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October
19, 2011
It is an exciting time of year because
everybody is still undefeated! We are
excited about our team again this year.
Tonight we will have our fifth practice
and the guys have given us a great
effort so far.
Once again we will start the year as a
"Dark Horse" which is a position that we
are very familiar with. A dark horse is
a horse that not much is expected from
but one that emerges to prominence.
All the talk in the MAAC is centered
around Fairfield and Iona and they
deserve the accolades because they have
great players and great coaches. But
once again we have a team that has a
chance to be very good and we expect to
fight it out with them every step of the
way.
The preseason moves quickly and we will
be playing games before you know it. Our
first scrimmage is next Saturday October
29th against a strong Boston University
team. We are excited to compete against
BU and get a feel for where we are as we
get ready for opening weekend in
Pittsburgh against Robert Morris and
Pitt. This promises to be a fun season!.
September
20, 2011
Raphielle Johnson, from CollegeHoops.net,
did a nice little feature on the Broncs...
"No matter where you look for
information on the 2011-12 season for
the MAAC the theme remains the same:
regular season champion Fairfield and
MAAC Tournament finalist Iona will stage
a two-team race for the title. But while
the Stags and Gaels are most certainly
contenders for the league's automatic
bid don't forget about Tommy Dempsey's
Rider Broncs."
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE FEATURE
August
11, 2011
MSG Network's Jon Rothstein recently wrote
a feature on underrated coaches in
college basketball. The list included
Kevin Stallings (Vanderbilt), Fran
Dunphy (Temple), Randy Bennett (St.
Mary's), Blaine Taylor (Old Dominion)
and yours truly.
It's always great to see the Rider
basketball program receive some national
attention. I greatly appreciate the
mention.
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE FEATURE
May
23, 2011
The school year has come to a close and
once again all of our seniors have
graduated. Every player that has stayed
at Rider for four years has graduated on
time since I came to Rider in 2003 and
that is something I am extremely proud
of.
I want to thank my seniors Justin
Robinson, Mike Ringgold, and Pat Mansell.
They won more career games (82) than any
players in program history. This was
another exciting year for the Rider
Broncs. We tied a school record with 23
wins and earned a birth in a national
post-season tournament (CIT) for the
third time in the past four years.
We are looking forward to another
exciting season in 2011-12. We have a
strong core of players returning and we
also welcome a great recruiting class
that should help us stay amongst the
MAAC's best teams next year. Eddie
Mitchell (LaSalle High School, PA),
Junior Fortunat (Roman Catholic High
School, PA), Charles Oliver (Scotch
Plains High School, NJ), and Mark Medley
(Tatnall High School, DE) are the newest
members of the Rider basketball family
and we can't wait for them to join us
later this summer. Our high scoring
attack will also be bolstered by the
addition of Virginia transfer Jeff Jones
who sat out last season due to transfer
regulations.
Another exciting season of Broncs
basketball is ahead!
March 4, 2011
We are in Bridgeport, CT for the 2011 MAAC
Tournament. It's hard to believe that we
are a little over 24 hours away from our
opening game. It seems like yesterday
was the first practice of the season.
It has been a really good season thus
far. We finished the regulars season
tied for second in the MAAC (13-5) and
22-9 overall and four players were
honored will All-MAAC honors.
Senior Justin Robinson was named to the
First Team All-MAAC, junior Novar Gadson
was named Second Team All-MAAC, senior
Mike Ringgold was named Third Team
All-MAAC and freshman Danny Stewart was
named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team. As is
often the case, the success of the team
produced individual success. I am proud
of our four players who earned All-MAAC
honors, but I am more proud of the fact
that their play led to the success of
our team.
Saturday evening we will face Canisius
in the final quarterfinal game. Canisius
is a veteran team, which is fully
capable of making a run in the
tournament. It will be a challenge for
us.
Feb.
12, 2011
We have reached the half way point in the
season and so far the team has played
pretty well. The Broncs finished the non
conference portion of our schedule with
8 wins and 4 losses highlighted by a 20
point victory at USC. Overall we are
17-8 and 9-4 in MAAC games.
The team has played very unselfish
basketball and we are starting to become
a team that could compete for a MAAC
championship if we keep working hard.
After our first Buffalo sweep of
Canisius and Niagara a few weeks ago,
we're preparing to host both those teams
this weekend in the Broncs' Zoo. Hope
you can come out as these are two key
games for us.
Thanks again for your support of the
Broncs!
Oct. 5, 2010
The leaves are starting to change and the
nights are getting cooler which to me
signals the start of basketball
practice. My favorite time of year is
the fall because it is a time of great
anticipation and anxiety for a new
season is just weeks away. But before I
talk about this year's team it is
important that I mention how proud I am
of Ryan Thompson who recently signed a
contract with the Utah Jazz. He hopes to
join his brother in the NBA and it
appears he is well on his way. Congrats
Ryan- We are all very proud!
Our current players have been very
committed since our season ended in the
MAAC semi-finals in March. One of the
real strengths of our program the past
several years has been player
development in the off season and this
spring and summer were exceptional in
that area. I think our fans will see
players that have gotten bigger,
stronger, and better since the last time
we took the floor. The players spent the
summer on campus taking classes, lifting
weights, and working hard to improve as
basketball players. Also note worthy
from the summer was the experience that
Justin Robinson had playing for his
country (Great Britain) in the
EuroBasket qualifier. I am confident
that his summer experience will help him
become one of the MAAC's top guards this
season.
I also want to welcome four new members
to our Rider Basketball family. Tommy
Pereira, Danny Stewart, Anthony Myles
and Jeff Jones are the newest Broncs.
This is a group that should make an
impact on this program for years to
come. I am confident our supporters will
enjoy watching these young men compete
for the Broncs. Thanks again for your
support and I look forward to seeing you
all in the Broncs Zoo this year!.
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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