Vassar Men's Basketball was selected to finish first at the end of the 2014-2015 basketball season with seven first-place votes from the league coaches.
Vassar takes top honors in Men's Basketball Preseason poll
Vassar College, who reached the 2013-14 Liberty League Championship game before falling to Hobart College in double overtime, has been selected as the preseason favorite in a vote by the league head coaches.
It will be another competitive year for Men’s Basketball with three teams receiving first-place votes. Last year, four teams tied for second place with records of 10-6 in league play and coaches are expecting a similar year of close competition.
Vassar (19-8, 10-6 Liberty League) received seven first-place votes and 75 points in the poll. The Brewers return four starters and lost only two seniors to graduation. Vassar is led by All-Liberty League first-team selection junior Johnny Mrlik. Mrlik was among the top-five league leaders in scoring, leading the Brewers with 18.8 points per game and he was tops in the league with a .858 free throw percentage. Fellow classmate Alex Snyder led the team in rebounds (244) and blocks (28). Senior Erikson Wasyl will direct the Vassar backcourt after leading the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.485).
Skidmore (16-10, 10-6 Liberty League), which received a first-place vote, was picked second with 57 points. The Thoroughbreds return 10 players and four starters from last year’s team, which reached the Liberty League semifinals. Skidmore is paced by two-time All-Liberty League first-team selection Aldin Medunjanin, who was among the top-ten scorers in the league (14.7 points per game) last season and he made a team-high 110 free throws. Junior Erik Sanders and senior Connor Merrill, All-Liberty League Honorable Mention selections, also return. Sanders led the team in scoring with 15.5 points per game and Merrill was the Thoroughbreds leader in rebounds per game (6.0) and blocked shots (51).
RIT (16-9, 10-6 Liberty League) received a first-place vote and with a total of 44 points was selected to finish the year in third place. The Tigers return three starters, including J.P. Reagan, an All-Liberty League second-team member. Reagan was 12th in the league in scoring and led the Tigers with 350 points, averaging 14 points per game. Last season, he had four games in which he scored 20 or more points. Sheldon Clay and Mitch Herman return for their sophomore campaigns. Last year, the two appeared in every game for RIT.
Clarkson (16-10, 10-6 Liberty League) lost only one starter to graduation and returns four seniors, including All-Liberty League first-team selection John Coleman. Coleman is poised to return to his high-scoring ways after averaging 19.7 points per game, last year as he looks to snap Clarkson’s all-time scoring record. Coleman is joined by classmates Christian Collette, Dylan Hodownes, and Charles McAllister, as the Golden Knights try to reach the postseason for the second straight year. At the helm of Clarkson is first-year coach Jeff Gorski, who is not unfamiliar to the Liberty League as he served as an assistant at Union College from 2007-2009.
Hobart (22-7, 13-3 Liberty League) will have big shoes to fill with the losses of Liberty League Player of the Year and All-American Richie Bonney as well as Liberty League Defensive Player of the Year Joe Gibbons. Both Bonney and Gibbons scored more than 1,000 points in their careers for the Statesmen. Head Coach Tim Sweeney takes over for Hobart, which is coming off
of four consecutive 20-win seasons, four straight Liberty League regular-season championships, back-to-back Liberty League Tournament titles, and three straight NCAA tournaments appearances. Hobart does return three starters, a trio of senior guards: Trey Blanding, Andrew Hoy and Connor Rehbaum. Blanding led the league in assists per game with 5.3 and in 15 games last season, he dished out five or more. Hoy led the Liberty League and was third in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.05) and he was second on Hobart in three-pointers made (50). Rehbaum, an All-Liberty League Honorable Mention selection, led the Statesmen in three-pointers made with 55.
St. Lawrence (10-15, 6-10 Liberty League) returns a trio of its own in the form of three double-digit scorers, senior forward Brady Condlin, as well as two sophomore guards Kyle Kobis and Kyle Edwards. All three combined for 38.5 points per game in 2013-14, while Condlin led the Saints with 388 points (15.5 per game). The Liberty League Rookie of the Year Edwards and All-Liberty League Rookie Team member Kobis also made significant contributions to the team starting 24 of 25 games last season and will look to continue to make an impact on St. Lawrence’s offense.
Union (10-14, 7-9) graduated only two players and will look to ten underclassmen (4 freshman, 5 sophomores) to have a significant role on this year’s team. Two 2013-2014 All-Liberty League Rookie Team members, sophomore guards DeShon Burgess and Kevin Weckworth will lead the team after successful first-year campaigns for the Dutchmen. Burgess and Weckworth handed out 30 assists apiece, good for second on the team. Burgess also led Union in steals with 25 and Weckworth made 50 of 59 free throw attempts, his free throw shooting mark led the league (.871). Senior Terell Winney also returns, the two-year captain and All-Liberty League honorable mention selection, led the Dutchmen in scoring (14.0 points per game), assists (47), and minute played (31.5 per game).
RPI (8-17, 6-10 Liberty League), like Clarkson and Hobart, welcomes a new head coach to Troy. Mark Gilbride takes over the RPI program that returns ten upperclassmen. Gilbride is a familiar face in the Liberty League after coaching at Clarkson for the last five years. Seniors Jarrett Boeglin and Josh Dugas are the Engineers’ two returning starters while eight juniors are expected to have an expanded role this season. Junior Chase Almond averaged a team-best 5.8 rebounds per game and he was among league leaders in blocked shots with 31 and junior Tyler Gendron had 17 assists, 30 steals and 10 blocks on the year.
Bard (5-20, 0-16 Liberty League) hopes to build upon its five wins in 2013-2014 after losing only two players to graduation. Earlier this fall, Bard traveled to Costa Rica for three exhibition games, where it went 2-1. Bard opens the year with three starters, including Alex Faban-Scotch, a member of last year’s All-Liberty League Rookie Team. Faban-Scotch led the Raptors in minutes per game (31.2), three-pointers attempted and made (54 and 161, respectively) as well as steals per game (1.2). Bard which bolstered its line-up with seven freshmen and eight sophomores, will bring a young team to the court this season.
2014-15 LIBERTY LEAGUE MEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON POLL
1. Vassar (7), 63
2. Skidmore (1), 57
3. RIT (1), 44
4. Clarkson, 41
5. Hobart, 37
6. St. Lawrence, 32
7. Union, 27
8. RPI, 15
9. Bard, 8