The 2024 Student Media Forum--HoriZone Roundtable
Cleveland State Men's Basketball Opens 2024-25 Regular Season at Michigan--csuvikings.com
Men's Basketball Starts New Campaign At Home On Monday--detroittitans.com
Titan Profile: Fuchs Jr. Waiting For His Opportunity--detroittitans.com
Gottlieb leads Green Bay into season opener against Oklahoma State--HoriZone Roundtable
The Breakfast Buffet--College Hoops Today
On The Side
- Green Bay’s Doug Gottlieb makes his Division 1 head coaching debut tonight in Stillwater against his alma mater Oklahoma State.
Phoenix Men's Basketball Set to Open Season on the Road at Oklahoma State--greenbayphoenix.com
Phoenix women tasked with Top 25 Season Opener--HoriZone Roundtable
Game Preview: Green Bay Opens 2024-25 Season at Kansas State--greenbayphoenix.com
JAGUARS TO OPEN CORSARO-ERA AGAINST IU COLUMBUS--iuindyjags.com
Men's Basketball Opens Season at Home Against Defiance; Travels to Boise for Road Game--goldengrizzlies.com
2024-25 Season Opener Set For Monday vs. Bluffton--gomastodons.com
Men's basketball preview: Robert Morris men continue search for footing in Horizon League--TribLIVE
College basketball preview capsules: West Virginia, Penn State and Robert Morris enter new season with questions--Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Robert Morris
Robert Morris is entering its fifth season in the Horizon League, but it’s still looking for its first winning record. The Colonials went 16-17 in 2022-23, including a 10-10 record in conference play, but regressed last season to finish 10-23. They’ve had just two winning seasons since making the NCAA tournament in 2015, their final two seasons in the Northeast Conference, and lost five of their top six scorers from last year’s team.
Coach: Andrew Toole (15th season)
2023-24 record: 10-22 (9th in Horizon League, lost in first round of Horizon League tournament)
Top departures: F Markeese Hastings (14.4 ppg, 7.8 rpg), G Josh Corbin (13.4 ppg, 3.2 apg), F Stephaun Walker (9.9 ppg, 6.2 rpg)
Top additions: G Josh Omojafo (Gannon, 20.0 ppg, 48.2% field goal percentage), G DJ Smith (Bowling Green, 4.0 ppg, 1.4 rpg), G Kam Woods (NC State, 1.2 ppg, 0.8 rpg)
Storyline to watch: The Colonials lost their final seven games last season, struggling to both defend and score. Coach Andrew Toole, in his 15th season at Robert Morris despite being just 44 years old, largely flipped the roster in the offseason, bringing in eight newcomers to join the Colonials’ seven returnees.
As is necessary in the transfer portal at a low-major school, Toole took a number of swings on high-upside additions. Guards DJ Smith and Kam Woods, from Bowling Green and NC State, respectively, both struggled statistically last season but had far better 2022-23 campaigns. Smith was injured in early December at Bowling Green and missed the rest of the season, but the year before at Arkansas-Little Rock averaged 10.4 points and over a steal per game. Woods, now at his fifth school, was ineligible for the first two months of the season at NC State and never got settled on the Final Four-bound Wolfpack. He averaged 17.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists in the year prior at North Carolina A&T. Fellow guard Josh Omojafo is another intriguing addition, as he scored 20.0 points per game at Division II Gannon last season.
Senior guard Justice Williams is the top returning Colonial, as he averaged 12.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists last season. He’s the only returnee to average more than 5.3 points last season. Sophomore forward Alvaro Folgueiras and redshirt sophomore Antallah Sandlin-El will also have larger roles in their second year with the Colonials.
Robert Morris was picked to finish ninth again in the Horizon League, ahead of only IU Indianapolis and Detroit Mercy. If the Colonials want to be more competitive in 2024, they will need a big season from Williams and a return to past form from Smith and Woods.
Women's basketball preview: 1st-time head coach Chandler McCabe aims to get Robert Morris back on track--TribLIVE
Duquesne, Pitt and Robert Morris women's basketball ready to seize national spotlight in 2024-25 season--Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
‘Moon ball’ at Robert Morris
Over in Moon Township, things look a lot different for the Colonials. Chandler McCabe was named the new head coach following Charlie Buscaglia's resignation in February. McCabe has never been a head coach before but has been an assistant coach at various levels for 13 years.
The new blood might be exactly what the Robert Morris women’s basketball program needs, too. The Colonials haven’t had a winning season since capturing the 2019-2020 Northeast Conference regular-season title. McCabe hopes to change that, though she admits the results might not be immediate.
“Our next game is our most important game, period, win, lose or draw before our next game is the most important,” McCabe said. “The team that we're going to be when we play Point Park on November 6 is going to be a very different team by March. As long as we're continuing to get better every single day, and whether we're plateauing or not plateauing at all, continuing to get better by the end of the season, that's what matters most.”
McCabe is fortunate that all 16 players on Robert Morris’ roster have bought in on what she’s selling. Part of that has to do with the standards she’s setting. She doesn’t compromise character for talent, so even if there’s a phenomenal player she’s interested in, if they don’t have a good attitude, then they’re not for McCabe’s squad.
McCabe has added eight players to join eight returners for the 2024-2025 season, including leading scorer Simone Morris, who averaged 10.2 points per game last year. McCabe also highlighted Jada Lee, a graduate transfer who played for Carlynton in high school, as a critical player for this year’s squad. Lee will serve as the point guard for the Colonials after showing her ability to score and defend last year at Mount St. Mary’s.
The slogan for the Colonials this season is “Moon ball,” a play on words with the team being located in Moon Township — but it also describes how McCabe wants the team to play.
“Essentially, what it describes is just doing all the dirty work,” McCabe said. “Do all the little things. Defend every single night, no matter where we are, when we are, how we are. You can play basketball on the moon. You might not be able to throw the rock in an ocean and score on any given night, but I don't care if we win 31 to 32. That's called Moon ball. We're diving on the floor. We're getting all the loose balls. We just want to play our brand of basketball and pull out a couple W's.”
Wright State basketball: Imariagbe happy just to rebound, let others score--Dayton Daily News
Raiders tip off 2024-25 Monday night in front of national audience--wsuraiders.com
Faulkner Era Begins Monday Night Against Westminster--ysusports.com
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