Fordham Basketball

Fordham's youth movement continues.

Coming off a summer in which the Rams welcomed five new players to Rose Hill—Eric Paschall, Nemanja Zarkovic, Christian Sengfelder, Dekeba Battee-Aston and Zaire Thompson—and brought back two redshirt freshmen—Antwoine Anderson and Manny Suarez—it's hard to imagine that 2015 will be as eventful.

But Sunday brought news that Tabor Academy's Jesse Bunting had verbally committed to Fordham, keeping the roster overhaul in motion.

Bunting is a 6'8" forward who transferred from Plymouth North High School to Tabor in 2013. The Massachusetts native also plays for the Expressions Elite AAU program.

Blessed to say I have just committed to Fordham University as a student athlete#GoRams

— Jesse (@JesseBunting) September 15, 2014

Chris Millette, head coach at Tabor, said that Bunting had 12 or 13 offers from schools. According to the New England Recruiting Report, he had narrowed his choices to four—Fordham, Quinnipiac, Duquesne and Saint Joseph's—before deciding to go with Fordham.

"I’m excited [for him]," Millette told Bleacher Report on Monday. "He was rock-solid in his mindset. Coach [Tom] Pecora and those guys did a great job recruiting him. Obviously it’s a great academic school. I couldn’t be happier for him. I think it’s a good fit."

Like other recent recruits, Millette said that Pecora and his staff played a huge part in Bunting's decision.

"I just think he felt comfortable with the coaching staff," Millette said. "They made the Buntings feel important and that they cared about him beyond basketball."

Bunting is an intriguing addition for Fordham. He's a big man whom Millette described as having a great "motor." When identifying his skills, Millette said that as talented as he is now, he should become even better over time.

"He’s incredibly athletic," Millette said. "For his size he can dribble, rebound and go coast-to-coast.

"There’s such a big upside. He plays so hard and he’s so athletic. He’s just scratching the surface. I can only imagine what he can be when he’s 21 or 22 years old."

Millette said that Bunting has worked hard "to develop some skills." He mentioned a couple of times how Bunting has become a good shooter from 15 feet away from the basket. Once the tallest player on his team, he's had to make some adjustments as he's gotten older and the competition has gotten better. As a result, the 15-foot jumper has become a consistent part of his repertoire.

"[If he] continues to hit the 15-footer, he’s going to become really tough because he’s so long, so athletic," Millette said. 

It's not hard to see a future for Bunting in the Bronx.

Fordham enters the 2014-15 season with a frontcourt that has only one upperclassman, junior Ryan Rhoomes. Ryan Canty, a senior, will be out at least until mid-December following back surgery.

The Rams will rely heavily on Sengfelder, a freshman whose size and versatility have been on display during the offseason, and Paschall, the program's prize recruit, for help in the frontcourt. And they'll have to hope that Battee-Aston can develop his game.

This is a team in rebuilding mode. Bunting is another piece to the puzzle.

"Coach Pecora, and everybody there, was pretty honest," Millette said. "They didn’t try to hide from the record. It is what it is. But they talked a lot about the guys coming in and the optimism and things going on the right track. They think Jesse could be a big piece of that."

As the Rams continue to make over their roster, Bunting is the second player to verbally commit. Matt Zignorski, a guard from Pope John XXIII High School in New Jersey, gave his verbal commitment in July.

Quotations and injury updates in this article were obtained firsthand.

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

In so many ways, college basketball is a young man's game.

Top players leave for the NBA after one or two seasons. Schools are constantly welcoming new recruits—17- and 18-year-old kids—onto campus every fall. And even if a player stays for four years, he's still going to be about 21 or 22 years old when his college career ends.

While Fordham isn't on the same level of some of the nation's top programs who take on a lot of one-and-done phenoms, nor is it its philosophy to do so, the school is experiencing what so many other programs go through on a year-to-year basis.

There are seven freshmen on this year's roster, and all could have an impact. They are Eric Paschall, Nemanja Zarkovic, Christian Sengfelder, Dekeba Battee-Aston, Zaire Thompson, Antwoine Anderson and Manny Suarez. (Anderson and Suarez are redshirt freshmen.)

Right now, it's not absurd to think that at least three, if not more, of those freshmen could start. That's what the Rams were hoping for. After all, they've won 34 games over the last four years. A roster overhaul was in order.

On the one hand, all of the rookies have brought to the program unique talents and personalities that could help finally turn Fordham into a winner.

On the other hand, we only have the offseason workouts and the 4-0 trip to Canada to base our evaluations on, and certainly two games against Big Ten schools, a game against St. John's at Madison Square Garden and a brutal Atlantic 10 schedule will pose huge challenges. But things look good so far.

Perhaps lost in all the hoopla surrounding the new additions is how important it is for the returning five to come back better than they were a year ago.

That means better production (points and rebounds) from junior Ryan Rhoomes, more consistency from junior Mandell Thomas, more scoring from senior Bryan Smith and a better shooting percentage and shot selection from sophomore Jon Severe. It also means that Ryan Canty, who is expected to be out until mid-December following back surgery, will have to play like he did down the stretch last season when he put up some of the best rebounding numbers in the country.

The early returns are good. The veterans have been leaders. They've elevated their games. They've become better players and teammates because of the competition that wasn't there in the past.

Head coach Tom Pecora and his staff have been able to convince young men to come to Rose Hill, even after all the down years. But, just as importantly, they've also been able to keep, challenge and motivate the veteran players who have spent the past few months getting to know their new teammates.

The freshmen have been getting a lot of attention—and rightfully so. Just don't forget about the guys who were already here. This is their team, too.

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

These are good times for the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Coming off a season in which the conference sent six teams to the NCAA tournament, the A-10 is as good as it's ever been. Just ask Fordham, which has been trying to establish a winning program since joining the conference prior to the 1995 season.

Things have been looking up for the Rams as of late. An influx of talent has restored hope at Rose Hill—hope that Fordham can finally turn things around and maybe even make a run in March when the conference tournament comes to town.

Since 2013, the A-10 tournament has taken place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. In 2015 and 2016, the event will return to Barclays. But after that the A-10 will leave New York City, only to return in a couple of years.

Last week, the conference announced that it will hold its tournament at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh in 2017 and then at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., in 2018. It's back to Barclays for the next three years after that.

In 2017 and 2018, Barclays will host the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, necessitating the move by the A-10, which had previously agreed to the ACC deal.

At first glance, this might not seem like a huge deal. The venues in both Pittsburgh and Washington are state-of-the-art, and the tournament will return to Brooklyn in 2019.

But if you're Fordham, you want this tournament in Brooklyn—this year, next year and every year after that.

The conference should want to play at Barclays in March as well. People might start identifying Barclays with the A-10, just like they identify Madison Square Garden with the Big East.

Fordham is the only Atlantic 10 school located in New York City. While the Rams don't have a huge following right now—fans or media—a winning season would change that. New York City is the media capital of the world. There are a ton of Fordham alumni working and living there or located in the nearby suburbs.

Barclays might not be Madison Square Garden, but it could become Fordham's home away from home. The Rams will play Manhattan there this year, and David Roach, the school's athletic director, told Bleacher Report in August that he'd like to schedule more games at Barclays.

Absent a new arena being built on campus, which doesn't seem likely in the near future, it appears that Barclays, which seats over 18,000, could be a place where Fordham plays more and more of its games.

Which brings us to the Atlantic 10 tournament. Other conference teams have played and will continue to play games there, but only Fordham can say it's located in the same city. If the Rams get some wins under their belt and make a run in the tournament, they will become a huge local story.

That's why it's something of a downer that the tournament will be moving for a couple of years, even though we knew it was coming.

It's just Fordham's luck, isn't it?

Not to get ahead of ourselves, but with new additions like Eric Paschall, Nemanja Zarkovic and Christian Sengfelder and improved play from Jon Severe and Ryan Rhoomes, among others, the Rams might finally be primed to make their move.

Assuming it takes them some time to become a consistent winner, maybe they will get a taste of postseason success this year and next. Then, in 2017, with Paschall and company in their junior years, Severe in his senior season and maybe some new additions to boot, you would think Fordham would be ready to challenge for a conference title. If it doesn't happen in the next few years, will it ever?

How great would it be if the Rams were to play for the A-10 championship just a couple boroughs down the line? For Fordham, I can't imagine anything better than winning in New York City.

Then again, maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves here. It's been a frustrating 19 years of basketball in the A-10. Fordham is still a good distance away from being included in any championship conversation.

But it's also true that a new era of basketball has been ushered in at Rose Hill—one that has people dreaming of big things.

What stage is bigger than New York City?

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

Back in March, after playing his final game for the Fordham Rams, it was pretty much a given that we hadn't heard the last from Branden Frazier.

After a stellar career in the Bronx, one that saw him finish ninth on Fordham's career scoring list with 1,642 points and second all-time in assists with 495, Frazier's playing days were far from over.

On Tuesday, the school announced that Frazier had signed a contract with The Bright Kings Den Helder in Holland.

Branden Frazier Signs with Den Helder in Holland http://t.co/MgnMyWLked

— Fordham Athletics (@FordhamRams) September 2, 2014 

As soon as Frazier's playing days with the Rams ended, there was speculation about what was next for the guard, who graduated from the school in May.

In June, two days before the NBA draft, he worked out for the Brooklyn Nets. While a spot on an NBA roster seemed like a long shot, there was no doubt that Frazier would have opportunities to play professionally oversees.

The only senior on the Rams' 2013-14 roster to play significant minutes, he was the team's leading scorer (18.2 points per game) and leader in assists (4.3 per game). He also averaged 5.1 rebounds per game.

Frazier was the best player on a Fordham team that was on the verge of a major roster overhaul. This offseason, seven new players joined the mix. The Rams have only four upperclassmen, but there's more talent here now than there ever was at any point in Frazier's four years. 

If you think Frazier has any regrets about choosing to come to Fordham with head coach Tom Pecora prior to the 2010 season (he was on his way to Hofstra before Pecora was hired to coach the Rams), then you don't know him very well.

The wins might have been few and far between—34 in four years—but Frazier had a huge impact and left quite a legacy. My guess is that all of that means something to him. It certainly means a lot to Fordham.

While the Rams haven't had much success on the court of late, the school has sent a number of players oversees to play professionally.

Bryant Dunston (Italy), Kervin Bristol (Russia), Chris Gaston (Puerto Rico) and Brenton Butler (Sweden) have continued their basketball careers far away from Rose Hill. Now you can add Frazier to that list.

#Congratulations to Branden Frazier on #signing with the #DenHelderKings! pic.twitter.com/TG6TxV2ey6

— FordhamBasketball (@FordhamBball) September 3, 2014

Fordham, which has struggled for most of its 19 seasons in the Atlantic 10, can take some solace in the fact that it has helped players keep their basketball dreams alive. Frazier is the latest example.

Besides wins, losses and championships, people like to judge programs on how many players make it to the NBA. Fordham isn't in that discussion. 

But this gives the school something to hang its hat on, something to be proud of.

Frazier should be proud, too. He might be headed to Holland, but he can always call Fordham home. 

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

People are feeling pretty good about the Fordham Rams these days. Rightfully so, I might add.

Fordham head coach Tom Pecora told FordhamSports.com last week that he's been particularly impressed with freshmen Eric Paschall, Nemanja Zarkovic, Antwoine Anderson and Christian Sengfelder, saying, "we're getting a lot of good things out of a lot of people."

Pecora also said that sophomore Jon Severe "has continued to grow as a player," and called junior Ryan Rhoomes "a workhorse."

There's also the recently concluded trip to Canada, where the Rams went 4-0 after picking up wins against Concordia, Laval, McGill and Brookwood Elite.

That trip was a culmination of a productive offseason that began the minute Fordham was knocked out of the Atlantic 10 tournament on March 13.

Now for a little perspective.

No one is saying you shouldn't be optimistic, but let's remember that basketball games aren't won in the summer. We're still a couple of months away from the start of the regular season, and when it gets here Fordham will face one challenge after another.

That was confirmed last week when the school released its complete schedule, including Atlantic 10 opponents and dates.

When Fordham's nonconference schedule was announced last month, what stood out were the back-to-back games that the Rams will play against Big Ten opponents. They'll play at Penn State in their second game of the season, followed by a matchup at Maryland four days later.

Yes, there are games against New York Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Lowell and Maryland Eastern Shore sprinkled in, but those two games, as well as one later on at Madison Square Garden against St. John's, protects against anyone labeling the first month-and-a-half a cakewalk.

"When you're in a conference like the Atlantic 10, you have to go into it on the plus side," Pecora told Bleacher Report the day the nonconference schedule was made public.

If the Rams don't do that, it will be a major disappointment. They have to play the games, of course, but it's realistic to think they could be 8-3 at the start of conference play.

Then it gets real difficult.

Fordham's Atlantic 10 schedule opens on Jan. 4 with a game against Virginia Commonwealth. Then there's Rhode Island, Dayton, Saint Joseph's, La Salle and George Washington. Massachusetts, Saint Louis and Richmond are next. Six of those teams—VCU, Dayton, Saint Joseph's, George Washington, Massachusetts and Saint Louis—made the NCAA tournament last year.

"We're playing teams in the Big Ten and the Big East, and we're in the fifth-ranked conference in the country," Pecora said. "We're going to be playing top 25 teams, top 50 teams, last year nine top 100 teams, during the course of our A-10 schedule."

The league might not be better this year, but how could it be?

This is not to create some built-in excuse; it's to highlight the fact that Fordham's schedule is brutal. To try to build a program in the Atlantic 10 is a monumental task made even more challenging by the fact that the league has gotten better every year.

It's also to remind people who might be getting a little ahead of themselves that four wins in August are nice but don't count in the standings.

On the flip side, to say they mean nothing is wrong. The positive vibes coming out of Rose Hill are real. Pecora and his staff deserve a ton of credit for changing the culture so drastically. The players they brought in have bought in.

"Every year our goal is to have a winning season," Pecora said. "I think this year with the nonconference schedule we have, and then hopefully elevating ourselves in the Atlantic 10...we've gotten better every year, but so has this league. ... This is the best league Fordham has ever played in. It continues to grow as a league, and we continue to grow as a program."

That's something no one can deny.

Unless otherwise noted, quotations in this article were obtained firsthand.

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

Ryan Rhoomes' role on the 2014-15 Fordham Rams just got a whole lot bigger.

Last week, the school announced that center Ryan Canty will need back surgery and is out indefinitely. He's not expected to return until mid-December at the earliest.

It was going to be an important year for Rhoomes, a 6'8" power forward, no matter what. Now, he'll be counted on even more.

"I'm stepping up a lot now," Rhoomes told Bleacher Report following last Saturday's practice at Rose Hill. "[I'm] shooting a lot more, trying to get my shot good enough for the season. [I'm] trying to get more aggressive, working out more, pushing my teammates and trying to [be] more team-oriented.

"All that helps throughout the season."

Rhoomes isn't the only one doing the "pushing," as he called it. He said that coaches were pushing him as well. Now that the Rams are down to three upperclassmen, and with a thin frontcourt that just got thinner, even more will be expected from him going forward.

"They want me to do more," Rhoomes said about the coaching staff. "They want me to be more vocal. I have to make sure I'm doing the right things every day."

It's not that Rhoomes wasn't doing that the last two seasons. But now he's a junior, and he's been talking all along about being a better player and better teammate this year.

In his freshman season, he averaged 3.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Last year, he averaged 6.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.

Rhoomes said he's "getting better day by day [by] shooting more, demanding the ball and pushing the freshmen," obviously aware of how big of a role he has to play.

He certainly doesn't lack motivation.

"Being here for two years and winning 17 games is a big motivation," Rhoomes said. "People doubting us is a big motivation. People saying we can't do certain things. Everything motivates me. I take a lot into consideration. That's why every day I come in here and do my best."

Fordham head coach Tom Pecora is counting on Rhoomes in a lot of ways, especially in light of Canty's absence.

"There's a huge opportunity now for Ryan Rhoomes at that spot," he said, also mentioning Dekeba Battee-Aston and Christian Sengfelder as players who will have to pick up the slack.

Rhoomes understands how important Canty is to the team. He was right there when Canty pulled down 19 rebounds in Fordham's win over George Mason in the play-in game of the Atlantic 10 tournament in March. But he's not about to call the season off just because Canty won't be there at the start.

"I think we should be OK," Rhoomes said. "It's a big loss. Ryan loves to rebound, he loves to be aggressive. I think the first couple of games it will be hard. The guards are going to have to rebound. Once conference play comes around, everybody is going to have to [bring] their A-game."

Rhoomes said questions came up this summer about why guys didn't talk to each other more. He took that as a challenge and set out to change the dynamic on and off the court.

"Everybody's [been] more team-oriented," he said. "Everything is going to be different this year."

"I feel pretty confident," he added. "The vibe on the team is different."

That's what everyone will tell you. Rhoomes is a big reason why.

Quotations in this article were obtained firsthand.

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

Fordham head coach Tom Pecora was hoping that Ryan Canty would have a healthy and productive offseason, putting the 6'9" center in position to have a big senior year.

Canty was obviously hoping for the same.

But a back injury that Canty has had to deal with for the entire time he's been at Fordham has worsened, and now he'll have to have back surgery and will be out for a few months.

"The back pain is pretty bad right now," Canty told Bleacher Report on Saturday, two days after the school announced that he'd be out indefinitely. "Hopefully the surgery gets it out of the way."

Pecora said that the surgery was the last thing anyone wanted. But it became clear over time that the pain wasn't going to be manageable any longer, and surgery was the only option.

"Like we always do, we exhaust every option prior to putting someone under the knife," Pecora said. "This isn't an ACL where it's automatic [that] you have to get [it] done."

"We feel comfortable with him going into the operation, as he does and his family does, knowing that we've exhausted every other option," Pecora added.

The best-case scenario here is that the surgery takes care of the issues and that Canty is able to play consistently at a high level.

"It had been here from day one," Pecora said about the back pain. "Back issues are very commonplace with the bigger guys on basketball teams. It's just to what extent and to what extreme they are."

"This has been something that's kind of been chronic," Pecora added. "That's one of the reasons why I think he's been up and down. He's gone stretches where he hasn't been able to practice [the] day after games. All of that carries into it."

Pecora told Bleacher Report that the surgery would take place close to Canty's home in Massachusetts, and that it would be performed by the Boston Celtics' team doctor.

"If they go in there and things aren't worse than they anticipate, we're hoping that he'll be back [after] a three-month rehab," Pecora said, which means a December return.

"He goes into it in great physical condition," he added. "He's done a great job actually taking weight off and getting himself in great shape prior to going into the operation.

"These things are out of your control. All you can do is handle them the best way—not only by having the best surgeons working on him but also his mindset going into rehab."

Canty, who missed six games early on in the 2013-14 season, came on strong at the end. He'd been working hard getting ready for his senior season, and the Rams were counting on his leadership and production.

"I had a great offseason," Canty said. "When they told me I had to have surgery, that just wasn't good news."

"It won't sink in probably until the first game comes and I'm not playing," he added.

Canty is optimistic that he can make a full recovery and get back out on the court.

"I was never 100 percent, but it was manageable," he said about playing through the pain, a testament to how tough a kid this is. "I was just fighting through the pain every practice. It was tough. In the games, the adrenaline's going, so that kind of helped."

"Hopefully I get the surgery and I'm stronger [and better] than I was before," Canty added.

Down the stretch last season, Canty came alive, grabbing 10 or more rebounds in five of the Rams' final six games, including 19 against George Mason in the play-in game of the Atlantic 10 tournament. Fordham got a glimpse of what could be.

"He came on strong last year," Pecora said. "In that sense, we were counting on him... He'll still have a very positive effect being around the team in the locker room and being with us everyday in practice."

Pecora is also confident that Canty can make a full recovery.

"This isn't a scenario where he's having it done in December, where you say 'that's the year,'" he said. "Those kind of decisions will be made after his rehab. If you look at a mid-December date, you're still looking at playing at least 25 basketball games. I think he can still have a great senior season."

Asked if he felt the team would be alright without one of its best players, Pecora said it'll have to be.

"I have no choice," he said. "We've got to be alright. We move forward making those kind of adjustments."

Quotations in this article were obtained firsthand.

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

Ryan Canty, expected to start at center for Fordham this season, will have surgery on his back and is out indefinitely, the school announced today.

Canty's 2013-14 season ended on a high note. He grabbed 10 or more rebounds in five of Fordham's final six games, including 16 in the regular-season finale against George Washington and 19 in the play-in game of the Atlantic 10 tournament.

After missing six games early on in the year, it took Canty until the end of the season to return to form. When he did, he was an impact player for the Rams, who finished the season 10-21. The late-season production gave Fordham hope that a big senior year could be in store for Canty. The Rams were also banking on his leadership; he's one of only four upperclassmen on the roster.

In April, Fordham head coach Tom Pecora told Bleacher Report that he was looking forward to having a healthy and productive Canty on the floor.

"He's never had an offseason because of his back," Pecora said. "We want him to be able to get through this spring, summer and fall healthy. In turn, take that step to put himself in position to have a huge senior year.

"He's a guy who can average double-digit rebounds for us," he added. "He's going to defend the post. He's a good screener. He can get 10 points a game just on the foul line, off rebounds, on pick and rolls and lobs."

With Canty out, it will be up to junior Ryan Rhoomes and freshmen Christian Sengfelder, Dekeba Battee-Aston and Manny Suarez to pick up the slack. That's asking a lot of the freshmen, and the school announced more bad news to go along with Canty's injury: Suarez will also be out indefinitely. Though he had been practicing, Suarez is still feeling the effects of shoulder surgery he had in July.

Rhoomes could be the key. He averaged 6.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game last year. He'll have to be a lot better this year, whether Canty's on the floor or not. Eric Paschall, another freshman, can play just about anywhere on the floor; he'll now be asked to do even more.

No doubt, this is a big blow for Fordham, but it's also a tough break for Canty, who seemed primed to build off his final few games last season.

Canty will be out for a few months following the surgery.

Fordham opens the regular season on Nov. 14. The Rams will play four games in Canada next week, where they'll have to get used to life without Canty, at least for the time being.

Quotations in this article were obtained firsthand.

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

Nemanja Zarkovic is going home. Back to the place where he lived, played and grew up as a basketball player.

This Sunday, Fordham will leave for a week-long trip to Canada, where the Rams will play four games in five days against Concordia, Laval, McGill and Brookwood Elite.

Brookwood Elite is Zarkovic's former team. His former school, Montreal's College Jean-De-Brebeuf, is where the game will take place on Aug. 29. It will mark the end of what will be a special homecoming for Zarkovic, who was born in Serbia and migrated to Canada in 1998.

"It's exciting, going back to see my family and friends and going back to play at my high school," Zarkovic told Bleacher Report after Fordham's practice Tuesday night at the Rose Hill Gym.

While playing for Brookwood Elite last summer, Zarkovic averaged 20.5 points in four games against Division I college teams. This year, he returns to Canada as a Division I basketball player.

Without a doubt, the experience playing against NCAA teams and players helped Zarkovic get recruited. College coaches saw that he could play at that level.

"It's nice because I see all the hard work I put in paid off," Zarkovic said. "Last year it was the only way we could get exposure to the NCAA teams because we don't get coaches to come up north of the border to see us play. Once you play against NCAA teams, coaches can relate to that. That really helped my recruiting."

Zarkovic has fond memories of his time at Brookwood Elite. He played in the school's gym for four years, and lived four floors above the gym. Zarkovic said returning will be "kind of weird, but it will be fun."

"I was there all day and all night," he said. "That's where everything started for me. Everything I learned on the basketball floor was there with my coaches."

When someone mentions Canada, your first thought might be hockey, especially in a major city like Montreal, where the Canadiens play. But Zarkovic said basketball is a growing sport there.

"There's a lot of good basketball that's played in Canada," he said. "I know the reputation of Canadian basketball is getting much better. They've beaten some pretty good teams recently. NCAA teams [have gone] there and [lost]."

Canada, specifically Montreal, is where Zarkovic's career got going. New York City is where it will continue.

"I'm starting to know the guys," he said about spending the summer at Fordham. "I feel comfortable now organizing the team and getting the guys the ball where they want it.

"That's what I want to use these games in Canada for. Get comfortable with the guys and show them they can trust me and I can get them shots, [and that] we can win games together."

Zarkovic is heading back to Canada with specific things he'd like to see from his team.

"I expect us to move the ball a lot and not jam the offense," he said. "When I first got here, I was getting upset because the ball was just not moving. Now, it's been much better since we started practicing with the coaches.

"Just get a great foundation to start the season," he added about the trip. "It won't be perfect at all. We're a very young team and we're just starting to play together."

Zarkovic will see a lot of familiar faces in the stands next week. He'll also play against players from his old school who are now in the same position as he was a year ago. There's specific advice he'd give those guys, based on his own experiences. 

"Just don't fear those teams," he said. "Everybody looks up to the NCAA. I remember a few years ago thinking there's no way I could make it there. I played NCAA teams two years ago and I was scared, I played terribly. And then the year after I was like, 'You have to believe in yourself and trust yourself.' If you're afraid to make mistakes, the worst thing that can happen is you won't get a scholarship. But if you don't try, you won't get it either."

Zarkovic got a scholarship. If you want one, you'd be wise to listen to his advice.

Quotations in this article were obtained firsthand.

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