Oct.
15, 2009
The season is here! We have our first
practice tomorrow and everybody is really
excited... There is a lot of excitement
around campus about this team and we have
to start preparing tomorrow for what
promises to be a brutal schedule...
Mississippi State, Lehigh (Patriot League
favorite), Virginia, and Kentucky in the
first 8 days of the season... I should
have my head examined... Oh well I wanted
to challenge this team so let's get after
it right away and see who we are.
Sept.
28, 2009
I am having so much fun coaching this team
right now so I am counting down the days
until the start of official practice...
We are getting a new floor put in Alumni
Gym so we have been practicing at an off
campus practice facility and the guys
are really enjoying it... It is exciting
to watch our workouts because we have so
many talented players in our program
right now... Only three weeks until the
first practice!
July
6, 2009
Today is the 1st day of the summer
recruiting period and coaches are
scurrying all over the country trying to
find that diamond in the rough... It is
also a big today for our program because
our incoming freshman Dara Nd-Ezuma,
Jonathan Thompson, and Carl Johnson
along with transfer Deshawn Mitchell all
start summer school today at Rider... It
was great to welcome them to campus
yesterday as they get ready to start
their promising careers this fall...
Ryan Thompson is at the Lebron James
Skills Academy this week playing against
some of the best college basketball
players in the country... Justin
Robinson has returned to London where he
will attempt to make the Great Britain
Men's Basketball team that will compete
in the 2009 EuroBasketball competition
which begins in August... We are really
hoping he makes the team! The rest of
the boys are working hard on their games
and lifting weights as we prepare for
what we expect to a very exciting
season... It is time for me to hit the
recruiting trails... I hope everyone is
having a great summer!.
March
2, 2009
The regular season has come to an end and
it is time for March Madness... One year
after going 13-5 and winning the regular
season MAAC championship this team
finished 12-6 and earned the #3 seed in
next week's MAAC tournament... It was a
very successful regular season and we
are excited about this weekend... We
head to Albany on a four game winning
streak and winners of 9 of our last
12... We have now won 41 games over the
past two seasons and 57 over the past
three seasons which is one short of the
Rider all time three year mark of 58
wins which was set in 1994-95-96... We
hope to represent all the Broncs fans
well this weekend... Hope to see you in
Albany!
February
13, 2009
It is now mid- February and everybody is
jockeying for position in the league
standings as the conference tournament
approaches... What a great time of year
for players, coaches, and fans of
college basketball... The Broncs have
things moving in the right direction at
the right time of year... We have won 5
of our last 6 games including a big home
win on Saturday over MAAC rival Siena...
Siena entered the game 12-0 in the MAAC
and with an RPI of 20th in the nation...
Ryan Thompson's driving layup with 3
seconds remaining ended Siena's pursuit
of MAAC perfection 90-88... We followed
up the big win with a 13 point road
victory at Marist two nights later...
Rider is now 9-4 in the MAAC (3rd place)
and 14-9 overall... Niagara (2nd place)
is 10-3 and the Purple Eagles will visit
the Broncs Zoo on Wednesday night (Feb.
18)... Before that game the Broncs will
host St. Peter's tomorrow night at the
Soverign Bank Arena and then travel to
Manhattan on Sunday... This is a great
time to be a fan of college basketball!
January 26, 2009
Home sweet home... The Broncs are looking
forward to getting back home after a
long four game road trip that saw the
team go 2-2... After losing the first
two games of the road trip in upstate
New York to Canisius and Niagara, the
team responded this weekend with big
wins at Fairfield and at St. Peter's...
We are now half way through our MAAC
schedule and we are in 2nd place in the
MAAC (behind Siena) with a 6-3 record...
We play 6 of our last 9 MAAC games at
home starting with a 9pm tip on Friday
January 30 vs. Loyola on ESPNU
television... The excitement is just
getting started and February is just
around the corner... Hopefully we are
starting to peak at the right time...
Thanks again for your continued support
of Broncs basketball!
January
8, 2009
The Broncs are starting to get healthy and
it has shown on the court over the past
two games... After an injury plagued
start to the season, which saw 3
starters (H. Mansell, Robinson, Jackson)
miss significant time, the team sits at
8-5 overall but most importantly 3-0 and
in a first place tie in the MAAC
conference with Siena and Niagara...
Tomorrow night we travel to Albany for a
showdown with Siena... The game will be
broadcast live on ESPNU TV at 7pm... Our
game this past Sunday against Marist was
a special day for the Rider program as
we retired Jason Thompson's jersey #1...
JT was able to spend the day in the
Broncs Zoo and it was great to have him
back... The next night Jason scored 12
points and grabbed 6 rebounds in a tough
loss to the New Jersey Nets... I am
getting ready to get on the bus for
Albany so I will talk to you all soon.
December
12, 2008
The Broncs have survived some early season
injuries and we have gotten off to a 5-2
start in what they call in this area
"Year One A.J.T." (meaning first year
after Jason Thompson)... We are still
trying to develop that on court
chemistry that we had from a year ago...
With so many new faces and the early
season battle with the injury bug it is
taking some time to put the pieces
together but in spite of that we are
again finding ways to win and that is a
good sign... We also were able to win
our only MAAC game (Manhattan) that we
will play before the holiday so that was
a very good win for us... We have four
more non-league games (LaSalle, NJIT,
Binghamton and Drexel) before we get
back to MAAC play on New Year's Day at
Iona... We are also looking forward to
the day Jason Thompson returns to the
Broncs Zoo... We are retiring his jersey
in a ceremony prior to our game against
Marist on Sunday January 4th and JT will
be in the Zoo... What a great day that
will be!!! The Kings play the Nets in
New Jersey on January 5th... Thanks
again for all your support of Rider
Basketball and we hope you continue to
Back The Broncs.
November
11, 2008
Another season of Broncs basketball is
here and we are ready to get started.
Pre-season practice has gone real well
and we are looking forward to our opener
against St. Joseph's on Friday night at
the Wachovia Center (home of the
Philadelphia 76ers)... We have been
slowed by injuries to sophomore point
guard Justin Robinson and freshman
forward Jermaine Jackson. They will miss
our first several games as they recover
from knee surgeries but both are
expected to return sometime in
December... How about the start Jason is
off to in the NBA. We are so proud of
him. After a great beginning to the
season he is expected to get his first
start tonight against the Detroit
Pistons.
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