Nov. 21, 2002
EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Three starters return for the 2002-03 installment of the Lafayette men's basketball program and eighth year head coach Fran O'Hanlon. The Leopards are coming off a 15-14 season that shattered preseason predictions and saw the program finish tied for third in the final Patriot League standings, the Leopards fourth top-three finish in the past five seasons.
A talented junior class that saw extensive playing time in 2001-02 will again be looked to to drive the team along with a lone senior. The Leopards face the loss of five players, three of them to graduation, including key losses at shooting guard (Brian Burke and Ben Saxton) and center (Mick Kuberka).
Backcourt The Lafayette backcourt will again be expected to lead the scoring, and if recent history is an indicator the majority of it will come from the perimeter. The Leopards have made 200 or more three-pointers in each of the past five seasons and led the Patriot League with 222 (36 percent) in 2001-02.
Junior Justin DeBerry will be Lafayette's number one threat. The shooting guard is coming off a season in which he averaged 11.4 points per game and made a team-leading 60 three-pointers. DeBerry is a versatile scorer who also has the ability to slash to the hoop and hit mid-range jumpers. He was buoyed by a move to shooting guard from point guard in the second month of the 2001-02 season.
Senior Andrew Pleick's arrival made DeBerry's move possible. Pleick, who became eligible in December after trans-ferring from Drake University, took over the point guard duties from DeBerry. Pleick averaged 5.3 points per game and is the team's second-leading returning rebounder (3.2). He was a strong defensive presence who picked off 24 passes to rank eighth in the league in steals. He will enter the 2002-03 without nagging injuries that slowed his progress in the opening months last season and will be relied upon to distribute the ball from the point.
Junior Winston Davis showed some flashes of brilliance in his sophomore campaign, and the Lafayette coaching staff will look to him to continue to improve and make further contributions in terms of playing time. Davis, who played in 27 games and started five as a sophomore, is expected to challenge for a starting spot in the Leopards' three-guard lineup. He enjoyed a breakout game in his home state of Florida with 15 points versus Miami, including four three-pointers.
Sophomore Eric Mugavero also returns in the Lafayette backcourt. Mugavero played in six varsity games last season, but spent the majority of the time honing his game in the junior varsity ranks.
Freshman Pat Betley (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial) will add some depth in the backcourt. Betley averaged 21.0 ppg and led his Haddonfield squad to a 21-6 mark as a senior.
The Leopards will be in need of additional depth with the graduation of leading scorer Brian Burke and defensive specialist Reggie Guy. Also gone from the backcourt are Kenny Grant (transfer) and Ben Saxton (left team).
Frontcourt In the Lafayette frontcourt, juniors Mike Farrell and Rob Dill and sophomore Jamie Hughes look to step in and fill the void left by the graduation of Mick Kuberka and Rob Worthington. Farrell put together a breakthrough season in 2001-02. The 6-8 power forward started the most games of anyone with 28. He averaged 10.0 points and a team-leading 4.7 rebounds per game as one of the most improved players in the Patriot League. Farrell finished second in the conference in shooting percentage, hitting 57 percent from the floor.
Dill played in all 29 games last season and will battle with Hughes for the starting spot at center. Dill averaged 3.6 points and 2.2 rebounds per outing. Dill posted his best all-around game versus Cornell with his first career double-double (15 pts., 11 reb.). Hughes undertook intense off-season conditioning and footwork drills that have him poised to challenge for playing time. The 7-0 Hughes played in eight varsity games as a freshman.
Lafayette's frontcourt will get some added depth with an international flavor in the persons of Andrei Capusan (Bucharest, Romania/St. John's College) and Miran Omanovic (Mostar, Bosnia/Shipley School). Capusan spent the 2001-02 season at St. John's College High School located in Washington, D.C. and attended Spiru Haret High School in Romania prior to that.
With 7.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game, Capusan helped guide his St. John's team to a 23-7 record. He was a two-sport athlete at St. John's also competing in the high jump in track and field.
The 6-7 Omanovic attended the Shipley School located outside of Philadelphia in 2001-02. Omanovic helped lead his team to a 21-8 record and the Keystone Conference title, averaging 13.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in 2001-02. He was selected to the All-Mainline Team and All-Keystone Conference First Team in his only season with the Gators.
Coaching Staff While head coach Fran O'Hanlon is entering his eighth season, the rest of his coaching staff is fairly new to the Lafayette program. Top assistant John O'Connor is in his second season with the Leopards and filled a spot vacated by Pat Brogan who left for Penn State after eight seasons at Lafayette. John Krikorian and Elliott Broadnax are beginning their first seasons on College Hill.
Schedule Non-conference road tests against Arizona State, Massachusetts and La Salle and home dates with Pennsylvania, Princeton and Drexel highlight the 2002-03 Leopards' schedule.
For the second straight season, Lafayette will open the season with three road games. The Leopards tip off against second-year America East Conference member Binghamton on Nov. 23. Lafayette's only trip to Philadelphia this season comes on Nov. 26 at La Salle. The three-game swing ends on Nov. 30 against Arizona State, which made an NIT appearance out of the PAC-10, a conference that sent six teams to the 2002 NCAA Tournament.
Lafayette makes its opening appearance on the Kirby Sports Center stage Dec. 3 versus Drexel, part of a doubleheader with the women's team. The squad continues with three more home contests against non-conference opponents, including Princeton on Dec. 7. The Tigers are coming off their seventh consecutive postseason berth after securing a bid in the 2002 NIT. The slate of games which concludes on Dec. 17 is the first of two four-game home-stands for Lafayette in 2002-03.
The team takes to the road for a pair of non-conference tilts versus St. Peter's and Atlantic 10 squad Massachusetts. The Leopards' trip to Amherst, Mass. on Dec. 21 will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools, but the second time O'Hanlon will square off against current UMass and former Villanova head coach Steve Lappas. Lafayette will have an eight-day break from game action from Dec. 22-29 before returning home for two games surrounding the New Year's holiday. Albany comes to the Kirby Sports Center on Dec. 30 and Columbia, the second of four Ivy League opponents, visits Jan. 2.
A non-conference game at Cornell three days later pits O'Hanlon against Steve Donahue, both of whom spent time as assistant coaches at Penn prior to their current head coaching positions. Lafayette and Cornell have squared off in each of the last seven seasons, with the Leopards claiming victory in six of those seven contests. Patriot League play begins with trips to Colgate (Jan. 11) and Army (Jan. 15). Lafayette beat Colgate 74-71 in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament, giving the Leopards their first victory of the season over Colgate in three attempts. The Leopards return home for back-to-back tilts with teams that participated in last season's NCAA Tournament. Conference champ Holy Cross comes to Easton on Jan. 18. Three days later, Penn arrives, coming off its 25-7 Ivy League championship season. Lafayette will face Lehigh and first-year head coach Billy Taylor on Jan. 24 in Bethlehem. The Leopards edged Lehigh in both meetings last season by scores of 68-63 and 98-93. The weekend is the first that will employ the new Patriot League scheduling format with teams playing on Friday and quickly preparing to play a different Patriot League squad on Sunday.
Lafayette has two of those Patriot League weekends back-to-back at home, playing American and Navy on Jan. 31 and Feb. 2. The second weekend begins on Feb. 7 and marks the Leopards' second time through the Patriot League schedule. Patriot League play wraps up on March 1 against 2001-02 Patriot League regular-season champion American.
For the second straight season, the Patriot League Tournament will be played at a neutral site, held March 8-9 at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md. The championship game will be played on March 14 at the highest remaining seed.
