Fordham Basketball

On Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009, the head coach of the Fordham Rams men's basketball team, Dereck Whittenburg , was relieved of his duties after the team stumbled out of the gate to a 1-5 record, just one year after suffering a 3-25 season.

The news for Fordham fans only got worse: sophomore guard Jio Fontan , who was contemplating transferring during the summer but remained at Fordham, ended up transferring after all, to the University of Southern California at the end of the fall semester.

Assistant coach Jared Grasso was named the team's interim head coach, and just six days after the double dose of bad news, Fordham defeated Stony Brook , 93-77, at Fordham University's Rose Hill Gym. 

The 93 points was a reflection of Grasso's desire to install a "run-and-gun" offense, which was the same offensive style that Grasso played during his college years at Quinnipiac University. 

With the men's basketball program at Fordham being shaken up by the firing of  Whittenburg, and the installation of a fast-paced, energetic offense, maybe it was time for the Rams to reverse their fortunes following the aforementioned 3-25 season in 2008-09 and the 1-5 start to the 2009-10 campaign.

Unfortunately, that win would turn out to be the final victory of Fordham's season, as the Rams finished the season on a 21-game losing streak, finishing 2-26, 0-16 in-conference.

The streak was "lowlighted" by a 48-point annihilation at the hands of the Xavier Musketeers in Cincinnati, and the Rams also lost to the Villanova Wildcats by 38 points in a game played at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J.

The "highlight" of the streak was Fordham's final game of the season, where the Rams scored 100 points but still fell to Duquesne , 111-100.

Ironically, the last time Fordham had scored 100 points was 1999, when the Rams defeated Quinnipiac , 110-73. One of the players for the Bobcats that day? You guessed it, Grasso. 

Despite recording the fourth-worst winning percentage in Division I (.071), Fordham's season was not a total loss.

Freshman forward Chris Gaston proved to be a godsend, setting the Fordham University freshman scoring record with 504 points, breaking Bevin Robin's record of 495 points, which was set in 1997-98. 

His 11 double-doubles in conference play and his 11.4 rebounds per game led the conference, while his 18 points per game ranked fourth in the conference.

Gaston's efforts did not go unrewarded, as he was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year.

Red-shirt junior guard Brenton Butler also played well for the Rams, averaging 16.5 points per game, although the team was often at the mercy of his wildly streaky shooting.

Butler often needed many shots to record his point totals, and he shot 33.4 percent from the field in 2009-10, although he shot a team-best 81.3 percent from the free-throw line.

The times are clearly changing for the Fordham Rams' men's basketball program. A new head coach will be named in April, but it is certainly possible that Grasso will have the interim tag removed from his title and serve as head coach for the 2010-11 season and beyond.

In addition, the Fordham University Board of Trustees unanimously approved a $700,000 budget increase for the men's basketball team recently, taking the Rams' budget from the lower third of the Atlantic 10 to the upper third, as Fordham is making strides to field a more competitive team, hopefully starting in the 2010-11 season.

On the recruiting trail, Fordham has already secured the services of 6'5" forward Jayon James (Paterson Catholic, Paterson, N.J.), 6'4" guard Sean Armand (CJEOTO Academy in New Jersey), and 5'10" guard Danny Lawhorn (South Kent School, South Kent, Conn.). Scouts, Inc. gives James a grade of 90, Armand a grade of 85, and Lawhorn a grade of 78. 

With a new coach possibly on the way, the budget increase, and the three aforementioned recruits, all signs figure to be pointing up for the Fordham men's basketball program.

Only one scholarship player is being lost to graduation...senior guard Herb Tanner . The rest of the Rams return, led by Butler, returning for his senior season (he red-shirted in the 2008-09 season due to medical reasons), and Gaston.

How will the aforementioned changes affect the Rams? Starting in November 2010, we will find out.

Five.

That's the number of fingers on a hand, days in one work week, and Fordham men's basketball wins during the last two seasons.

That's right. Five wins in two years. Not exactly what most—with the exception of New Jersey's Institute of Technology—would call successful. 

Fordham University has finally decided it no longer prefers the title of "A-10 Doormat"—the Rams have had only one winning season in the last nine years—and announced its plan to increase basketball funds.

The specifics of the plan remain undisclosed, but Fordham's athletics Web site reads: "These substantial upgrades will elevate the budget for the Fordham basketball program from the lower third to the top third among schools competing in the Atlantic 10 conference."

Sounds like a significant increase.

Allocating more money to the basketball program is Step One toward bringing the Rams back into relevance. Step Two is finding the proper replacement for interim head coach Jared Grasso.

The New York Post implied this funding boost could help lure a top-notch coach and listed Pete Gillen, Paul Hewitt, Mike Brey, Fran McCaffery, Mike Rice, Tim Welsh, and Steve Lappas as potential replacements.

The Post even mentioned Bob Knight's name, albeit as the "longest of longshots."

Having a reputable coach run the program is vital not only for drawing up Xs and Os on a white board, but also—possibly more importantly—for recruiting. Combine a good coach with a hefty recruiting budget, and Fordham could quickly become a four-year home for New York's finest recruits.

The Rams suffered tremendously from Jio Fontan's decision to transfer mid-season, but the team will still have young talent in freshmen Chris Gaston and Lance Brown and sophomore Alberto Estwick.

In other words, Fordham's rebuilding years could potentially be limited—the Rams won't graduate their top players and will be able to add recruits to surround their talented underclassmen.

In his blog, Andy Katz wrote that Fordham is planning on playing four or five games at the Izod Center. It's an NBA arena, but it is home to a professional team that might not be able to beat the Rams. That's not necessarily going to sway a recruit.

Fordham should instead explore playing a few games in Madison Square Garden, the Mecca of Basketball. Not many schools can offer recruits floor-time at the world's most famous arena. Scheduling games at the Garden would be a national recruiting ploy.

The Rams already have two verbal commitments from solid recruits. If one of the aforementioned candidates is hired, the Rams could potentially assemble one of the A-10's best freshman classes.

Contrary to Katz, who said the Rams will never be an A-10 favorite, a budget in the top third of the league—combined with the school's location—should lure talent capable of competing with the conference's big boys.

Right now, though, everything is up in the air. There are so many "ifs" about the situation.

There's always a possibility that Fordham can't find a replacement better than its interim coach and that the budget won't help in signing recruits. If that's the case, Fordham will remain on the floor in front of the A-10's door.

But that shouldn't stop Fordham fans from hoping and pushing their program to do all it can to make the Rams relevant once again.

For more New York basketball, follow Ari Kramer on Twitter by clicking here .

The Dayton Flyers returned home and hoped to bounce back against a 2-12 Rams team after a disappointing loss at UMass.  Instead, the Flyers shot lights-out—as in they might have shot better had the lights actually been out.

Fordham led from 3-2 until nearly halftime, when UD sat on a three-point lead.  The Rams outplayed the Flyers in virtually every aspect.  Fordham had more blocks and higher shooting percentages through 20 minutes.

UD missed seven free throws in the first half and shot 38 percent from the floor.  Many of its free throws were painful to watch.

Chris Wright, UD's best player, was virtually silent.  He was shut out in the first half and scored just seven points in the game.

Immediately after the break, the Flyers were able to enlarge their three-point lead into an 11-point advantage.  Then, a Fordham timeout proved pivotal. 

The Rams emerged from the huddle and drained three consecutive NBA-range threes.  Suddenly, the visitors were within range to tie or take the lead.

Poor defense left the paint unguarded, and Fordham penetrated for an easy two points...until Charles Little flew in and blocked the lay-up off the glass.  Dayton would then go up by seven.  It was the biggest play of the game—or so we thought.  

Rob Lowry fouled the three-point shooter, and Fordham coolly sank all three from the charity stripe.  UD missed two foul shots.  With 12 seconds left, Fordham again nailed a long trey to cut the deficit to one.

Then, UD committed a turnover on the inbound pass.  Fordham earned two more clutch points to take the lead, their first of the half.

Finally, and inexplicably, the Fordham defense allowed Lowry to dribble his way down the court and score an easy two.  The Rams never got another opportunity.

The final score: trouble at the University of Dayton.  There is no way to dress up this victory as a gritty conference victory.  In the last two games, UD has lost on the road to a then 5-8 UMass and survived a one-point home game with a two-win Fordham squad.

Something is clearly afoot, and I would not be surprised by another midseason letdown by the Flyers.