New York University will tip-off its 2009-10 men's basketball season this Sunday, Nov. 15, with a 3 p.m. tilt against local rival Stevens Institute of Technology at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center in Manhattan. NYU will provide live stats and an internet audio broadcast of the contest.
To learn more about the 2009-10 Violets, continue reading our season preview below:
VIOLETS EXCITED ABOUT PROMISING BLEND
OF NEW FACES, EXPERIENCED RETURNERS
Head coach Joe Nesci’s New York University men’s basketball team enters the 2009-10 season with an exciting blend of experience and youth. While the Violets return four starters from last year’s team that went 17-11 and advanced to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Metro Tournament championship game, they will also be welcoming seven talented newcomers into the fold.
To repeat last season’s success, the Violets will have to overcome the graduation of First Team All-University Athletic Association (UAA) center John Mish and integrate several new pieces into Nesci’s team-first atmosphere. Helping to ease that transition will be the experience provided by several players who have played major minutes under Nesci.
“There’s no doubt that we are relying on our veterans to assist the coaching staff in bringing the freshmen along, and our returning players are doing a great job of that,” said Nesci, who is 370-175 in 21 seasons. “Our system takes time to learn, but early on, our newcomers are picking things up.”
A year ago, 6-1 junior
D.J. Glavan (9.5 ppg, 3.3 apg), a 2009 Honorable Mention All-UAA selection, and 6-3 senior
Omar Meziab (5.8 ppg, 83% FT) comprised NYU’s starting backcourt in all 28 games. This season the guards will serve as the Violets’ co-captains, and will be counted on to provide leadership both on and off the court. Also returning in the backcourt is 6-0 junior
Derek Becker (5.4 ppg), who appeared in 27 games last season as a reserve.
“We certainly feel good about the experience we have returning in Glavan and Meziab,” said Nesci. “Becker gained a lot of experience last year and performed very well for us. We have a lot of experience in the backcourt.”
Other key guards who will contend for minutes are freshmen such as 6-3 Cory Stockmal, 6-3 Kyle Stockmal and 6-5 Max Wein. The Stockmal brothers are identical twins who come to NYU after impressive high school careers in Watertown, MA, while Wein has shown a lot of potential. Sophomore guards Allen Tate and Jude Dworaczyk have also caught Nesci’s eye with their strong work ethic in practice.
At forward, senior marksman
Keith Jensen (11.1 ppg, 45 three-pointers), who led the team in three-pointers last season. He played the best basketball of his career down the stretch as the Violets made their postseason run. Jensen averaged 17 points per game over NYU’s final seven contests and scored a career-high 30 in the Violets’ win over Rutgers University-Newark in the ECAC Metro semifinal.
“Jensen is a very good shooter,” said Nesci. “He has performed very well for us and finished very strong in the postseason.”
Sophomore Ben Dorman (2.1 ppg) and senior Chip Borsi (1.8 ppg) also return to the frontcourt after playing key roles off the bench last season.
“Dorman started to gain valuable experience for us last year and we are expecting him to have a bigger role,” said Nesci. “Borsi made a very big impact off the bench for us and we expect him to play valuable minutes again,”
Promising freshmen such as 6-8 Carl Yaffe and 6-3 Andy Ottenweller, as well as 6-6 sophomore transfer Cody John, are also working hard to learn the system.
Playing center will be 6-8 junior
Richie Polan (11.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg), who switched positions after playing forward for two seasons. He will compete for playing time with 6-8 sophomore
Andy Stein (3.1 ppg) and 6-6 freshman Devon Karch.
“All of our centers are working very hard in the preseason, looking to fill the void of Mish,” said Nesci. “They’re all showing signs of being a plus for us in the paint.”
NYU plays in the ultra-competitive UAA, which features back-to-back national champion Washington University, and is arguably the nation’s best Division III league.
To compete within the UAA, the Violets will focus on executing their half-court offense and playing the strong team defense that has long been a hallmark of Nesci’s clubs.
“We don’t look at things in terms of wins and losses,” said Nesci. “We do strive to have a winning season, but with so many new pieces, our primary goal is to mold them into a functioning unit. We need to focus on playing together, playing hard, and working on defense in order to compete in what is clearly one of the top conferences in Division III. And based on what I’ve seen so far, I feel that our players are looking forward to the challenge.”