Fordham Basketball

Fordham head coach Tom Pecora called it "huge."

The Rams are headed to Montreal later this month, where they'll play four games. They are allowed an extra 10 practices before the trip as they continue to prepare for what will be a very important 2014-15 season.

"The games and the trip are important because it's great team-building and all those things," Pecora told Bleacher Report earlier this week. "And you get a little chance for the guys to get used to playing with each other, [especially important] with the number of new bodies we have, [and] also the practices leading up to it."

Fordham players will return to campus next week and resume workouts Tuesday. The Rams will leave for Canada on Aug. 24 and return Aug. 30.

The NCAA allows a team to go on a foreign trip once every four years. This one comes at the perfect time for the Rams, who enter the season with a roster that has undergone a major overhaul.

There are four upperclassmen, one sophomore and six freshmen who will try to lead Fordham to its first winning season since 2006-07.

Playing in the Atlantic 10, it won't be easy. But this trip will give Pecora an opportunity—albeit an early one—to see how his players respond when going head-to-head with competition outside of what they've been seeing since the spring.

"Workouts, open gyms, scrimmages and things like that are one thing," Pecora said, referring to the time the NCAA allots college teams to work out during the offseason. "But you want to see their competitive nature when they go against opponents other than themselves.

"Especially with the young, new guys. It's a great opportunity for them. It's basically a mini-camp."

While in Montreal, Fordham will play Concordia on Aug. 25, Laval on Aug. 26, McGill on Aug. 28 and Brookwood Elite on Aug. 29.

The trip will be a homecoming for freshman Nemanja Zarkovic, who is the early favorite to be Fordham's starting point guard. Zarkovic was born in Serbia but immigrated with his parents to Canada in 1998. He played for Brookwood Elite, the team Fordham will face at Zarkovic's former school, College Jean-De-Brebeuf.

Pecora said that when the Rams return at the end of the month, they'll have a couple of weeks off before getting back together in late September.

It's been a productive offseason at Rose Hill, filled with new arrivals and renewed optimism.

"Our guys have been doing a good job. They've been working hard," Pecora said. "The freshmen have been great."

Fordham has a bit of good fortune on its side with that one as well. It wasn't until 2012 that the NCAA allowed freshmen to get started on campus during the summer leading up to their first year.

With so many freshmen being counted on to produce from the start, the Rams are certainly benefiting from that rule.

"The greatest thing the NCAA did was allow freshmen to come in the summer prior to them starting," Pecora said. "Just for them to get familiar with the area, the campus and the coaches. It makes that transition in September and October so much better for them." 

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 released its nonconference schedule for the 2014-15 season on Monday.

To create some buzz, the school announced over the weekend that it would reveal one opponent every five minutes via its Twitter and Facebook pages:

Fordham Men’s Non-Conference Basketball Schedule to be Released via Social Media on Monday http://t.co/w4b74n4R6S

— Fordham Athletics (@FordhamRams) August 10, 2014

At 10 a.m. on Monday, the first matchup was announced:

Game One - NYIT pic.twitter.com/hvjbkIuRCm

— Fordham Athletics (@FordhamRams) August 11, 2014

While the Rams' Atlantic 10 schedule was revealed back in May, there was great anticipation and speculation about which schools Fordham would play before the 18-game conference season begins in January.

Some opponents were already known, but there were a few interesting surprises along the way.

Fordham will open its season at home vs. New York Institute of Technology, then go on the road for back-to-back games against Big Ten schools Penn State and Maryland. 

The Rams will then play four in a row at the Rose Hill Gym against Massachusetts Lowell, Maryland Eastern Shore, Siena and Monmouth before matchups against local rivals St. John's and Manhattan.

Home games against Howard and South Carolina State round out the nonconference schedule, which concludes Dec. 31.

Seven of those 11 games will be at Rose Hill, and the Rams will be considered the home team in the Dec. 22 game against Manhattan at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

"I think it's a good schedule," head coach Tom Pecora told Bleacher Report on Monday, just a couple of hours after the schedule was made public. "It's very important for our fanbase and for us to play home games.

"When you look at the Atlantic 10 Conference and the top conferences in the country, the majority of the teams in those leagues, just about every team, will play a lion's share of their games at home early in the year. We're moving in that direction."

It will be imperative for the Rams to have success in the first month-and-a-half of the season before conference play begins in January. In 19 years in the A-10, Fordham has a 72-232 record against conference opponents and, this year, it'll play two extra games against A-10 teams.

"We've had good success at home in nonconference games over the years," Pecora said. "When you're in a conference like the Atlantic 10, you have to go into it on the plus side."

That's because the A-10 has never been better.

This will be Pecora's fifth year at Fordham. While his overall record is 34-85, the Rams have finished .500 or better against nonconference opponents in three of his first four years. (2012-13 was the exception, but that was also the year that the Rams played a disproportionate number of games on the road.) The A-10 games have been a different story.

"You should go light nonconference and play at home," Pecora said. "That's what a lot of teams in major conferences do because they know how competitive it's going to be once you get into conference play."

The fact that seven games will be played in the friendly confines of the Rose Hill Gym should help a young team that will be tested early and often. The games against Penn State and Maryland are the only nonconference games that will be played outside of New York City.

"With six new people, it's good to play home games," Pecora said. "It's just a matter of repetition for the young guys and [getting] them to understand the way you prepare and the level of preparation [at] the A-10 level. That's important for young players to understand."

Fordham's nonconference schedule isn't soft by any means. Playing at Penn State and Maryland so early in the year will be incredible challenges for a team with only four upperclassmen. On a scale of one to 10, 10 being the most challenging, Pecora said he'd put the strength of schedule at a six or seven.

"You can't get overly concerned about a great nonconference schedule unless you feel you're a bubble team," he said. "If you're a bubble team that could hold you back so you have to be more concerned about clicking it up a little bit. Obviously we're not in that position right now."

Pecora elaborated on the fine line between getting wins and playing against teams that will help prepare you for the brutal conference schedule, even if it's likely that those games will result in losses. 

"It all depends [on] who you are," he said. "At Hofstra, when we were having great success, you could go play a real challenging nonconference schedule because you knew you were going to pick up wins in conference and you knew you had a veteran team that could win some of those games.

"We're trying to turn the corner here and have a winning record. Obviously the strength of our schedule is not as big of a concern. When you look at the teams that are trying to rebuild...we're not scheduling the same way as the Daytons and the Richmonds and the VCUs are scheduling.

"It really depends on where you are as a program, where you are within the food chain of the A-10 and then where you are as a mature team."

Despite all the roster changes, when it comes to the schedule, Fordham will be back in familiar territory.

"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."

Ultimately, Pecora says he's fine with the schedule.

"I'm comfortable with it," he said. "Coaches want it softer when you have a young team but we'll fight and grind through it."

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

Back in March, the movement to reform college athletics picked up steam when Peter Ohr, a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board, ruled that football players at Northwestern University were employees, giving them the right to form a union.

A couple months later, former UCLA star Ed O'Bannon appeared as the lead plaintiff in an antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA over the use of athletes' names, images and likenesses in broadcasts and video games.

Today in Indianapolis, the NCAA Board of Directors voted to adopt a proposal that would give the Big 5 conferences (Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern) greater autonomy.

According to The New York Times' Marc Tracy, the board voted 16-2 to give schools in those conferences the power "to raise the value of scholarships, improve health insurance, allow players to consult agents and more."

Just another day in college sports.

So what does this mean for Fordham and for the school's marquee program, men's basketball?

It's hard to say when we don't even know what exactly the future holds for the Big 5. All schools will now vote on the autonomy measures passed today.

Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke told USA Today's Dan Wolken that by no means will today's decision signal the end of the discussion. "Because there's been all this buildup, (the public thinks) once we've got autonomy there's going to be an agenda that's clear-cut and decisive," Burke said. "But I don't think it'll be that fast."

Boise State president Bob Kustra told The New York Times' Steve Eder that this “will do nothing but place greater pressure on athletic budgets and move the ball farther down the field toward professionalization.”

Last month, Fordham athletic director David Roach provided a passionate defense of his athletic program and the university.

"What people need to remember [is that] a full scholarship at Fordham right now is worth about $63,000 a year," Roach told Bleacher Report. "Multiply that by four and increase it a little bit, and you're saying to a high school kid, a recruit, 'You come to Fordham—New York City, beautiful campus—you're going to get a great education, and the value of it is $270,000.' How many 18-year-olds are making $63,000 a year?

"Then you put in athletic training, strength and conditioning, coaching and all that stuff. The value of that is really great."

While Roach's argument is valid, today's news doesn't appear to have anything to do with academics. It's about money.

"Unfortunately, with the five major conferences doing what they've done, whether it's realignment or going for the TV dollar, they've created something that people have been able to poke at because the money is so great," Roach said. "And if the money is so great and you're paying coaches $6 million, you're doing this and that, what about the student-athletes?

"I think there needs to be a little more ownership at that level. That's kind of how this all happened."

Roach doesn't think college athletes will be paid anytime soon, despite the momentum that appears to be headed in that direction.

"I don't necessarily think anybody is going to be paying student-athletes like some people seem to think," he said, "because once you start paying them, it's a whole different deal. [Then] you're a minor league; you're this and that.

"They're doing the right things and saying the right things, [for example] full cost of attendance for scholarships...but it's kind of a troubling road we're going down. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out."

How it plays out nationally is one thing. How it plays out at Fordham is another.

Fordham is a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference in all sports except for football, which competes in the Patriot League. Its men's basketball program has been in a slump for a good portion of the last two decades. Even at the best of times it's not going to bring in the type of revenue that a big-time program in a bigger conference would generate.

While we won't know for some time where this is all going, Fordham's mission, whether we're talking about men's basketball or any other sport, remains the same.

"I think for us we still have to say, 'This is the value of the Fordham education; this is what you're going to get,'" Roach said.

"We'll do certain things to keep up with the Big 5, especially when it comes to the marquee Atlantic 10 sports," he added

"We're not going to do it for all 22 sports. But that's OK. To an extent now we prioritize by who has scholarships. ... Some teams have partial NCAA limits, some don't have any."

Talk about reforming college athletics has, for the most part, taken place at the national level. Locally, specifically at Rose Hill, fans and alumni are focused on getting the men's basketball program going.

This year, Fordham will be entering its 20th season in the Atlantic 10. In 17 of 19 seasons in the league, the Rams have finished below .500. Still, Roach insists Fordham is in a good place being in the A-10.

In fact, he had high praise for the conference.

"I think Bernadette McGlade, our commissioner, has really done a great job of keeping the conference together, adding the right schools," he said.

"Six teams in the men's NCAA basketball tournament—that's pretty darn good. We've got some really good coaches. I think it's an exciting league."

Quotations in this article were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

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's Rose Hill Gym opened in 1925. It's the oldest facility still in use in Division I basketball. With a seating capacity of 3,200, it's a quaint, cozy venue. The compliments end right about there.

Most people would agree that a new arena—with modern amenities, more seats and a better game-day experience—is long overdue. The reality, though, is that this isn't going to happen anytime soon.

"I look at some other institutions, even within our league, and I'm not sure their venue is any better," Fordham athletic director David Roach told Bleacher Report.

Roach mentioned La Salle, which plays in the Tom Gola Arena, a 4,000-seat venue that opened in 1998. It wouldn't be considered a great facility by any stretch of the imagination, yet the Explorers still made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament in 2013.

On the flip side, Roach did not mention UMass, which is building a $28 million practice facility, or Richmond, which last year put $17 million into its home arena. Both are Atlantic 10 schools.

Instead, Roach said the discussion should be about how to make the best of what Fordham has.

"I like to say 'focus on what you have, not what you don't have, and be positive and move forward,'" he said. "It [Rose Hill Gym] might not be the best venue, but we're in New York City; you can get a great education.

"If we can get a passionate fanbase, then it becomes something where kids want to play there."

Roach has a clear vision of what he'd like to see in the future.

"Let's get it going enough to where this place is rocking and packed and you can't get a ticket," he said about the Rose Hill Gym. "And then the next step is we move to Barclays [Center] or [Madison Square] Garden. But it would make [more] sense to go to Barclays with the A-10 tournament there.

"Get to the point where you're playing a VCU [Virginia Commonwealth University] maybe on a Saturday at Barclays and we're getting 8,000 to 10,000 people."

On December 22, a Monday night, Fordham will play Manhattan, part of a doubleheader that also features a game between Miami and Providence. Roach said he would prefer for that game to be on a Saturday, but for now he'll take what he can get.

"To be honest with you, I wish it was a Saturday afternoon," he said. "We would like to play Manhattan there every year, and Manhattan has agreed to do that. A Monday night isn't ideal, but I think a Saturday afternoon for your fanbase, or even a Saturday evening, you can do well.

"But I think it's a good start. It's good for us to play a game at Barclays with the A-10 tournament there."

Of course, the knock on playing off campus, whether it's been at Barclays or the Garden or in New Jersey, is that Fordham hasn't drawn well in those spots. A couple thousand at Rose Hill looks and feels a lot different than a couple thousand in a large venue like Barclays.

There's the business side to consider as well.

"It's hard to justify if we're playing there and we don't get a crowd," Roach said. "We have to work on that. Hopefully, the combination of the four teams ends up with a pretty good crowd."

In order for attendance to pick up, Roach acknowledged that the Rams will have to win more games. He cited his time as athletic director at Brown, when Glen Miller turned the Bears into a winner and the fans showed up. Roach predicted the same thing would happen at Fordham.

"People want a winner," he said. "We have enough alumni in the tri-state area that they'll come out of the woodwork."

That's exactly what's happening with Fordham football. Head coach Joe Moorhead has turned that program around. After struggling for some time, the Rams are now one of the top Football Championship Subdivision schools in the country. And last week they were picked to win the Patriot League in 2014.

In 2013, Fordham went 12-2 and sold out three games at Jack Coffey Field. Roach believes that same formula applies to men's basketball.

"You have to be good enough where people are excited," he said, adding that about 1,800 to 2,000 students turned out for football games last season.

"If we're winning in basketball, those students are coming to basketball. You put 1,800 students in here, and it's a real tough ticket to get. Then you've got a great home-court advantage.

"I think the Fordham student and the Fordham alum and fan, if you're successful, will really support you."

Roach did say that if someone were to write out a check for $85 million, he was pretty sure a new arena could be built. But don't hold your breath.

"It's something that's been talked about on and off at Fordham for years," he said.

"We would shift more games to Barclays before we would spend $80 to $100 million to build an arena here."

When pressed again, he stayed right on message.

"Right now the plan is we would go to Barclays or an off-campus venue," Roach said, while adding, "You've got to be selling this place out first."

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.

This December will mark the 20-year anniversary of Fordham joining the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Leaving the friendly confines of the Patriot League in every sport except for football, the university made the decision to give big-time college athletics a try. Men's basketball would be its flagship program.

Two decades later, the results have been mixed.

In just the past few months, the women's basketball and softball teams won conference championships and played on national television in NCAA tournament games.

Those two programs prove it can be done. It just hasn't happened yet for men's basketball, and that's the one that counts the most. That's the one that has always faced the biggest challenges.

"We want to be good across the board," Fordham athletic director David Roach told Bleacher Report earlier this month. "If we can do that, that brings everybody up."

Fordham needs to get its men's basketball program going. It's the school's marquee program—a high-profile sport in one of the best conferences in the country.

The numbers reveal a dark past, one that's spanned the last two decades. 

Fordham has finished below .500 in 17 of its 19 seasons in the A-10, and only three times has it finished .500 or better in league play. Perhaps most telling is that the Rams are 72-232 against conference foes since joining the A-10. They've won only five conference tournament games in that time and haven't had a winning season since 2006-07. I could go on, but I think you get the point.

Fordham had to know that making the move to a conference of this caliber wouldn't be easy. Growing pains were to be expected.

But 19 years? Could anyone have predicted it would be this much of a struggle?

"I think that it’s probably a little bit more difficult," Roach said about balancing expectations with the reality of what it takes to build a winning program in the A-10. "You need to be patient, and there aren’t a lot of quick fixes."

Tom Pecora, who took over in 2010, is the latest coach to try to turn it around at Rose Hill. Nick Macarchuk, Bob Hill and Dereck Whittenburg, all experienced coaches, gave it their best shot, but things didn't work out for a whole host of reasons.

As I've said before, I believe Pecora could very well be the school's last, best hope.

"Sometimes you need the right person at the right time at the right institution," Roach said. 

You also need everyone on board. One of the most frequent concerns over the years has been just how committed the university, from the president (currently Joseph M. McShane, S.J.) on down, is to doing what it takes to win at this level.

Roach, who was hired in 2012, insists that the commitment is there.

"We want to be good. We want to be successful," he said. "We’re putting the resources into it. The support is there. We’d love to be able to get good enough to where people are knocking the doors down to get into the Rose Hill Gym. That would be great.

"I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t think we could do it."

Roach spent eight years as the AD at Colgate and 14 years in the same position at Brown before coming to Fordham. He took over for Frank McLaughlin, who was the athletic director from 1985 to 2012. McLaughlin was the one who oversaw the school's move to the A-10.

"I think the commitment was there, and we’ve been making some changes here and there," Roach said, pointing out that approximately $750,000 was spent on two video boards on opposite ends of the Rose Hill Gym. He also mentioned that the athletic department was understaffed when he arrived, but that he's been able to add personnel where needed.

"I’m always looking for the different things you can do," he said before explaining some truths about modern-day athletics. "It takes time, people and money. We’re investing in doing some things to make those kinds of changes to do the little things that people on the outside see, but maybe even more importantly, that our student-athletes see.

"It shows them that we’re thinking and we’re moving forward."

Roach said that can only happen with the support of those above him. 

"The support and commitment from Fordham as an institution is there," he said. "Fr. McShane and (Vice President for Student Affairs) Jeff Gray have been tremendous in letting me do what I feel we need to do as an overall department to be moving forward.

"I see myself as a renovator and a builder, but not a maintainer," he added. "I’ve always gone to places and as long as the university is supporting athletics and wants to always be moving forward and doing what’s best for student-athletes, the institution and our programs, then I’m always happy."

That may not assuage the concerns of alumni and fans who have questioned the commitment for a long time, but they're not the ones sitting in Roach's chair.

"It’ll be two years in October that I’ve been here," he said. "The administration has been terrific in allowing me to do what I want to do."

A fan of the Jim Collins' book Good to Great, which explores how companies can go from average to superior, it's clear that Roach has tried to change things up a bit.

"When I got here I said to the entire staff, 'If you get up in the morning and you’re not excited about coming to Fordham to do great things for student-athletes, go do something else. Because that’s not fair to the student-athletes, not fair to the institution," he said.

"Life’s too short to be doing something you really don’t have a passion for."

It's obvious that Roach has a passion for doing what he does. Fair or unfair, it's harder to convince skeptical fans who have suffered through far too many bad seasons of men's basketball that the university shares that passion.

"We’re doing it," Roach said. "It’s not from a lack of effort or support. Maybe in the past people have been a little bit too impatient before it was going to happen.

"I just say it’s a new day, a new era. Hang with us and give us some time, and we’re going to get it done."

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 athletic director David Roach didn't mince words when discussing his expectations for the 2014-15 basketball season.

Roach told Bleacher Report that the time to win is now.

"Obviously it’s been a work in progress, and I think when we look at the upcoming season, we definitely have the feeling it’s the most talented group that Coach (Tom) Pecora’s had since he got here," Roach said. 

"I think we’re on the verge of turning the corner. We’re kind of driving down the road and the corner’s coming.

"When you look at the combination of who we have returning and the incoming class, there’s some really good pieces there. I’m pretty optimistic about what can happen this year."

So is Pecora, who's said repeatedly that this year's team will be the most talented one he's had since he arrived at Fordham in 2010.

To that end, Roach didn't say anything different from what Pecora has been saying all along.

"With this being Tom’s fifth year, there are a lot more pieces there and a more talented and experienced group than we’ve had since he’s been here," Roach said. 

"I think the pieces are there," he added. "You’ve had a coaching staff in place for five years. And there’s more talent.

"Let’s turn the corner."

Easier said than done, of course, but there's reason to believe that this could finally be the year it happens.

The Fordham roster has undergone a major overhaul, a good thing considering the Rams have won 34 games in Pecora's first four years.

There are only two seniors—Ryan Canty and Bryan Smith, two juniors—Ryan Rhoomes and Mandell Thomas and one sophomore—Jon Severe.

Everyone else is a freshman: Eric Paschall, Nemanja Zarkovic, Antwoine Anderson, Manny Suarez, Christian Sengfelder, Dekeba Battee-Aston and Zaire Thompson. They could all step right in and play a big role.

The need to upgrade the roster was necessary and breathed life into the program.

Despite seven straight losing campaigns, 85 losses the past four years and finishing below .500 in 17 of the last 19 seasons, the Fordham coaching staff has still been able to lure talent to Rose Hill.

"They do a great job building relationships," Roach said about Pecora and his staff. "Parents and kids trust our coaching staff and trust Fordham.

"We have a good track record of kids doing well academically. They’re going to be supported and have every opportunity to reach their full potential academically and athletically."

Now it's a matter of putting it all together on the court. No one wants to do that more than Pecora, who four years ago made the decision to leave Hofstra and come to Fordham.

He could have easily stayed in Hempstead, New York, and waited for another opportunity. It would only have been a matter of time. Instead, he believed he could turn the Fordham program around. He still does.

"You find with most coaches that they’re harder on themselves than anybody else is," Roach said. "No one wants to be more successful and see this thing going than Tom Pecora."

Roach believes that should happen in 2014. Like Pecora has done repeatedly, he talked a lot about year five, about talent and about taking the next step. He spoke honestly about what he expects going forward.

"I think they feel we’ve been headed in the right direction, but it is time to turn the corner and have some results," Roach said.

"When I look at the whole thing and who’s here, it should be a year we make a move up the A-10 ladder. Some teams have lost some really key players, and in some cases a lot of them. It might be a good time for us to be more competitive and make a move, have some nice wins in the league and make some noise in the tournament."

For Roach, it's more than just the talent and the passing of another year. What he saw last year also gives him hope. 

Despite the fact that the Rams lost their last eight regular-season games, they nearly pulled off upsets against La Salle and George Washington in the final week of the season, then beat George Mason in the play-in game of the Atlantic 10 tournament.

Pecora said his team didn't quit, and he's right. Roach saw the same thing.

"When you look at 2013-14 versus 2012-13, we were certainly more competitive especially toward the back half of the season," he said. "We were more competitive at home and played some good games on the road. While the record didn’t indicate it, we were in more games and we were more competitive.

"We showed flashes of what could really happen if we put it together."

While there's always give and take between an athletic director and coach, Roach, who took over as AD in 2012, insisted his relationship with Pecora is good.

"No matter what the sport is and no matter who the coach is, I don’t micromanage and I don’t delve into 'are we playing this kind of defense.'" he said. "I observe things on a daily basis. I see where the program is on a daily basis. You look at the whole piece of the pie."

"If I’ve got to worry about X's and O's, or the technique or technical aspect of any sport, then that’s not right," he added.

"I don’t go to a basketball game or a football game and say 'I wonder what we’re trying to do on offense.'"

He also said Pecora won't be judged this year solely on wins and losses. 

"I never put numbers on it," he said, "but we want to see significant improvement.  "I can’t put a number on it, but I can feel it."

And if this thing were to ever get going, Roach thinks it would be special.

"It would be fantastic. It would be unbelievable," he said. "People would be coming out of the woodwork to support it.

"People have been dying for it for years. If you get it going people will support it and be behind it and really be excited.

"It would mean a lot."

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.

In an offseason punctuated by signings and new arrivals, it's important to remember that Fordham will return some key pieces in 2014-15.

Mandell Thomas is one of them.

By his own admission, after a strong finish to his freshman season, Thomas did not take the next step as a sophomore.

As a rookie, he started 21 games, averaging 15.5 points over the last 12 games of the year and 13.9 points in Atlantic 10 play, including spectacular scoring efforts against Saint Louis (22 points), Xavier (23 points) and St. Bonaventure (22 points).

He finished the season averaging 9.8 points per game, third best on the team.

Last year, Thomas got off to a quick start, scoring at least 10 points in 11 of the Rams' first 13 games. But he was inconsistent after that—too many clunkers mixed in with reminders of his potential.

He averaged 11.9 points per game as a sophomore.

In 2012-13, he finished strong. In 2013-14, he started strong. This season, he'll try to put it all together from start to finish.

"[As a freshman], he ended the season with a great month of February," Fordham head coach Tom Pecora told Bleacher Report.

"Last year, he didn't build off that. He got it going again later in the year, but he has the talent and ability to become a more consistent, high-octane player in the Atlantic 10.

"That's what he's been working on this summer and so far he's done a good job with that."

Pecora is familiar with the Thomas family. Though he couldn't recall to what extent he recruited him, Pecora did say he saw a lot of Thomas' dad, Chad, when the latter was in high school.

Chad ended up attending Rhode Island, where he played with future NBA star Lamar Odom. To this day, Pecora remembers what it was that stood out about Mandell's father.

"His dad was a very good basketball player, but he played as hard as anyone I've ever watched," Pecora said. "I always tell (Mandell), 'If you play as hard as your father, you'll be an all-conference player.'"

Based on what Thomas gave the Rams down the stretch of his freshman season, he appeared to be on a good track.

But not every ride is a smooth one, something Thomas certainly learned last season. He knows he'll have to be better in 2014.

"I felt I could have done better," Thomas told Bleacher Report when asked about his sophomore campaign. "Coming into my sophomore year, I started off good but ended up a little slow. This year I need to progress more and get my game more steady."

Thomas talked about needing to work on his ball-handling and getting more consistency with his jump shot.

"I definitely have to get better," he said. "I'm not where I want to be right now. I just have to do everything I can to continue to improve my game."

Thomas also talked about leadership.

This year, he'll be one of four upperclassmen on the Rams roster, joining Ryan Canty, Bryan Smith and Ryan Rhoomes.

It will be a young team, one where the players have spent the past few weeks getting to know each other on and off the court. As a junior, Thomas will play a huge role in the team's development.

"I expect more out of him," Pecora said. "We have four upperclassmen. Those four guys have to coach the locker room. Your upperclassmen have all got to be on the same page and have to be united in moving guys forward."

"Young guys need guidance," Thomas said. "It's my place to teach the new guys what they need to know."

Just like there will be higher expectations for Fordham this season, there will be additional pressure on Thomas as well.

He says the team chemistry has been better this summer, but he knows there's still a lot of work to be done.

"At the end of the day I have to go out on the court and prove myself," he said. "If I can go out there and prove myself...that would be good."

Pecora is holding out hope for Thomas.

"Potential's a scary word," he said. "He oozes potential. Now it's time to step up and play like an upperclassman."

Quotations in this article were obtained firsthand.

Charles Costello covers the Fordham Rams for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @CFCostello.

Pope John's Matt Zignorski committed to Fordham on Tuesday.

Zignorski, a 6'3" combo guard, will join the Rams for the 2015-16 season.

SNY.tv's Adam Zagoria reported that Zignorski had offers from American, Boston, Bucknell, Monmouth, Penn and Princeton.

Zignorski made his announcement via Twitter:

Extremely honored and blessed to officially announce my commitment Fordham University to pursue my college career! 🏀 #GoRams

— Matt Zignorski (@MattZiggy_31) July 15, 2014

Zignorski told Bleacher Report that his decision boiled down to two things: receiving a great education and reaching his potential as a basketball player.

"I know it's not just a four-year decision," he said about choosing Fordham. "It's got to be a 40-year decision. It's got to set you up for the rest of your life.

"I know Fordham is a great school. You're going to get a great education there."

Like other recruits before him, Zignorski said the coaching staff was a deciding factor.

"I know Coach (Tom) Pecora is going to develop me and make sure I reach my full potential," he said. "Since the first time I talked to Coach Pecora, I felt totally comfortable with him. I felt he was being honest with me at all times. His track record speaks for itself.

"Knowing that I'm going to have a great support system when I'm at that school is really big from a player standpoint."

While his arrival is still a year away, Zignorski is part of a youth movement at Rose Hill. This year, Eric Paschall, Nemanja Zarkovic, Christian Sengfelder, Dekeba Battee-Aston, Zaire Thompson, Antwoine Anderson and Manny Suarez will all make their Fordham debuts.

Looking ahead, Zignorski won't be the only freshman to arrive on campus in 2015. The Rams still have two scholarships available.

When he joins the Rams, he'll add to what's become a very intriguing mix of talent in the backcourt. He'll compete for minutes with Zarkovic, Thompson, Anderson, Jon Severe and Mandell Thomas.

Jason Hasson, his high school coach, told Zagoria that Zignorski made the right choice.

“I think he made a tremendous decision,” Hasson said. “He’s a great student and a great player who continues to get better every day.

“The A-10 is a competitive conference, and with his ability to score and run a team, he’s going to be a valuable player in that league.”

According to The Star-Ledger, Zignorski averaged 11.7 points, 3.1 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 26 games last season. He connected on 58 three-pointers.

"I have the ability to bring the ball up, run the point, direct an offense, get people shots and distribute the ball," Zignorski said. "But I can also shoot the ball. I can run off screens.

"I'm a very versatile offensive player."

Zignorski said he's excited about joining a Fordham team that he thinks was a lot better than last season's 10-21 record might indicate.

"I know that last year their record didn't speak for how good they were," Zignorski said. "They fought until the very end of the season.

"This is a great basketball team, a great basketball school and a great basketball city. I'm really excited to hopefully be able to contribute."

Before he embarks on his senior year at Pope, and before he steps foot on Fordham's Rose Hill campus, Zignorski is going to take some time to enjoy the moment.

"This is a dream come true," he said. "I've been thinking about this day for a really long time. I'm happy I'm able to share it with my family, friends and coaches.

"Just knowing that all the hard work that I've put in is paying off, and I'm going to be able to take it all to the next level."

Zignorski said he'll try to get to Fordham as much as he can next season to watch the Rams play.

"I'm going to be paying very close attention," he said. "Every chance to come up and see a game or get on campus, I'm going to take full advantage of that."

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

Charles Costello covers the Fordham Rams for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @CFCostello

There's only so much you can learn about a college basketball team in July.

But with a few weeks of summer workouts in the books, Fordham head coach Tom Pecora is getting an early look at his new team.

"It's good, but it's July," a cautious Pecora said when asked about his team's mindset. "You want to keep them up as you go through the battles."

Say what you want about the 2013-14 season—Fordham finished 10-21 and lost its last eight regular season games—the one thing you can't overlook is the way the Rams closed out the season.

Down the stretch, Fordham was a tough out. In the final week of the regular season, the Rams nearly pulled off upsets against La Salle and George Washington.

In the Atlantic 10 tournament, Fordham beat George Mason in the play-in game. The next day, the Rams trailed Dayton by 19 at the half, but cut the lead to five in the second half. Two weeks later, Dayton found itself in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.

It might not have been evident in the final standings, but Pecora is still talking about the character his players showed when the season appeared to be lost.

"We talk to them about this all the time," he said. "When adversity strikes, the true man comes out.

"One of the most impressive things about the team last year was that they were still battling at the end of the year. We lost some really tough games. A lot of kids would have just said 'let's get this over with, go out today and lose and don't worry about it.' They went in with the mindset that 'we're going to win this tournament.'

"They continued to compete. Their resilience was impressive to me. They never quit."

By all accounts—what you see on paper and in person—2014-15 should be a much different season for the Rams.

The influx of talent has been well documented. Case in point: last Tuesday's workout at the Rose Hill Gym.

Ryan Canty and Eric Paschall were both dealing with minor back pain. (Pecora said they were held out of the workout as a precaution, and both will be fine.)

Even though two of the Rams' best players were on the sideline, the workout and drills continued. In past years, if two top players were out, the level of competition would have suffered.

"We were still able to have a very competitive practice without two of our more talented players on the floor," Pecora said. "The depth seems to be greater."

Even though it's only the middle of the summer, compelling battles at every position have emerged. 

"Nothing's written in stone here," Pecora said. "It doesn't matter what you did last year. You have to go out and you have to compete for minutes. If someone new here is outplaying you, they're going to get rewarded. You're only going to get what you deserve."

As much attention as the newcomers have gotten, Pecora has a special message for his returning players.

"I spoke to a number of the veterans about getting consistent...about being teases," he said.

"They have an immense amount of talent. Now they have to be able to compete at the highest level they're capable of on a day-to-day basis. That will elevate us.

"I think competition drives that."

"These veteran guys want to win," Pecora added. "You can see it in their eyes.

"They came here to help us turn this thing around. They want this to be the year, so they can say they were part of us turning this around.

"And when we turn it around, they're going to be [a part of it] because they made a commitment to this university and to the program."

So much of what Pecora talks about comes down to effort. That's something the coaching staff preaches to its players every day.

"Playing hard every time you walk on the court is a skill, just like shooting and dribbling and passing and things like that," Pecora said. "And it's a skill you can get better at. We continue to push them to do that."

While he likes what he's seen so far, Pecora knows the regular season is still months away. He'll certainly learn more when Fordham travels to Canada for a two-week foreign tour in late August.

"It's a little early to really say 'here's somebody who I think over the course of things is going to be able to do it,'" Pecora said when asked a question about individual players who may have an impact. "That's why this Canadian tour is so important for us. We'll see how they compete and how they react when the lights go on."

Charles Costello covers the Fordham Rams for Bleacher Report. Quotations in this article were obtained firsthand. Follow him on Twitter @CFCostello.