Hempstead, NY - The Hofstra Men's Basketball team will host an exhibition game against Queens College on Saturday at 4 p.m. Admission is free of charge.
For ticket information for the 2012-13 season please contact the Hofstra Athletics Ticket Office at (516) HOF-TIXX or visit HERE.
2012-13 Hofstra Men's Basketball Outlook
Entering the 2012-13 season, the Hofstra Men's Basketball team will be looking to turn the page on last season's 10-22 record. The Pride welcome back just five players who saw action last season, so third-year Coach Mo Cassara will rely heavily on eight newcomers, including three players that sat out last season.
With so many new faces, team chemistry may take time to gel on the court. But the Pride has a strong core of senior leaders in forward David Imes, and guards Stevie Mejia and Matt Grogan. Imes has been a two-year starter, while Mejia and Grogan saw substantial playing time last season and have been part of Cassara's system for the past two years.
The biggest question mark surrounding the squad may be finding a consistent scoring threat. Mike Moore, who led the CAA in scoring at 19.9 points per game, and Nathaniel Lester (14.6 ppg) have both graduated, leaving Imes (7.0 ppg) as the leading returning scorer. Cassara thinks that junior Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and sophomore Taran Buie, who both sat out last season after transferring, could fill the void left by the departures of Moore and Lester. In addition, Hawaii transfer Shaquille Stokes could be a scoring threat from the backcourt if the NCAA grants him a waiver to play this season. Cassara will also lean on a talented freshman class, who will likely be thrust into the lineup from the get-go.
Backcourt
Mejia should return to a starting role at point guard after making 13 starts in 2011-12, his first season in a Pride uniform. The former Rhode Island guard averaged six points and 2.2 assists per game, while picking up 33 steals on the season.
Buie, a Penn State transfer, is in line to start at the shooting guard after averaging 5.8 points per game as a freshman for the Nittany Lions in 2010-11. Buie was rated the 87th-best recruit in the nation as a senior at State College (PA) High School.
Stokes played in 30 games at Hawaii as a freshman and would be in line to serve as a backup point guard if he is deemed eligible. Stokes can provide some offensive firepower from the position as he posted 8.4 points per game and finished second on he team in three-pointers (35) and assists (66).
Grogan played in 25 games off the bench last season and averaged 1.2 points per game. Grogan can be a three-point threat and could also be a match-up problem on the defensive end due to his size (6-5).
Freshmen Dallas Anglin and Kentrell Washington will also push for playing time in the backcourt. Anglin enjoyed a stellar career at Seton Hall Prep in New Jersey, where he was a second team All-New Jersey selection and the Essex County Player of the Year as a senior after averaging 19 points per game. Washington was a standout at Clark High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he averaged 14.5 points and seven assists per game.
Frontcourt
Imes returns to hold down a spot in the frontcourt after averaging seven points and 5.4 rebounds per game as a junior. In addition to being the Pride's top returning scorer, he is also the top returning rebounder. After starting 60 games over the past two seasons, Imes is the most experienced player on the court for the Pride.
Coombs-McDaniel, a transfer from Connecticut, should slide into the small forward position and be asked to take on a leadership role on the offensive end. A member of Connecticut's national championship team in 2010-11, Coombs-McDaniel averaged 5.6 points and 2.6 rebounds in 41 games for the Huskies that season.
Junior Stephen Nwaukoni started 21 of the 31 games he played in as a sophomore and was a presence on the glass as he averaged 5.3 rebounds per game to go along with 4.6 points. At 6-8 and 240 pounds, Nwaukoni will be counted on to give the Pride a presence down low.
Sophomore Moussa Kone played in all 32 games last season, averaging 3.2 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, and should once again provide the Pride with depth and athleticism at the power forward spot.
Another player that could give the Pride a low post presence in junior transfer Daquan Brown. Brown played two seasons at Barstow (CA) College and began last season at Fresno State before transferring to Hofstra in December without playing a game for the Bulldogs. Brown was a two-time All-Foothills Conference selection at Barstow and averaged a double-double during his career at 15.5 points and 10.5 rebounds.
Red-shirt freshman Jordan Allen, an athletic 6-6 forward, will make his Hofstra debut in 2012-13 after sitting out last season. A standout as a senior at Long Island Lutheran, he averaged 17 points and 11 rebounds per game in leading his team to a state championship.
Freshmen Jimmy Hall and Darren Payen should also contribute in 2012-13. Hall comes to Hofstra from the storied St. Anthony's High School program in New Jersey and was coached by Bob Hurley. Hall averaged 5.7 points as a junior and senior, and was a key contributor on a squad that was the consensus high school national champion. Payen averaged 18 points and 11 rebounds per game as a senor at Hamden Hall High School in Connecticut and was a two-time all-area selection.
Schedule
Matchups against a defending-conference champion, a team led by a Hall-of-Fame coach and a contest in the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn highlight the Hofstra men's basketball non-conference schedule. The schedule includes three contests against teams that qualified for the postseason last year (Purdue, Manhattan and LIU-Brooklyn), including road games against NCAA Tournament teams in Purdue and two-time NEC champion LIU.
The Pride will participate in the 2K Sports Classic benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project, featuring a trip to West Lafayette, Indiana, for a meeting with Purdue, coupled with a three-game home tournament that features South Dakota State, the University of the District of Columbia and Marshall.
The Pride will open the regular season at Monmouth on Nov. 9 and will host an SMU team coached by Hall-of-Famer Larry Brown at the Mack Sports Complex on Dec. 1.
On Dec. 22, Hofstra will get a look at the Barclays Center, the new home of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets, when the Pride face Tulane.
The out-of-conference schedule will showcase a slew of local rivals including 2012 CIT participant Manhattan on the road and Wagner at the Mack Sports Complex.
The Colonial Athletic Association slate will be challenging, even with two-time defending champion VCU no longer in the league as several teams are capable of cutting the nets down at the Richmond Coliseum in March.
