Fordham Basketball: 5 Players to Watch as Camp Opens

For all intents and purposes, Fordham's 2014-15 season begins today.

Though the Rams have been working out since the spring, today is their first official practice, one that comes a little more than five weeks before the team opens the season at home against the New York Institute of Technology.

This is a big year for Fordham with a number of questions surrounding key personnel. Can the veterans improve and take their game to the next level? They will have to be better than they were a year ago. Can the young guys impress as much against Atlantic 10 competition as they have in team workouts and exhibition games this offseason? They'll have to quickly adjust to the college game.

With that being said, here are five players to keep a close eye on as camp opens today at Rose Hill.

Eric Paschall may be the most important player ever to sign with Fordham.

Paschall isn't the first player to come to Fordham with high expectations, but he's brought more hoopla than any of the others in Fordham's 19 seasons in the A-10.

Maybe that's because few expected him to choose the Rams over bigger and better programs. Maybe that's because he was the New England Prep Player of the Year as a senior last season. Maybe that's because he can do just about everything on the court at 6'6".

Take your eye off him for a second and you risk missing one of those plays that ends up on SportsCenter.

If Fordham is going to become a winning program, Paschall holds the key. If he's as good as advertised, as good as he's been since he arrived on campus at the end of May, then he could be the most important player to suit up for the Rams in decades.

He could end up being the best to ever play at Rose Hill.

Jon Severe was Mr. New York Basketball in 2013. Before Paschall came aboard, he was the big name that everyone was talking about.

In many ways, he didn't disappoint as a freshman. Severe averaged 17.3 points per game (second on the team and first among A-10 rookies), was named the 2014 Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Rookie of the Year and made the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team. His 536 points were the most ever for a freshman at Fordham.

Believe it or not, he could be better. Severe shot just 33.1 percent from the field, and his shot selection was questioned at times. In 26 of Fordham's 31 games, he shot below 50 percent from the floor.

Enter some hungry freshmen and determined veterans and, suddenly, Severe, who started 23 games, is going to have to compete for playing time.

Last year, if he struggled, there weren't many other options to go to. This year, there are. You have to think someone with this type of talent, a guy who was called a game-changer before people were raving about Paschall, will respond.

The glaring need among many glaring needs following Fordham's 10-21 season a year ago was at point guard.

In April, Nemanja Zarkovic signed. In May, he arrived. He's already become a fixture.

Zarkovic should be Fordham's starting point guard when the season begins. Though he told Bleacher Report over the summer that he doesn't take anything for granted, that he works every day to be the best player and teammate he can be, he is the odds-on favorite to start.

And rightfully so. As a point guard, he's the whole package. He can pass, he can shoot, and he can lead.

Zarkovic is part of the youth movement at Rose Hill. At 20 years old and with the intangibles he possesses, you'll think he's been around for a while when you seen him play.

It wouldn't be accurate to say he came out of nowhere, but if you spent any time around the Rams this offseason, you know that head coach Tom Pecora has been impressed with Christian Sengfelder.

The 6'7" freshman has size, but it's his ability to knock down the jumper that has everyone talking.

Sengfelder averaged 18.7 points and 10.4 rebounds per game playing for the Urspring team in Germany last season, shooting 59.7 percent from the field.

It's the same kind of production that he's shown early on at Fordham. In the Rams' 4-0 trip to Canada at the end of August, he recorded a double-double in the win over McGill and scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds against Brookwood Elite.

It's no wonder why, when asked by Bleacher Report this summer who the biggest surprise was, Pecora, without hesitation, mentioned Sengfelder.

Fordham needs Ryan Rhoomes now more than ever.

A highly touted recruit out of Cardozo High School, Rhoomes averaged 6.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game last season after averaging 3.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game as a freshman.

He should be, and needs to be, a lot better this year.

Fordham is thin up front. Ryan Canty is out until at least the middle of December, and Rhoomes is one of only four upperclassmen on the roster.

In Canada, Rhoomes scored in double figures twice and grabbed 12 rebounds against Concordia.

The Rams will need that kind of production from him on a consistent basis this season.

Statistics courtesy of FordhamSports.com. Paraphrases obtained firsthand.

Charles Costello covers the Fordham Rams for Bleacher Report. A full archive of his articles can be found here. Twitter: @CFCostello