THE MATCHUP
The Leopards will head to New York to take on a tenacious St. John's team which won 17 games last season. The Red Storm are led by 2021 Big East Freshman of the Year Alexander Posh.

LAST MEETING
You'll have to go back to the 1997-98 season for the last time the Leopards took on St. John's, fighting for a 72-49 defeat. Lafayette is just 4-6 in a short history against the Red Storm who have won the last six meetings.

THAT MIKE JORDAN
For the first time in 27 seasons, the Leopards will have a new leader roaming the sidelines in 2000 Penn graduate Mike Jordan, the 19th head coach in Lafayette history. Jordan won three conference championships in the last four seasons as an assistant coach and was named head coach of the Leopards on March 29, 2022.

Jordan played 11 seasons professionally across Europe and was a three-time All-Ivy League selection, two-time Ivy League champion and Ivy League Player of the Year as a senior. 

LEADING THE NATION
Lafayette returns Patriot League All-Rookie performer CJ Fulton who led all of Division I in 2021-22 in assist/turnover ratio, carrying a 3.67 average as a freshman. Fulton averaged 7.3 points per game with 3.9 boards and 3.3 assists. 

STARTING FAST
There won't be any easing in to the 2022-23 season as the Leopards play 11 of their 13 non-conference games on the road, including trips to Miami, St. John's, St. Joe's, Penn State, Princeton and La Salle. 

LAFAYETTE AGAINST THE BIG EAST
The last time Lafayette faced off against a Big East team was during the 2017-18 season when they took on Villanova at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pa. The Leopards lost to a strong Villanova team, but will look to flip the script against St. Johns on Saturday.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Lafayette will stay on the road with its second game of the 2022-23 season against St. John's. 

Following St. John's, the Leopards will travel to Philadelphia to take on St. Joseph's, then head to Baltimore to take on both UMBC and Central Connecticut State before returning to College Hill for their home opener against Penn University.

DEFENSIVE EMPHASIS
Lafayette held Miami to only 36.2% shooting from the field and 29.4% from beyond the arc. The Leopards' defensive rotations were on point, limiting Miami just under its scoring average from last season.

MAJOR MINUTES
Kyle Jenkins played all but one minute in the season opener. He finished the evening with 10 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist. Jenkins shot 50 percent from the field and registered one steal in the contest. The Higganum, Conn. native ranks 29th in the country for minutes played so far.

FIRST HALF SUCCESS
During the season opener, the Leopards led the Hurricanes at halftime by a score of 30-28. Leo O'Boyle knocked down a three-point jump shot with the clock winding down to give the Leopards the advantage. Lafayette shot an impressive 44.0% from the field in the first half, and 37.5% from three-point range.

KNOCKING DOWN THE THREE BALL
Lafayette ranked second in the Patriot League last season with 263 three-point shots made. The Leopards will bring back some firepower from beyond the arc with senior Leo O'Boyle who knocked down 56 shots from three, sophomore Jon Brantley (44), and sophomore Kyle Jenkins (41). 

The Leopards averaged 8.8 three-pointers made per game a season ago.  During their game against NJIT,  Lafayette knocked down 16 shots from beyond the arc during a 90-86 loss in double overtime.

THE PORTAL
Two student-athletes made their way to College Hill after playing for other institutions in 2021-22: sophomore seven-footer Justin Vander Baan (Boston College) and sophomore guard TJ Berger (San Diego). 

On the flip side, the Leopards will watch last year's point guard Tyrone Perry play for Tennessee Tech as a graduate transfer and leading scorer Neal Quinn play for Richmond. 

BATTLING BUDDIES
Mike Jordan will take his Leopards to take on some old pals along the way, highlighted by the final non-conference test at La Salle against his college head coach, Fran Dunphy who is also in his first season as the head coach of the Explorers after stops at Penn and Temple.

Lafayette hosts Jordan's alma mater, Penn, for the home opener on Nov. 22 and will also play his former boss and college teammate Matt Langel of Colgate twice in the League schedule. 

THE RETURNING STARTERS
Three of the Leopards starters from last season are back, led by Patriot League All-Rookie performer CJ Fulton. Senior Leo O'Boyle will provide senior leadership for the Leopards, along with his 112 career 3-point field goals entering the season. Junior Kyle Jenkins has valuable experience having started in 35 of the 44 games he has appeared in during his career. 

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK
The Leopards ranked 19th in the NCAA during the 2021-22 season in assist/turnover ratio at 1.46. Lafayette recorded 485 assists compared to only 333 turnovers over the course of 30 games. The Leopards also ranked second in the Patriot League.

NEW FACES
Lafayette will add four freshmen to the roster for the new season in Josh Rivera, Kyle Squires, Gavin Kreitz and Ryan Petit. The new class will hope to follow in the footsteps of sophomore guard C.J. Fulton, who was selected to the Patriot League All-Rookie Team in 2021-22. 

Lafayette has had at least one player on the Patriot League All-Rookie team in each of the last three seasons.

The Leopards expect big things from freshman Josh Rivera who came from the N.J. basketball powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas before transferring to Putnam Science Academy for his final year of high school. Rivera averaged 16.0 ppg. and 10.0 rpg. during his three seasons at St. Thomas Aquinas.