Head coach Fran O'Hanlon enters his 20th year on the sideline for the Leopards in 2014-15 as Lafayette looks to improve upon an 11-20 overall record and a 6-12 mark in Patriot League play.

It was a roller-coaster year for the Maroon and White in 2013-14, losing all-League player Seth Hinrichs for 11 games in the middle of the season and breaking in a new starting point guard in Nick Lindner. Having made it to the Patriot League championship game three of the last five seasons, Lafayette looks to return to form with a mature and healthy team in 2014-15.

"Our goals are always the same in that we want to be playing our best basketball heading into February and March," O'Hanlon said. "We want to improve over the course of the season and we'd love to get off to a good start, but we're aware of our daunting schedule. We just want to continue to grow and come together as a team throughout the year."

The growth process for the Leopards in terms of this season's success began on March 5 when Lafayette traveled to Boston U. for the Patriot League Quarterfinals. Boston got off to a hot shooting start and never looked back, taking care of the Maroon and White handily, 91-54.

"If I had to describe the personality of this team in one word, it would be motivated," Lindner said. "After an up-and-down year, everybody's fired up to put the Boston U. game out of our minds and start fresh."

The return of Hinrichs for his senior season has College Hill buzzing after his return from injury a year ago led to a 6-4 finish to the regular season, and despite playing in just 21 games, he was selected to the All-Patriot League Third Team following the year. Hinrichs takes over sole captain duties in his final go-around with the Leopards and is excited about the way the team has looked in preseason camp.

"We're looking great as a team so far in practice," Hinrichs said. "We've hit the ground running this year and our freshmen have done a great job catching up on what we do offensively and defensively. We're striving toward our goals of winning the Patriot League regular season and postseason tournament. We know we have to take it one day and game at a time, but right now we're keying in on our areas of weakness and trying to get better as a team and individually. As captain of the team, the only thing on my mind right now is leading these guys to a Patriot League title."

The Clara City, Minn. native has led the team in scoring each of the last two seasons, averaging 16.4 points per game a year ago. His leadership on and off the court, as well as his health, will be keys to Lafayette's success in 2014-15.

"Health is a big part of any sport and unfortunately, it's one of those things that can't be controlled," said O'Hanlon. "The preseason will be huge for us this year in keeping guys healthy and developing the foundation of our program. As they say, you can't win championships in the preseason, but you can certainly lose them. We've got to continue to grind away and get these guys better."

Luckily for O'Hanlon, that foundation has already been built in the majority of the roster this season as the Leopards return all five starters from a year ago and lost just two players total to graduation in the spring with last year's captain Jack Detmer '14 and Les Smith '14 departing. Hinrichs and Lindner are joined by Aussie big man senior Dan Trist, along with classmate sharpshooter Joey Ptasinski and do-it-all two-guard junior Bryce Scott. That experience at all areas of the floor could create a recipe for success on College Hill this winter.

BACKCOURT

With his rookie season firmly under his belt, Lindner has been preaching consistency as his main goal for the 2014-15 campaign. As a freshman, Lindner was named to the Patriot League All-Rookie Team, averaging 10.8 points per game and 4.0 assists per contest, but believes he has a much better handle of the offense in his second year and will make better decisions on the floor this season.

"Coming into last year, I was just trying to figure everything out and learn the offense. This year, it's much easier and I can just focus on basketball," Lindner said. "It was a good learning experience for me. I was inconsistent, but I learned a lot and the game minutes were invaluable. The biggest thing I want to do this season is take care of the ball. Now that I really understand the speed of the college game, I want to be able to make better decisions and help our team be successful."  

The biggest help that can be given to a young point guard is putting veterans around him, something the Leopards will continue to be able to do this season. Scott and Ptasinski have been staples on the floor for the Maroon and White over the past couple of years as both averaged in double figures a year ago, while Hinrichs provides an added bonus as a big guy that can spread the floor and work from the wing.

Scott, like Hinrichs, has grown into a player that can score in multiple ways from all areas of the floor. In 2013-14, he averaged 11.5 points per game, going 116-for-265 from the field (43.8%) and 45-for-124 from beyond the three-point arc (36.3%). The junior will be looked at in the two or three position on the floor for the majority of the season, while also competing for minutes at the backup point guard spot with newcomer Eric Stafford.

"Bryce and Eric will each have a chance to help in the backup point guard position," O'Hanlon said. "Eric is one of those players that has the potential to help us in a lot of different positions on the court."

Stafford, a four-year starter at Pitman High School in Pitman, N.J., is a pure scorer, amassing over 1,000 points during his high school career. O'Hanlon describes him as a big guard with excellent basketball IQ and someone that sees the floor extremely well and has tremendous feel for the game.

On the other side of the court, the sharpshooting Ptasinski returns for his final year, currently sitting fifth in the Lafayette record books in career three-pointers with 177 and sixth in career three-point field goal percentage, dropping shots from distance at a 42.1 percent clip. The Highlands Ranch, Colo. native poured in 80-of-178 three-pointers in 2013-14 (44.9%) and averaged 11.4 points per game as one of just two players to competer in all 31 games for the Maroon and White last season.

Behind Lindner, Scott and Ptasinski in the backcourt are Stafford, junior guard Zach Rufer, and sophomores Jake Newman and Monty Boykins. Rufer (3.7 ppg) and Boykins (3.3 ppg) both played in more than 20 games a year ago and will provide added depth coming off the bench.

FRONTCOURT

Trist, a traditional center/power forward and Hinrichs, a hybrid frontcourt, wing-type performer anchor the frontcourt for the Leopards in 2014-15. Trist is coming off a year in which he finished second on the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game and rebounding at 5.4 boards per contest. Standing at 6-9 and weighing in at 234 pounds, the senior is a force on the block and someone the Leopards will count on for offensive and defensive production in the paint.

"Dan can score for us, but has to stay on the court," O'Hanlon said. "He has to get better defensively without fouling, and offensively he's got to be able to play 25-plus minutes for us to get where we need to get to."

Trist's foul trouble was an issue a season ago, especially given the lack of experience behind him at the position. With the development of juniors Nathaniel Musters and Ben Freeland and the addition of freshman Matt Klinewski, that added experience of another year is welcomed among the Lafayette coaching staff.

"Our depth at the position has improved. All three of them [Musters, Freeland, Klinewski] have been getting better and it's important for one of them to emerge as a consistent threat to spell Dan. It's a long season and Matt has proven to be a scorer in high school, so he may be able to give us some production on the offensive end."

On the other side of the block is the team's go-to scorer in Hinrichs. Excited to return to form after an injury-riddled junior campaign, the senior was named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team and, if healthy, is one of the early front-runners for Patriot League Player of the Year. At 6-8 and 223 pounds, Hinrichs creates matchup problems all over the court, driving past bigger defenders and shooting over top of small, quicker players. Hinrichs led the team in scoring and rebounding a season ago with 16.4 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per contest.

Musters, Freeland and Klinewski, along with senior Alan Flannigan, junior Billy Murphy and sophomore Michael Hoffman provide a solid rotation of capable players in the frontcourt to keep the production on the court as dynamic as possible. Flannigan started 13 games in 2013-14, while Hoffman started nine games and Freeland and Musters added eight and seven starts, respectively. 

COACHING STAFF

Entering his 20th season, O'Hanlon is the longest-tenured coach in the Patriot League and the winningest head man in Lafayette basketball history. His longevity and coaching acumen have been the key ingredients to building and maintaining a championship-caliber program. For his efforts, the Philadelphia native and Villanova alum has been named Patriot League Coach of the Year three times and was the first coach to be honored by his peers in consecutive seasons.

"I've had such a great run here with the types of kids I get to recruit and coach," O'Hanlon said. "Being in the league for so long has been terrific, but it's more about the guys I've worked with that have worked extremely hard for me and the school. I love watching the development of the young men that come in here seeing us come together as a team."

O'Hanlon lays claim to three Patriot League regular-season titles, six conference title game berths and two NCAA Tournament appearances to go along with a 269-295 career record.

O'Hanlon is widely regarded as an excellent tactician and because of that he has been able to surround himself with quality assistant coaches who can help develop Lafayette's student-athletes.

At the top of his coaching staff is Pat Doherty who begins his sixth season on College Hill. Doherty is one of several former O'Hanlon players to join him on the sidelines. The 2004 Lafayette graduate was an assistant coach at Williams in 2008-09 and The College of New Jersey in 2007-08.

Donovan Williams begins his fifth season at Lafayette. He came to College Hill from Holy Family University in Philadelphia. Prior to Holy Family, Williams worked as a graduate assistant for the Georgia Tech men's basketball program from August 2008 to May 2010. Williams was a two-year starter at Park University. Williams' brother, Pershin, was an assistant at Lafayette under O'Hanlon in 2008-09.

John O'Connor enters his sixth year on O'Hanlon's coaching staff. O'Connor previously coached under O'Hanlon for three seasons from 2001-04, two of which were as the top assistant, before spending six years at Georgia Tech.

THE SCHEDULE

O'Hanlon's 2014-15 slate features non-conference matchups on the road at West Virginia and Kansas, as well as at least 14 games inside Kirby Sports Center.

The year begins with a formidable trip to Robert Morris on Nov. 14. The Colonials (22-14, 14-2 NEC) took down the Leopards in the second game of the year last season by a 90-81 margin, and head man Andrew Toole has ties to College Hill, coaching at Lafayette during the 2006-07 season.

The Maroon and White follow the trip to Pittsburgh by invading Morgantown, W.Va. to take on West Virginia (17-16, 9-9 Big 12) on Nov. 16. The Mountaineers are coached by Bob Huggins, who holds a 740-302 overall record in 32 seasons as a head coach. West Virginia begins its third year in the Big 12 conference and fell to Georgetown in the opening round of the NIT last season.

On Nov. 19, the Leopards open up Kirby Sports Center with their only home game of six meetings in the month of November, hosting Princeton (21-9, 8-6 Ivy League) at 7 p.m. Trips to Penn (8-20, 5-9 Ivy League), Yale (19-14, 9-5 Ivy League), and Fairleigh Dickinson (10-21, 6-10 NEC) round out the opening month on Nov. 22, 26, and 30. Three straight tilts at the friendly confines open December with the Leopards hosting Wagner (19-12, 12-4 NEC) on Dec. 6, Sacred Heart (5-26, 2-14 NEC) on Dec. 8, and Susquehanna (17-10, 8-6 Landmark) on Dec. 16.

Those three games will be vital tune-ups for arguably Lafayette's toughest challenge of the season on Dec. 20 when they travel to Lawrence, Kan. to take on Kansas. The Jayhawks finished the 2013-14 campaign at 25-10, and went 14-4 in Big 12 conference play. Kansas went 15-2 inside Allen Fieldhouse, but fell to Stanford in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Kansas aims to replace NBA-bound Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid with top freshman Cliff Alexander and returning scorers Perry Ellis (13.5 ppg) and Wayne Selden, Jr. (9.7 ppg).

A meeting with NJIT (13-16 Independent) on Dec. 28 at home rounds out the non-conference slate for the Leopards who open Patriot League play to end the year with a meeting at Army (15-16, 10-8 PL) on New Year's Eve at 3 p.m. The Black Knights handled Lafayette a year ago with a 25-point win in Easton and a tight, three-point victory in West Point, N.Y.

Navy (9-21, 4-14 PL) opens the home league slate and 2015 on Jan. 3 at Kirby Sports Center at 2 p.m. before the Maroon and White head on the road for matchups at Bucknell (16-14, 11-7 PL) and Boston (24-11, 15-3 PL) on Jan. 7 and 10. Boston finished off Lafayette a year ago in the quarterfinals of the Patriot League Tournament.

A pair of home games follow the short road trip as the Leopards face off against Loyola (11-19, 6-12 PL) on Jan. 14 and American (20-13, 13-5 PL) on Jan. 17. American took the Patriot League title last season over Boston, 55-36, and fell to Wisconsin in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, 75-35.

A trip to Holy Cross (20-14, 12-6 PL) on Jan. 21 precedes the 220th meeting with archrival Lehigh (14-18, 7-11 PL), set for Jan. 24 inside Kirby Sports Center. The Leopards split with the Mountain Hawks a year ago, with each team winning on its home floor.

Back-to-back road games finish off January as the league schedule flips following the final game of the first half at Colgate (13-18, 6-12 PL) on Jan. 28. The Leopards travel to Navy on Jan. 31 and return home for matchups with Bucknell on Feb. 4 and Boston on Feb. 7.

Three of the next four are away from home as Loyola hosts the Maroon and White on Feb. 11, and Feb. 14 brings a trip to Washington, D.C. for a tilt with American. Holy Cross travels to Easton on Feb. 18 and the second matchup with Lehigh is set for Feb. 21. Home meetings with Colgate and Army round out the slate with the Patriot League Tournament set for March 3-8.

The tournament will feature all 10 Patriot League members and will be played entirely at home sites. First-round contests will feature the 10th-seed at the seventh-seed, and the ninth-seed at the eighth-seed. The tournament will then move to the quarterfinals held at the top four seeds, followed by the semifinals and championship at the site of the higher seeds. The bracket will not re-seed and the champion will earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.