Brenton Butler scored 18 points in Fordham's loss Friday night. (Photo courtesy of Joe DiBari, Fordham University's Sports Information Director)

BY CHARLES COSTELLO

The familiar faces were joined by new bodies, and a renewed sense of optimism could be felt inside the Rose Hill Gym. The night would end in disappointment, though, like so many others have of late.

After leading 38-30, Fordham was unable to stop Maine’s offensive attack for much of the second half, as the Black Bears beat the Rams, 76-73, before a crowd of 2,109 at the Rose Hill Gym in the season-opener for both teams.

“We still have to learn how to win,” Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg said afterward. “Sometimes, younger guys have to learn the hard way.”

A furious comeback late nearly turned this tough loss into a memorable win. Trailing 76-69 with just over a minute to play, Herb Tanner made two free throws after a steal to give the Rams hope. After a traveling violation on Maine, a result of Fordham’s full-court pressure, Fontan, after previously missing a layup, converted on his next attempt to cut the lead to three with 44.9 seconds remaining. With no timeouts left, Fordham would get the ball back, down 76-73 with 10.1 seconds on the clock. Fontan took the inbounds pass, dribbled down the court, and missed a three-pointer from the top of the key as time expired. Fontan would end up scoring 13 points down the stretch, connecting on two 3-pointers and a traditional three-point play on three consecutive possessions. A technical foul on Whittenburg after a foul was called on Tanner didn’t stop the Rams. They had the momentum. The final shot just didn’t fall.

“We just didn’t make shots, and they beat us to every loose ball,” Whittenburg said. “You have to give Maine the credit for the win.”

At times, the Rams did make shots. Like when Brenton Butler knocked down three consecutive 3-pointers in the first half, or Fontan’s surge late. But in the end it wasn’t enough. Largely due to missed assignments and lackluster play on the defensive end, Fordham watched as Maine took over the game in the second half, eventually building a 16-point lead before the Rams made their comeback.

“They have to learn the urgency of rotating [on defense],” Whittenburg said. “I never talk to them about offense. I talk to them about defense. If they concentrate on defense, the offense will take care of itself. When we were scrambling around at the end and our defense got better, we started to score.

“We weren’t patient, we panicked a little bit. That’s part of being young. But we showed some character by fighting back. We had a chance there. You can see that there were some good things. We’re still a young basketball team. You can see the youth. Our veteran guys have to be more productive. [They] have to lead the charge.”

Fontan finished with a team-high 25 points, while Butler scored 18, and Chris Gaston added 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Freshman guard Lance Brown, who missed some time during the preseason due to a knee injury, did not play.

“He hadn’t practiced and I just didn’t know if he was ready,” Whittenburg said. “I have to wait maybe a few more practices and then he’ll be ready to play. I’m watching him and I’m thinking, ‘Is he really ready for that? Let’s give him a couple more days.’”

BY CHARLES COSTELLO

If you watch the Fordham Rams practice, or talk with the team’s players and coaches, you immediately get the sense that things are a whole lot different inside the Rose Hill Gym this year. And coming off a 3-25 season that ranks as one of the worst in school history, the optimism and excitement that these Rams exhibit is most certainly a welcomed site and sound.

The 2009-10 season tips off tonight for the Fordham Rams. (Photo courtesy of Fordham SID Joe DiBari)

“The kids that we have now just really enjoy being here,” head coach Dereck Whittenburg said. “Everybody’s on the same page. If we can keep outside distractions away from the team, I think the kids will be fine and our chemistry will remain the same.”

It’s not just chemistry. The Rams are deeper and more talented than they were a year ago. Gone are Chris Bethel, Mike Moore, Luke Devine, Zach Wing, Trey Blue and Lamar Thomas. They’re replaced by freshmen Chris Gaston, Lance Brown, Fahro Alihodzic, Brennen Melvin, Danny Thompson, and Nicholas Checovich, and sophomore Khiry Gordon.

“We have personnel. We have more guys who we can put in the game,” Whittenburg said. “The chemistry’s better, the talent is better, [and] we’re better athletically. Potentially we have a whole lot more than we had last year. And we have depth. Every night we’re going to see nine or 10 guys out there, so everybody understands they have an opportunity to play.”

One of those guys who will play a lot is Gaston, who possesses that rare combination of size, athleticism, and talent. Still, Gaston just wants to fit in and help the team win games.

“I don’t feel a lot of pressure,” he said. “I’m just coming here to do what I do, to help in any way possible.”

And then there are the returning players: Jio Fontan, Brenton Butler, Herb Tanner, Alberto Estwick, and Jacob Green have more pieces around them this year.

“We feel good about the returning guys,” Whittenburg said. “We think they’ve gotten better. They’ve definitely gotten stronger.

“We have size and potentially six guards to play around with. We have a lot to work with. They certainly have to prove themselves. But at least I can put [different guys into] the game. Last year we were playing with walk-ons. You have to have enough personnel. You have to have numbers in your program and we have that now.”

Fordham opens with 12 non-conference games before the Atlantic 10 schedule starts on January 6. Three of the first four games are at home, and given what took place last year, Whittenburg understands the importance of getting off to a good start.

Chris Gaston, going up for a basket in a recent scrimmage, is one of the new additions who will be unveiled tonight. (Photo courtesy of Joe DiBari)

“You want to establish yourself at home,” he said. “When you lose, people come into your building and think they have a chance to win. That edge that we built [in seasons past], we have to get that back. We’ll find out a lot about where we are, and what we can become, real quickly. I think [tonight's] game is important for us to see how our team responds. We have to have some urgency about getting off to a great start, and it starts [tonight].

As difficult as last season was, these Rams insist that it’s all behind them, that they’re only looking ahead to what they see as a bright future.

“As a coach, I look at it as a competitor, as a chance to redeem myself,” Whittenburg said. “We have to step it up and erase what happened last year and go forward. Hopefully [that's] the mentality that the team carries. That it means something to those guys to come back and redeem themselves and come out and try to have a really good season.”

Butler, who missed most of last season with a high ankle injury, agrees.

“We all learned a lot about ourselves, about our team [last season],” he said. “Even though that’s something that you don’t want to go through, it made us closer, and it makes us want to fight for each other even that much more.”

Whittenburg, like most coaches, wouldn’t commit to a specific number of wins that he’d like for his team to get. But he did talk about his goals for the new season.

“When we won a national championship (at North Carolina State) Jimmy [Valvano] never talked about how many games we were going to win. We just ended up winning,” he said. “What we want to concentrate on is [this]: Can we play hard every day? Can we go out and defend every day? Can we be unselfish and share the ball offensively and execute? If we do those things the wins will come.”

Jio Fontan (Photo courtesy of Fordham SID Joe DiBari)

BY CHARLES COSTELLO

Jio Fontan is right where he wants to be. Fortunately for the Rams, that means back at Fordham for his sophomore season.

Following a very eventful and dramatic summer, Fontan decided to return to Rose Hill, after he had asked several times to be released from his Fordham scholarship. After competing for the Puerto Rico Under 19 National Team, and being denied his release by the university on multiple occasions, Fontan decided to stay. Now back at Rose Hill, he’s at peace with his decision to return.

“I’m really happy. I feel great right now,” Fontan said. “This summer I got a chance to go away and get out of the country for two months, clear my head, and grow up as a man. I feel like I made the right decision [to return to Fordham]. I’m here and I’m ready to take off.”

Last winter, Fontan was named to the Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball All-Rookie Team. That followed a season where Fontan led the Rams in scoring (15.3 points per game) and assists (4.7 per game). Fontan scored 429 points on the year, the third most for a Fordham freshman in school history, and his 132 assists were the most ever for a Fordham freshman. He ranked ninth in the Atlantic 10 in scoring and fourth in assists. Fontan led all Atlantic 10 freshmen in both scoring and assists.

Personal accomplishments aside, as Fordham prepares for its opener against Maine on Friday night at the Rose Hill Gym, Fontan said what matters most is winning basketball games.

“I don’t want personal accolades,” he said. “I’m not trying to play for awards and numbers. If I don’t get the win it’s not really that important to me.”

And winning is something he’s determined to experience more often. Last year’s squad suffered through a rough 3-25 season, but the sophomore point guard has a renewed sense of optimism heading into this campaign, and he understands his role.

“I’m a leader this year. It’s something I really look forward to,” Fontan said. “Going oversees to Puerto Rico is something that changed my life. I understand the meaning of being a leader [after] going over there and being a leader to guys who didn’t speak my language. I know what it takes to win. I have leadership qualities. I have guys who believe in me and see that I can help them and teach them. Off the court I’m there for them as a big brother. I just want to be a leader everywhere. Whatever I need to do to win.”

As for what took place during the offseason, when people were convinced he had packed his bags for good, Fontan would prefer to focus on what’s ahead, and not look back.

“I’ve let it go myself,” he said. “Anything that happened yesterday happened yesterday. I’ve learned from everything. I haven’t brought any negative energy with me. I’m positive about everything. I’m already looking at it as a new season. That’s all I care about right now.”

His head coach, Dereck Whittenburg, is thrilled to have his star guard return, and insists that his teammates feel the same way.

“He was always welcome back,” Whittenburg said. “In our eyes he never left. In our eyes he just got bad advice and he admitted to that. He never said he was unhappy. Sometimes you get influenced by somebody outside. He’s back with us and he’s happy. The way he approached coming back is a tribute to how good of a kid he is and how he matured. He didn’t want to come back unless the team wanted to accept him back. He was invited back by us (coaches), but he was very concerned that the other guys (players) wanted him back, and they did. We had no problem with that.”

Back from Fordham where I, along with the Daily News’ Sean Brennan and WFUV’s Brian Clarke, did interviews with Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg, point guard Jio Fontan, guard Brenton Butler, and forward Chris Gaston.

I’ll post stories, including my Fordham preview, in the next couple of days.

Also, check the Daily News for Brennan’s upcoming previews on all the local college basketball teams. And read his Basket Case blog for additional stories on area teams and players.

Charles Costello

Chris Bethel's playing days were cut short last season due to a knee injury. (File photo courtesy of Fordham SID Joe DiBari)

BY CHARLES COSTELLO

Sometimes, things don’t go as planned. That was certainly the case last year for Fordham’s Chris Bethel.

The former Ram went down with a right knee injury on Jan. 31 in a game against the St. Louis Billikens at the Rose Hill Gym. It was an injury that would sideline him for the rest of the season. Over the course of the team’s final nine games, he would watch nine losses from his seat on the team’s bench. As hard as that was for Bethel, he looked on with pride as his team battled through adversity.

“It was real difficult last year,” Bethel said following Fordham’s exhibition game with Mercy last Thursday night. “We had a lot of injuries, but we still stuck in there. We did what coach (head coach Dereck Whittenburg) said, and tried to get as many wins as we could.

“The team reacted great. We never put our heads down. We kept it up and now I think we have a great team. I’m so excited [for this year's team].”

In 19 games last year, Bethel averaged 10.3 points and 6.5 rebounds. He was the Rams’ third-leading scorer and their top rebounder. Still, he recalls happier times for Fordham basketball.

“The days of Marcus Stout, Bryant Dunston, Michael Binns, and Sebastian [Greene] – those were the good old days,” Bethel said. “We had a good home crowd.”

Though Bethel’s basketball season would end on that winter night back in January, his Fordham career continues. Bethel has returned to Rose Hill for the fall semester and is expected to graduate in December. He speaks like someone content with his accomplishments, a person grateful for the opportunities Fordham gave him. And he is thankful for his time on the court, and the people who helped him grow along the way.

“The coaching staff is great,” Bethel said about Whittenburg, as well as assistant coaches Jared Grasso, Steve Treffiletti, and Travis Lyons. “They’re great people. They definitely helped me out.

“A lot of people helped me. Coach Whittenburg definitely helped me out academically. He told me to keep pushing. Frank McLaughlin definitely helped me.”

That help, and Bethel’s own determination, are about to be rewarded.

Alberto Estwick scored 13 points in Fordham's win over Mercy. (Photo courtesy of Fordham SID Joe DiBari)

BY CHARLES COSTELLO

An exhibition game might not count in the standings, and unless you’re a Division II Le Moyne upsetting Syracuse, nobody is going to remember what you did in the preseason. But when you’re the Fordham Rams, coming off a 3-25 season, a win is a win. Therefore, the Rams’ 97-43 thrashing of the Mercy Mavericks Thursday night at the Rose Hill Gym was just what the team needed.

“I’m excited about the win,” point guard Jio Fontan said. “I’m just excited that the new guys got a chance to get on the court and finally see what college basketball is like. I remember how that felt for me last year.”

One new guy, in particular, made quite an impression. Freshman forward Chris Gaston was, quite frankly, the best player on the court last night, though credit must go to Fontan as he set up Gaston all night with scoring chances. Gaston scored 27 points in 25 minutes, shooting 12-of-17 from the floor and grabbing 17 rebounds, seven on the offensive end. He’ll face better opponents in the very near future, but Gaston continues to impress.

“He has the potential,” head coach Dereck Whittenburg said. ”He still has a lot to learn, but obviously you can see he has the potential.”

Fordham jumped out to an 11-0 lead, and Gaston scored 13 of the Rams’ first 29 points. The Rams were effective in transition, showed great chemistry and teamwork on both ends of the court, and they dominated on the boards. Fordham outrebounded Mercy, 65-29. The Rams shot 54.4 percent from the floor, led 53-23 at halftime, and cruised to the blowout win thanks to a balanced attack. In addition to Gaston, Danny Thompson (15 points, 11 rebounds), Alberto Estwick (13 points), Khiry Gordon (12 points, eight rebounds), Fontan (nine points, seven assists), Herb Tanner (seven points), and Fahro Alihodzic (seven points, six rebounds) led the Rams.

“It’s good to see some of the new guys, knowing that we have some guys to put in the game,” Whittenburg said. ”It’s refreshing that we have some bodies. It was important to see what some guys can give us. We have some size and we have the ability to run. We have some things we found out we can do [and] a lot of things to work on.”

Fordham opens its season next Friday against Maine. A chance for the Rams to begin to erase the memories of last season.

“Our chemistry’s better,” Whittenburg said. ”We have to grow, and we’ll [have] some growing pains. But I like what I saw today.”

Just got back from Rose Hill where Fordham defeated Mercy, 97-43, in an exhibition game. I’ll have a detailed report posted tomorrow, including comments from head coach Dereck Whittenburg, point guard Jio Fontan, and former Ram Chris Bethel.

For now, here’s some quick notes from tonight’s game:

Chris Gaston was the star of the night for the Rams. The freshman forward scored 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the floor. He grabbed 12 rebounds (seven offensive), ran the floor well, and dominated down low and in the paint. Jio Fontan (nine points, seven assists) had a very solid game, and his chemistry with teammates, especially Gaston, continues to be impressive. Danny Thompson (15 points), Alberto Estwick (13 points), Khiry Gordon (12 points), and Herb Tanner (7 points) performed well for the Rams. Fordham led 53-23 at halftime.

Lance Brown continues to sit out with a knee injury. The freshman recently had his knee scoped and all signs point to him being ready opening night. Meanwhile, Brenton Butler, who did not play in last Saturday’s scrimmage because the coaching staff wants to bring him back slowly from the concussion he suffered, was not with the team tonight because he has the flu.

Charles Costello

Freshman Danny Thompson playing for the Maroon team during yesterday's scrimmage. (Photo courtesy of Joe DiBari, Fordham University's Sports Information Director)

I had the chance to talk to Fordham head coach Dereck Whittenburg following the Rams’ intrasquad scrimmage yesterday at the Rose Hill Gym. Here are Whittenburg’s thoughts as his team prepares for the start of the regular season, now less than two weeks away:

On what he is able to see in an intrasquad scrimmage:

“You can see some progress. You can see what some of the new guys are capable of doing in front of a little bit of a crowd. Just to see if guys are understanding of what they need to do [with] some of the things we put in. There were some good things out there. We still have a lot of work [to do], but there were a lot of positive things.”

On the positives he took from the scrimmage:

“We played harder. The defense was a little bit better than it was earlier [in the preseason]. Herbie (Tanner) and Jio (Fontan) did a nice job of running both of the teams and getting us organized.”

On the team’s returning players:

“I think our returning guys have improved. We’ve certainly gotten stronger and we’re in much better shape. [With] the new guys we have some size and athleticism. It’s just going to be a work in progress putting it all together, but we have some pieces to work with and I’m excited to work with this group.

On freshman forward Chris Gaston:

“He’s got some ways to go but you can certainly see the talent. You can see his ability. He’s got to continue to get better.”

On his players buying into the system:

“I saw that especially today. The chemistry is certainly much better. The talent is better. We’ve got to continue to build on that and if we do we have a chance to be a good team.”

On improvements he’d like to see before the start of the regular season:

“Our whole thing is playing hard and defending. If we do those things it will give us a chance every night.”

On the excitement of beginning a new season:

“I’m excited because we want to get back and compete. We have a lot to prove. We want to make progress. We’ve got to get back to being competitive, winning games, and really growing as a team because our future is bright.”

Update on Injuries to Lance Brown and Brenton Butler

Whittenburg told me that freshman guard Lance Brown is one and a half to two weeks away from returning, but that he had a scope and he’s doing much better. He also said that he’s trying to bring Brenton Butler back slowly from his concussion.

Charles Costello