Brett Harvey and Brian Rudolph are also noteworthy guards. In addition they have added force up front. Mayland transfer Shane Walker is a 6-10 quality player up front as is 6-9 freshman Julius Brooks. Loyola should challenge St. Peter’s for fifth place in the MAAC.