J.S. Carras/The Record

LOUDONVILLE - Senior Kyle Downey has played 74 minutes over the past two games.

Siena's senior captain has been the leading scorer in both games, combining for 45 points.

The back-to-back solid performances have his scoring average up to 12.7 points per game.

"I thought he looked fresh in the two games, when other players looked tired," said Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro, at Tuesday's meeting with the media.

Buonaguro knew he would get a solid senior campaign from Downey and the Fairport native is showing what he's capable of.

"I think it's a byproduct of his conditioning, his work ethic and how he came into the season," Buonaguro said. "I thought the other night, against UMass, he played terrific and he followed it up with a really good effort last night. We're going to need that moving forward against Princeton."

BURDINE UPDATE: If you've been at the Siena game recently, you've noticed that sophomore Trenity Burdine is warming up with the team.

Coach Buonaguro said that is a positive step, but he still hasn't seen Burdine do much cutting.

The talk on Tuesday was that Burdine could be back with the team, but Buonaguro really wants him back for the Iona game (Jan. 3). 

"We don't want to push him into something where he's going to regress."

WIGNOT NOT HIMSELF: Senior Owen Wignot was held scoreless on Tuesday, in 23 minutes against Fordham.

It certainly seemed like a step backwards, following an 8-point performance against UMass, on Friday.

"He's certainly not playing with the same level of confidence," Buonaguro said. "I think you can see that. We need him to produce."

Buonaguro just finished by saying that Owen isn't playing like he's shown he's capable of, in the past.

TIME OFF: The Saints have one of their longest layoffs of the year now, due to finals and Buonaguro said he'll take the time to work on things he thinks the team needs improvement in.

He also said that it will be important to get the young players some rest, heading into the next portion of the schedule.

"Maybe these freshmen have hit a wall," Buonaguro said. "They've been through a lot and we need to get them refocused, reenergized and be positive with them in these nine days."

Having lost seven of their last eight games, Buonaguro said it's vital that he keeps the younger player's confidence up.

"I think freshmen have to be resilient, but you have to keep reminding them to move on," he said.

MITCHELL JOINS UBILES WITH WARRIORS: The Golden State Warriors have signed another former Siena player, in Tommy Mitchell ('05).

He joins Edwin Ubiles ('10) in training camp with the Warriors, as both players will try to make the squad for opening day.

Jeff Couch/The Record

LOUDONVILLE - Owen Wignot was back on the practice floor on Wednesday.

The Siena senior forward hadn't even really ran, since suffering a head injury, in the season-opener against Navy.

Wignot (right) said he is really just suffering from some slight inner ear discomfort and that he's been out, primarily for precautionary reasons.

“I just have to be patient and hopefully that’s for the better,” Wignot said.

The Saints would like to have him back, as the open Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play, against Saint Peter's on Thursday, but Saturday's home game against Loyola (Md.), is more likely.

"It's day-to-day, but I think he's almost ready," said Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro.

Mike McMahon/The Record

Wignot says he's been speaking with Cory Magee (left), about the head injuries.

“He’s been helping me out,” Wignot said.

Magee had his career cut short, after taking an elbow to the head in practice and never fully recovering.

While Magee had a concussion and Wignot does not, there is some similarities, especially with the equilibrium issues in the inner ear.

 “I’m just happy he’s there for me,” Wignot said. “He’s being a good friend."

Siena Athletics

The Siena men's basketball team hasn't looked for any excuses when talking about depth or injuries, so far this season.

The schedule hasn't been kind to the Saints, as of late. Coming off a loss at Georgia Tech, Siena turns around to take on a tough Vermont team, this afternoon at Patrick Gym.

This certainly is a more winnable game than playing against an ACC team, but still without Trenity Burdine (foot) and Owen Wignot's status in double, due to a head injury suffered on opening night, the Saints don't have much depth.

Siena got off to a 2-0 start and then played a very good game against St. Bonaventure, which seemed to encourage the fan base.

Following two setbacks, it will be interesting to see how this young, inexperienced Saints team responds, in what normally is a very tough place to play.

It is encouraging that O.D. Anosike seemed to get on track, down at Georgia Tech. Siena will need a big game from him, if they have any chance of winning today.

ALBANY - Kyle Downey didn't do much sitting around, during Monday night's game, so while I talked to him in the locker room, I figured I'd give him a break and let him sit, rather than standing.

Downey didn't come out of the 64-58 loss to St. Bonaventure, playing all 40 minutes.

"I don't think it's going to be like that for the rest of the year," he said, seated in front of his locker.

It was the third straight game Downey has played more than 30 minutes and has to at least bring up the question that the Saints may eventually get worn down.

With the injuries to Owen Wignot (head) and Trenity Burdine (foot), Siena is only suiting up seven scholarship players and all of them are playing a ton of minutes.

Downey (37.3 min/gm) and Brandon Walters (38.0 min/gm) are both nearly playing entire games.

"I've always said tired is just a mindset," Downey said. "You're only going to be tired, if you allow yourself to be tired. If you're mentally strong, you'll be fine."

By comparison, last season Ryan Rossiter averaged 37.4 minutes per game, less than Walters is playing now.

The season before no player averaged more than Ronald Moore's 36.0 minutes per game, including Edwin Ubiles (30.9), Alex Franklin (32.9) and Rossiter (32.9).

Those teams certainly had more players, so I decided to look at Fran McCaffery's first season, when the team was very short on depth.

During the 2005-06 season, Antoine Jordan (36.4) and Kojo Mensah (35.1) averaged the most minutes.

While Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro doesn't have many other options than to play the guys that are healthy, I'm just beginning to wonder if these players will get worn down before the season is over.

Siena headed out on the road, on Friday, for the team's first road trip.

The Saints (1-0) take on Mount St. Mary's (1-1) on Saturday, at 7 p.m.

The Mountaineers are coached by former Siena assistant Robert Burke, who was in Loudonville under Paul Hewitt, from 1997-2000.

The Saints hope to have senior Owen Wignot available. Wignot suffered a head injury in Wednesday's season-opener against Navy.

Here is a link to the game advance, which appeared in Saturday's paper.

The last time these two teams played, was back in 2010.

Siena had to rally, scoring the final seven points of regulation, to post a 79-76 overtime victory, in Albany.

Ryan Rossiter scored a game-high 29 points, while grabbing 13 rebounds. Alex Franklin added 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Saints.

Siena failed to make a 3-pointer in the game, snapping a streak a 536 games,, dating back to Jan. 15. 1992, with at least one trey made.

SIENA at MOUNT ST. MARY’S
When: Tonight, 7 p.m.
Where: Knott Arena, Emmitsburg, Md.
Radio: TALK 1300-AM (Robert Lee, Tom Huerter)
Records: Siena 1-0. Mount St. Mary’s 1-1.
About the Saints: Siena is looking to start the season 2-0, for the first time in two years. The Saints could be without senior forward Owen Wignot, who suffered a head injury in the season-opener against Navy. Six of the Saints’ eight available scholarship players played 24 or more minutes in the team’s first game.
About the Mountaineers: Mount St. Mary’s is coached by former Siena assistant coach Robert Burke. Burke coached under Paul Hewitt, from 1997-2000 and helped the Saints win a MAAC title, and the 1999 NCAA tournament. Prior to the start of the season, Burke suspended senior Lamar Trice and sophomore Kristijan Krajina, for a violation of team rules.

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS
SIENA
No./Name Pos. Yr. Ht.
5 Evan Hymes G Fr. 5-8
3 Kyle Downey G Sr. 6-3
31 Owen Wignot F Sr. 6-6
1 OD Anosike F Jr. 6-8
0 Brandon Walters C Sr. 6-8

MOUNT ST. MARY’S
No./Name Pos. Yr. Ht.
11 Chad Holley G Fr. 6-0
12 Josh Castellanos G So. 6-1
23 Julian Norfleet G So. 6-2
42 Danny Thompson F Sr. 6-7
35 Raven Barber F Jr. 6-8

ALBANY - Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro knew his team could ill afford another injury.

Bad news came on Wednesday, when the school announced that sophomore point guard Rakeem Brookins will miss the entire season because of a back injury.

Brookins has a bulging disc and a herniated disc in his back and will take a medical redshirt for the 2011-12 season.

"I feel bad for him," Buonaguro said, before Wednesday's practice. "Rahk is a warrior. He had a really good freshman year and was our leader in the backcourt."

Brookins will spend the semester back in Philadelphia, recovering and rehabbing.

Brookins averaged 9.0 points and 4.3 assists per game last season.

"He's very dissapointed that he can't be out on the floor with us," said senior Kyle Downey.

Buonaguro indicated that freshman Evan Hymes will start at point guard, next week against Navy.

Hymes will play alongside seniors Downey, Owen Wignot and Brandon Walters and junior OD Anosike.

Senior Owen Wignot talks about the upcoming season at Tuesday's Sneak Preview in downtown Albany.

ALBANY - Siena junior Owen Wignot didn't play in the second half.

He didn't even make it back out to the bench because of a hard fall he suffered when driving to the basket in the first half.

Wignot was having trouble catching his breath after the fall and that's why the trainers advised him to sit out the remainder of the game.

Wignot had a red bruise on the upper left portion of his chest, but said he think he shouldn't miss any time and will be ready for Manhattan on Friday.

LOUDONVILLE - Siena shoud have stopped one play early during Monday's practice at the ARC.

In the last play, junior Kyle Downey landed on Clarence Jackson's right ankle.

"I hope he's all right," said Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro. "I don't know what his status is. I did talk to him this morning and he said there's some swelling. He's getting treatment."

Buonaguro went on to say that Jackson is "up in the air" to play on Wednesday against Georgia Tech and former Siena coach Paul Hewitt.

Jackson wasn't the only one injured on Monday.

Freshman Trenity Burdine was poked in the eye. While he continued to practice, he experienced double vision and later went to the hospital.

"He had double vision for about seven or eight hours after he got poked in the eye," Buonaguro said. "He was taking to the hospital. The last time I talked to (trainer) Greg Dashnaw, he thought it would be gone today."

Buonaguro said he expects Burdine to be ready to go today, but he hadn't seen him yet.

Coach B also said that Owen Wignot (head) is back

Siena practices at 5:30 p.m. tonight, later than usual because it's the final day of examinations.

The Saints have had a week off since their last game, plenty of time to work on some things.

Buonaguro said the team has focused on three main things over the long layoff - defensive fundamentals, a motion offense and late-game situations.

LOUDONVILLE - It's good thing that the Siena Saints have a few days before their next game because they are starting to look like the walking wounded.

Owen Wignot left the hospital seemingly without a concussion, something that the Siena trainers are still unsure of though because the junior forward has some of the symptoms.

Wignot had a CAT scan and an MRI taken at the hospital.

"He might be out, I'm not sure, it's hard to say," said Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro.

After issues like those of former Siena player Cory Magee and the increased awareness about the problems with concussions, Buonaguro will take it slow with Wignot.

"I think it's a very serious thing, when you have a player who gets hit like that," Buonaguro said. "You have to cover all the bases with it and I'm not going to play him until he's feeling better. There's no way."

Wignot will not practice on Monday and neither will junior guard Kyle Griffin.

Griffin injured his shoulder last Thursday in practice when a teammate ran into him.

Another player who's coming back from an injury is junior Kyle Downey, who played his first nine minutes of the season against UAlbany on Saturday.

Downey was 0-for-4 from the field and had one turnover against the Great Danes.

"I'm a little worried about Kyle," Buonaguro said. "He didn't look right to me."

Buonaguro said he was unsure of if to play Downey, but that the junior guard wanted to get on the floor.

"I don't know if he's ready physically yet," Buonaguro said. "I think he's still a little hurt."

Senior Clarence Jackson has struggles with his shot over the past two games, going 8-for-36 from the field.

Jackson is now shooting just 40 percent from the field, despite averaging 16.9 points per game.

Buonaguro said Monday that Jackson may still be affected by the foot injury he sustained before the start of the season, which is causing him to wear orthotics in his shoes.

"He's not the same," Buonaguro said.

ALBANY - Siena's leading scorer Edwin Ubiles is in street clothes as the rest of his teammates warmup, just minutes before the team's game against Manhattan.

Ubiles is apparently out with a bad back and will be replaced in the starting lineup by sophomore Owen Wignot.

Edwin Ubiles is apparently out tonight against Georgia Tech and sophomore Owen Wignot is taking his place in the starting lineup.

ALBANY - Starters 51, Bench 39.

Clarence Jackson and Ronald Moore: 2 points. Just-in'Love Smith and Conner Fenlon: 6 points.

That clearly won't happen every night, but it showed just how much of a team victory Tuesday's 90-56 victory over Delaware really was.

Every player played at least two minutes and everyone took at least one shot for Siena.

“It feels good to see everyone in motion and everyone in the rhythm of the game,” said sophomore Kyle Downey.

While coach Fran McCaffery said he doesn't consider Downey and fellow soph Owen Wignot young anymore, he was pleased with his freshmen's play, for the most part.

“Denzel (Yard) and Jon (Breeden) in particular were up and down like a lot of freshmen will be and they have to take better care of the basketball,” McCaffery said. “I’m not happy about that at all.”

McCaffery was very happy with O.D. Anosike's 10 rebounds, something he pointed out in the postgame talk to the team.

“I knew I was grabbing some, but I was surprised when (McCaffery) told me I had double digits,” said Anosike, who also had three points and two steals.

Everyone seemed pleased with the young guys' effort.

“They played well,” said senior Alex Franklin. “They stay composed, they did what they were capable of doing, they stuck to their strengths and I thought they really played hard.”

“As you can see, they can contribute,” Moore said. “They put a lot of hard work in at practice and for everybody to get in and contribute is a good thing.”

Downey was happy to get back on track as he scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds on 4-for-7 shooting.

“I think it was just more of a confidence booster for me,” said Downey.

With their next three games on the road, it was a solid team win.

“It’s always good to have a team win for reliance on the road, so we don’t depend on Ron and Eddie (Ubiles) and Alex and Clarence, just those guys,” Downey said. “It’s good to get our whole team involved.”

The Saints went into the Thanksgiving break with a huge victory, 90-56, over Delaware.

Ryan Rossiter had 22 points and seven rebounds and Owen Wignot added 10 for the Saints.

Siena sophomore Kyle Downey's name came up Monday when coach Fran McCaffery was asked about his team's depth.

"I will say this, we have to get Kyle Downey going," McCaffery said. "(Owen) Wignot and (OD) Anosike are fine. Downey, who had a ton of points (in the scrimmage) against Rutgers, is struggling offensively and he's letting it affect him. He's too good of a player, so I'm confident he's going to be fine."

Downey has high expectations after a good freshman year that saw him be a constant contributor off of the bench and an offensive force when really needed.

This year, however, he's shooting just 33 percent (4-12) from the field and 0-for-7 from 3-point distance.

McCaffery said that he knows Downey will come around, but he's letting the slow start affect him too much.

"He's a very consciousness person by nature," McCaffery said. "The thing that he has to remember is he was injured in April, when the season ended, he got hurt, so he didn't play from April to almost the end of September. I think he has an expectation level for himself to be in mid-season form and I think it's unfair for me to expect that and it's unfair of him to expect of himself, despite the fact that he's a perfectionist by nature.

A cause for the slow start could be the fact that Downey fractured the two lower vertebrae in his back in April and now is wearing a protective brace during games.

In the Temple game, Downey was 0-for-1 from the field in nine minutes.

"What he can't do is jack a three that's contested because that will get him sideways," McCaffery said. "He's got to come in and make a couple plays."

Downey also fumbled a pass late when Siena was trying to tie the game, but McCaffery was confident with him on the floor at that point.

"I think in that situation you put your best shooters on the floor," said McCaffery.

From Tuesday's Print Edition

LOUDONVILLE — Ryan Rossiter remembers a conversation he had with his father after the 2007 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship game.

Rossiter had signed to join the Saints the next season, but had just watched Siena fall to Niagara and the Purple Eagles punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

On the drive home from Bridgeport, Conn., to his home on Staten Island, Steve Rossiter told his son the loss could be a good thing for him.

“We were talking about how intense of a game it was and I remember my father saying, ‘it might hurt for them, but it might be a good thing for you because they’ll be hungrier next season,’” Ryan Rossiter said.

Steve then told his youngest son that he would probably play in an NCAA Tournament and it could even be in his very first season.

“I think my dad saw what we had as a team and what we had coming back,” Ryan Rossiter said. “He knew how hard everyone was going to work, so it was definitely a reality and it worked out.”

Ryan played just 22 minutes and had only a single basket in Siena’s two NCAA Tournament games in 2008.

Now, as a sophomore, Ryan is one of the biggest reasons that this Saints squad earned the best seed in program history, a No. 9 and why this Siena team has something last year’s team was lacking; depth.

With Rossiter and fellow sophomore Clarence Jackson emerging into big-time players and the maturation of freshman Kyle Downey and Owen Wignot, this year’s Siena team can go nine players deep.

“I think we can definitely go deeper on the bench (than last season),” Rossiter said. “Josh (Duell) is back, so that will help us down low and I think more guys can contribute at any moment this year.”

Rossiter has posted nine double-doubles this season and leads the team, averaging 7.8 rebounds per game, while Jackson, who earned MAAC Sixth Player of the Year honors, has posted double-digit scoring efforts nine times, including a career-high 28 points against Saint Joseph’s.

“Ryan really got it going early on,” Jackson said. “Then, I fell into it in midseason. Coach (Fran McCaffery) just lets us go out there and play. I think he sees stuff in us and playing is only going to make us both better players.”

Jackson has done a good job filling the role of graduated senior Tay Fisher, who was instant offense off the bench, especially in the huge upset of Vanderbilt.

“You think about his production per minute played and he might be number one in the country,” McCaffery said. “Eight points per game in 14 minutes, I don’t know if anybody does that.”

If Jackson played 31 minutes, or the average of the Siena starters this season, he’d be averaging more than 17 points per game.

“We only lost Tay last year and we got more scorers with me and Kyle and Josh coming off the bench,” Jackson said. “We’re a very deep team. There’s no selfishness, everyone is able to gel and we’re able to be successful.”

Downey and Wignot have both had good games already this year and showed they’re capable of contributing in big situations.

Downey practically won the game at Marist back in January, with a career-high 15 points and two huge 3-pointers in the final 47 seconds of regulation, while Wignot didn’t miss a shot (6-6) in the three games at the MAAC Tournament.

“I don’t know if you can prepare yourself for what they’re walking into,” said McCaffery about his freshman playing in the NCAA Tournament. “You want them to enjoy it, but understand that we need both of them on Friday night.”

The Saints won’t be flying under the radar this time around after what happened last March in Tampa, Fla., but the added depth should help them out against their first round opponent Ohio State.

“With the emergence of Clarence, myself coming off the bench as a senior and some good freshman that are ready to play at any moment, I think that helps us a lot,” said Duell, a senior co-captain.

Rossiter, who has moved into Duell’s starting role this season, is trying to make sure he doesn’t take both he and his teams successes for granted.

“Not too many people get a chance to play in one NCAA Tournament, but to play in two in a row is great,” said Rossiter

ALBANY - Kenny Hasbrouck said he airballed the first two shots in warmup, saying he wasn't quite used to seeing no curtain covering part of the upper deck of the arena in downtown Albany, but that certainly didn't slow him once the game started. 

Hasbrouck made his first shot, a deep 3-pointer and from there scored 16 points in helping to lead the Saints into the semifinals. 

"Once we put the ball in his hands, he got real aggressive offensively," said Siena coach Fran McCaffery. 

Hasbrouck played a lot at the point in the first half because of the foul trouble of Ronald Moore, but ran the offense effectively. 

While McCaffery was quick to praise the defense, Hasbrouck wouldn't go as far to say that all of the worries were taken care of because of this one good performance. 

"If we do it two days in a row, I think it would," Hasbrouck said. "We have to keep it up."

If you thought you saw mohawks on Alex Franklin and Clarence Jackson, you were correct. 

"I just wanted to try something different," said Franklin, whose mohawk wasn't affected by the hard foul from Robert Goldsberry. "(Jackson) and I were the only ones who followed through with it though."

Neither McCaffery nor a Siena player would come right out and say their play was different after the hard foul, but here was there responses. 

"A little bit," said McCaffery when asked if the hard foul provided any kind of a spark to his team. 

"A little bit," echoed Franklin only moments later. 

Siena beat Fairfield both times this season, but McCaffery was quick to praise both the Stags head coach Ed Cooley and their players, following the win. 

"I think Ed Cooley has done as fine of a coaching job as there is in the country," McCaffery said. 

Cooley has had to deal with losing preseason first team selection Jonathan Han and also with an assortment of injuries. 

"I give a lot of credit to their players for continuing to believe when it would have been real easy to pack it in," McCaffery continued. 

There's no doubt Siena will be focused and prepared to return to the championship game. 

"They played us hard both games and we just have to come out and do what we have to do to get the job done," said freshman Owen Wignot. 

If Saturday night was any indication of the type of nights sophomore guard Clarence Jackson can have then Siena opponents beware.

Jackson scored a game-high 27 points and shot 7-for-10 from beyond the arc to lead Siena past Union College 99-47 on Saturday night at the ARC.

"I felt like I played really well," Jackson said. "I got really comfortable in there."

Siena coach Fran McCaffery was happy with Jackson's defense and getting on the glass as well as his scoring and even wanted to keep him in longer.

"He hasn’t played extended minutes," McCaffery said. "He has to understand he’s going to play extended minutes. When he’s playing well offensively, I’m going to leave him out there, so he’s got to play through that little bit of fatigue and not break down."

Jackson told me following the game that he's hoping to fill part of the void missing from Tay Fisher's graduation - either providing a spark off the bench or starting if need be.

Jackson's confidence seems to be high and that's good for Siena.

"I just try to shoot it with confidence and it’s going to go in," Jackson said.

Senior captain Kenny Hasbrouck thinks that with consistency Jackson will be able to have some big nights this season.

"Him and Ryan (Rossiter) are basically the future of Siena right now," Hasbrouck said.

Rossiter didn't play because of injuries in the legs (knee) - neither did Josh Duell (foot) or Cory Magee (concussion).

Because of that, freshman Owen Wignot got a start, which he said he was surprised about when he found out two hours before tip-off.

"I was shocked, but I just tried to go out and do my best," Wignot said.

Wignot scored 11 points and was a positive according to McCaffery as was fellow freshman Kyle Downey, who scored 19.

"It really wasn’t anything I did," Downey said. "I just hit open shots. Everyone found open shots for me, so it was my teammates that helped me do that."

If that's not doing anything then I'm not sure what I did on the sidelines really doing nothing.

Downey said he was happy to get the nerves out in an exhibition game, but very excited that there were plenty of people there and there was a game atmosphere.

"That’s one thing I love about Siena, our support is amazing," Downey said. "Even for an exhibition game we had probably three of four thousand people there. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like during the season."

I'll give Downey a pass since he's a freshman...the crowd was good, but it was only 1,622.

Speaking of the crowd, it was lively, especially at the beginning.

"That’s the first time I’ve ever played in the ARC in front of a crowd like that against another team," Hasbrouck said. "It was a fun time. It was a great time for everybody, for the Siena community."

McCaffery said afterwards that they would consider doing this again and he much prefers this to a intrasquad scrimmage like the Green/Gold game that Siena has had in years past.

"I don’t like the Green/Gold game," McCaffery said. "It really serves no purpose whatsoever. I like exhibition games because it serves as a dress rehearsal."

Edwin Ubiles also scored 19 points and Ronald Moore had seven steals in 17 minutes.

The first game is only nine days away though and Boise State will look much different than Union.

"We have some work to do with the schedule that we have coming up," McCaffery said. "I think we’re making progress."

I'll have some more notes from the scrimmage tomorrow.

The Siena basketball team kicked off their season with a function downtown and an introduction of the players for both the women's and men's basketball teams.

The Saints, who were the preseason No. 1 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference last year, surely will be again and senior captain Kenny Hasbrouck will almost surely be the preseason Player of the Year in the conference.

Hasbrouck, who along with fellow senior Josh Duell are the two captains, was asked on Monday if he feels like a senior now.

“I feel like I’ve been here for eight years,” Hasbrouck responded. “I feel like I’m getting old. I came here the summer before my freshman year and everybody on campus keeps saying, ‘oh, you’re still here.’”

Siena coach Fran McCaffery introduced his team, including newcomers Owen Wignot, Kyle Downey and walk-on Connor Fenlon (Fenlon's father Joe is a friend of McCaffery and allowed Siena to practice at Tampa Prep during their time in Tampa at the NCAA Tournament in March).

Fenlon did average six points a game and seven assists last year for his father and the Terrapins of Tampa Prep.

Here's what a couple of the veterans said about some of the new guys.

“They’re hard workers and they know there are very high expectations,” junior point guard Ronald Moore said. “There’re getting a sense of how the community and the fans are behind us. They’re excited and as long as they work hard, they’ll find their way.”

“Owen is a great athlete,” Hasbrouck said. “He’s a running rebounder. I think he has to adjust to the college level a little better and has to gain a little weight. I think Kyle Downey is ready right away. He’s real crafty, like his brother, who played for Canisius (that's Kevin Downey). I think he’s more athletic and a little quicker. He’s focused and he works harder than anyone on the team, including myself. He’s in the gym every day, sometimes two times a day.”

Also, Hasbrouck was asked about sophomore Ryan Rossiter, who made waves of progress in Italy during the team's summer trip and seems poised for a big year.

“He hasn’t been a surprise,” Hasbrouck said. “He’s just showing his potential.”

Also, McCaffery mentioned that Erik Harris is now on full-scholarship and he said that this season, Harris' jersey will have his name on it, which it didn't last season.

Look for more in Tuesday's paper.