College Basketball
MAAC Preseason Awards
SPRINGFIELD, MASS-The Rider University men's basketball team was picked to finish fourth (of 10) and the Rider women were picked eighth in the Coaches' Preseason Poll, it was announced today at the 2011-12 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Preseason Awards Show, held at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
"I like the position we're in," said Rider men's head coach Tommy Dempsey. "We always seem to be lying in the weeds a little bit. That's a position we're comfortable in. I think we have enough talent to compete at the top of the league."
"We feel like we've taken another step," said Rider women's head coach Lynn Milligan. The Broncs were picked 10th last year. "The players have raised their expectations. We have a ways to go but I like the direction we're going in."
On the men's side, senior forward Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, PA/John Bartram) was named to the Preseason First Team All-MAAC, while sophomore Daniel Stewart (Philadelphia, PA/Neumann-Goretti) and senior Jeff Jones (Chester, Pa./Monsignor Bonner)) were named to the Third Team
Last season Gadson was a Second Team All-MAAC selection and begins this season with 1,153 points, 25th most ever at Rider, and 622 rebounds, 17th most ever at Rider. Gadson was seventh in the MAAC in rebounding as a sophomore (third in defensive rebounds) and 21st in scoring. As a freshman Gadson was a member of the MAAC All-Rookie team.
"Novar had surgery in the spring but by the time we need to be really good, after Christmas when the MAAC schedule heats up, he should be 100 percent," Dempsey said.
Gadson was eighth in the MAAC in scoring (13.6), 16th in rebounding (5.8), sixth in defensive rebounds (4.5), 11th in field goal percentage (.469), 11th in 3-point field goal percentage (.388) and 13th in blocked shots (0.9) last season. Gadson was named the MAAC Player of the Week for the final week of the 2010-11 regular season.
Stewart was named the MAAC Rookie of the Year last season and finished fifth in the conference in rebounding while shooting 58 percent from the field.
Jones came to Rider from the University of Virginia, where he started as a freshman and compiled 555 points in three years.
"We have a player who experienced success at a high level, in the ACC," Dempsey said. "You only take a player for one year if it is the right player and you think it can be a special year. I think the timing was good. Jeff will fill a scoring role that we lost. We were hit by graduation. With two players in our top 15 all-time scorers, one in top five in rebounding, who won a lot of games. They were both four-year starters and graduated with more wins (82) than any other players in our program."
In high school Jones was the 2007 Gatorade Pennsylvania Player of the Year and 2007 Markwood Philadelphia Player of the Year, averaging 22.7 points, six rebounds and three assists as a senior at Monsignor Bonner.
The Iona men were picked to win the MAAC this season. The Marist women were picked to win the MAAC for a seventh straight year.
The Hall of Fame and the MassMutual Center will be the site of the 2011-12 MAAC Basketball Tournament.
"Everyone here at the Hall of Fame has done an unbelievable job welcoming us," Dempsey said. "We were fortunate to play here last year in the Tip Off Classic and we won two games in this arena. That certainly gives us a good feel for the place."
"This facility is beautiful," Milligan said. "I've been nothing but impressed since I got here. Downtown Springfield is very nice. I think it is going to be a great partnership with the MAAC."
"If you are a basketball fan, there is no place more special than the Hall of Fame," said Richard J. Ensor, the MAAC Commissioner. "Welcome to MAACachusetts."
The men's season begins November 11-13 in Western PA with games at Robert Morris and Pittsburgh. The Rider women's schedule begins November 11 and 13 with home games against Lafayette and Bucknell.
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