Nov. 13, 2007

After one of the most successful seasons in school history, there is one big question for Johns Hopkins men's basketball head coach Bill Nelson. How soon will the post players come along? Nelson lost five players to graduation from the 2006-07 squad, including four post players. Gone are more than 4,000 career points and more than 2,000 career rebounds. Blue Jay fans could see a completely different team this season. Last year, with an experienced frontcourt, the questions surrounded the backcourt. This season, Nelson has an experienced backcourt, but lacks experience in the post.

Nelson says the goals this season are simple - to continue to get better as the season progresses and to get to the playoffs and do some damage. The key will be how these young Blue Jays and their coaching staff react to adversity.

"We need to be resilient this season," Nelson said. "The talent is there, we just need keep our confidence level high."

GUARD
Unlike a season ago, Nelson's guards are the most experienced on the court. Returning are senior co-captain Doug Polster and juniors Collin Kamm and Scott Weisenfeld.

Polster has tremendous three-point range and ranked second in the Centennial Conference in three-point field goal percentage (.429) last season. He provided a great spark off the bench for the Blue Jays last season, averaging 8.6 points in 19.0 minutes per game. A great catch-and-shoot player, Nelson regards him as probably the best sixth-man in the conference last season.

Kamm, who started all but one game last season, was a pleasant surprise at point guard in 2006-07 after Weisenfeld suffered a season-ending injury in the preseason. Thrust into the starting role after playing in just 10 games in his rookie season, Kamm provided excellent leadership for his team from the backcourt. A crafty player at both ends of the court, he had 64 assists to go along with 32 steals last season.

"Collin was really the unsung hero for our team last season," Nelson said. "He thinks pass first and looks to set up the offense before looking for the shot."

In his rookie season, Weisenfeld came off the bench for Nelson and really pushed the pace on the floor. A good shooter with a tremendous first step, Weisenfeld is extremely versatile offensively and will help balance the Blue Jay attack this season. Kamm and Weisenfeld make a great one-two punch for Hopkins at the point guard position.

"Scott has looked great so far in practice," commented Nelson. "His quickness and `game shape' will only get better as the season progesses."

WING
Returning on the wing for Nelson are juniors Phil Beggans and Ryan Purcell and sophomore Pat O'Connell. Add in sophomore Matt Dapas and freshman Max Trumble and the Blue Jays will have depth at wing.

Beggans, who started 12 games last season, has shown a lot of improvement on his penetration to the basket. Nelson will look to him to use that to get to the free throw line more in 2007-08 after shooting 68.8 percent from the line last season. Beggans also has tremendous three-point range, connecting on 35.8 percent of his attempts from downtown in 2006-07.

Purcell will look to provide a spark coming off the bench this season. A great shooter with a strong basketball IQ, he played in 15 games last season while shooting 57.1 percent from the floor and 66.7 percent from three-point range.

"Ryan has really worked hard on his game and we're hoping he'll give us that spark off the bench," said Nelson.

One of the most versatile and best all-around players on both ends of the floor, O'Connell can play any position on the perimeter. He averaged 19.9 minutes per game last season, while shooting 36.6 percent from the floor, including 44.7 percent from behind the three-point arc. A lockdown defender, O'Connell will guard the Blue Jays' best opponent under 6'5" this season. He also grabbed 2.2 rebounds per game last season to go with 26 assists and 24 steals.

"Pat's extremely focused both in practice and in games," said Nelson. "He saw significant time last season as a freshman and we'll look to him a lot again this season."

Dapas, a walk-on this season, runs the floor well and has a nice perimeter shot. He'll push for time off the bench in his rookie season. Also joining the team this season as a walk-on is Trumble, who will also see time of the bench.

POST
This is the area with the most questions for Nelson, with the loss of 2006-07 seniors Matt Griffin, Danny Nawrocki, Zach Armen and Chris Morley. Returning this season is senior co-captain Kevin Roach and sophomores Adam Baumgartner and Andrew Farber-Miller. Add in freshman John Alberici and senior walk-on Scott Ladd and there will be a lot of competition at the post position this season.

Roach is one of the most versatile players on the team and will make the switch from the wing to the post in his final campaign. He sees the floor well and has good range for a post player, but he can also take people inside. Roach saw significant time off the bench and then earned a starting role for the final 12 games of the season last year. He averaged 2.4 points and 2.6 rebounds per game to go with 33 assists, 15 blocks and 11 steals.

"Kevin's a very unselfish, team-oriented player," said Nelson. "We're going to look to him to mentor the young guys in the post this season."

Baumgartner has not seen a lot of playing time in the last two years after missing most of his senior season in high school and averaging just 2.3 minutes last season.

"Adam's really chomping at the bit to see a lot of action this season," Nelson commented. "He's very athletic and has a lot of raw talent. The sky is really the limit for him."

Nelson will count on Farber-Miller to pick up where the team left off last year in the low post. Nelson describes the 6'8" sophomore as "very smooth, with great low post moves."

Alberici, a highly recruited forward from Malvern Prep, should see a lot of playing time this season. At 6'8", he has nice range on his shot and is very smooth on the inside.

"The key for John this season will be to get stronger, so he can bang on the inside," said Nelson. "We also need him to become an outstanding rebounder."

Ladd, who played basketball at York High School in Maine, will add depth at the post position this season.

SCHEDULE
The 83rd season of Hopkins basketball opens on November 16 with the 17th annual Blue Jay Invitational. Hopkins will square off against Carnegie Mellon, a 2006 NCAA Tournament participant. Also participating in the invitational are Richard Stockton and the New York City College of Technology. The following week, Hopkins looks to defend its 2006 Provident Pride of Maryland title as it opens the tournament at Hood. The Blazers will prove a tough first round opponent for the Blue Jays after posting a 21-8 record last season and advancing to the NCAA Tournament. While the first round games for the annual Provident Pride of Maryland Tournament will be hosted at four sites around the state, Hopkins will serve as the host for the second and third rounds the weekend of Thanksgiving. Two semifinal and two consolation games will be played on Saturday, November 24 at Goldfarb Gym. While on Sunday, the championship game, as well as three consolation games will take place. The Blue Jays won the title last year, defeating Salisbury 71-60 with a second-half comeback.

Hopkins will then kick off its Centennial Conference title defense on the road at Franklin & Marshall. The Blue Jays swept the Diplomats for the first time since 1998, including their first win in Lancaster since January 28, 1998. Hopkins then hosts Swarthmore to open December and the Blue Jays final home game until January 12. Road trips to Gettysburg and Dickinson wrap up the year for Hopkins.

The new year begins with the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in York, PA on January 4-5 with Elizabethtown, Eastern and York. Hopkins then jumps back into Centennial Conference play at Ursinus on January 9. The 2008 portion of the schedule is evenly split with eight home games and eight road games for the Blue Jays. The regular season wraps-up on February 23 against the Washington College Shoremen.

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