Head Coach: Keith Urgo (38-28); 3rd season
Theme song: Sing by Blur
Last Season: No team’s season started with optimism that turned sour quicker than Fordham’s. Fans trolled themselves (including me) into thinking continued success was here to stay immediately. The red flags came on opening night against Wagner when the team needed overtime to beat a team they probably should’ve handled in regulation.
From there on, Fordham dropped games to NJIT and Central Connecticut. They had nice wins against North Texas, George Washington, and Saint Bonaventure on the road, but they could not win games at home for whatever reason.
The season ended when Saint Bonaventure came through the Bronx on Valentine’s Day: The Bonnies ripped out Fordham’s heart in what was an embarrassing 85-67 defeat at the hands of Noel Brown’s 18 points, and Assa Esamvous going 7-7 from three. For those keeping track at home, that was the backup center and the sixth scoring option.
The Rams showcased the potential they could’ve had in the A10 tournament, beating Davidson in overtime and taking VCU to the brink as fans wondered aloud, ‘Where was this team all season?’
Attempting to replace Darius Quisenberry, Khalid Moore, and Rostik Noyvitski was an uphill battle. The reinforcements they brought were inconsistent or derailed by injuries at some point. Key in-house talents did not grow how fans expected them to as sophomores—some didn’t even end up playing altogether. One could construct several factors as to why this team wasn’t successful.
An outcry from fans demanded things change for this season. Urgo went to work this season with solid portal work and assembled an excellent class from the high school ranks. On paper, the team is more skilled than last year and more profound in positions where they were very thin. How the team will finish is up for discussion, but Urgo has taken steps to reload his group into a competitive A10 unit.
Arrivals: Matt Zona*, Ryan Pettis (F), Alexsander Pachucki (F), Jackie Johnson III (UNLV), Jaden Smith (F), Kingston Price (F)
Departures: Elijah Gray (T), Angel Montas (T), Antrell Charlton, Kyle Rose, Yole Ackuwovo, Noah Best (T), Ed Kull (hired at St. John’s)
Returnees: Japhet Medor*, Will Richardson, Abdou Tsimbila*, Zach Riley, Romad Dean, Josh Rivera, Jahmere Tripp
Potential Strengths: Defense and resilience. That’s the mentality head coach Keith Urgo preaches to his team. Fordham had a “down year” for the standards they hold on that end, but finishing as the 123rd team in adjusted defense is still decent while finishing 34th in steal percentage and 44th in block percentage (Kenpom).
While they did let up the fifth most points per game in the A10, Fordham was second in rebounds per contest (37.1), second in offensive boards (13), and sixth in defensive rating (102.5). With the Rams returning (and adding) some extra size, expect the defense to return to a top-100-ish ranking. Fordham has a lot of lineup flexibility, which is ideal since Urgo gets creative with substitutions.
Fordham secured a high-major transfer in Matt Zona, formerly of Notre Dame and Will Richardson’s high school teammate. Beyond his potential on-court production, Zona served as a captain for Notre Dame as a reserve player. Standing at 6’9, Zona has shown the ability to knock down the long-range jumper at 32% while being a +2.2 on defense last season at Notre Dame.
They also landed Jackie Johnson III, formerly of Duquesne and UNLV. Johnson is a career 35% shooter from three and 74% from the line; he also includes electric speed, which could translate into high point totals. The Mountain West was one of the best conferences in the sport last season; coupled with UNLV’s firm out-of-conference schedule, Johnson should readjust nicely to A10 play.
Fordham’s recruiting class will undoubtedly be competing for playing time right away. Four-star big man Jaden Smith headlines the class, who averaged 8.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, and five blocks per game as a senior in high school. Ryan Pettis, Alexsander Pachucki, and Kingston Price are the three guards who also make up this class.
Pettis ended up being one of the top recruits from California with a fantastic first step and almost unlimited range. Pachuki is more of a movement shooter for whom you can run screen action, and Price plays a traditional point guard role—given how extensive this year’s rotation is, I expect Price to perhaps utilize his redshirt.
As for the returnees, this year’s seniors include one of the nation’s best shot-blockers: Abdou Tsimbila will use his COVID-year to anchor the defense. Last season, he finished 9th in the country in block percentage (11.3) and 64th in offensive rebounding rate (12.7%).
Other seniors include Zach Riley and Japhet Medor, the latter receiving an additional season of eligibility. Riley’s minutes have fluctuated while at Fordham, serving more in the “break glass in case of emergency” role. Now a senior, he’ll take pressure off other guards with his shooting and secondary ball handling. The Medor case presents more questions than answers, which I will discuss later, but retaining a speedy sixth-year guard can be helpful.
Juniors Josh Rivera and Romad Dean will have vital roles in shaping this team’s identity. Dean took significant leaps forward as the starting three last season. His increased playing time saw him become a reliable shooter from three at 33%, hit free throws at 64%, and be a net positive on both ends of the floor. Rivera is similar to Dean in terms of athleticism and finishing skills, but he lost momentum with an injury mid-season.
Jahmere Tripp’s progression is critical as he enters his sophomore season. His numbers don’t tell much, but his frame and point-forward style could be a matchup nightmare for opposing guards. As he takes a step forward, he needs to tighten the handle, improve the jumper, and get the playing time to become a factor.
Potential Weaknesses: Under no uncertain terms, Fordham’s “offense” in the last 20-plus seasons has been culpable (2005-2006 was the last good season; Fordham finished 84th in Kenpom adjusted offense that year). The lack of unproductive offense stems from when they first joined the conference in 1995 with Nick Macarchuk as head coach, and it has become an untamable epidemic infecting every coach since then.
Fordham’s shooting numbers on Kenpom ranked the following last season:
Effective Field Goal percentage: 46.7% (322nd in the nation)
Two-point percentage: 46.3% (322nd in the nation)
Three-point percentage: 31.5% (297th in the nation)
Free throw percentage: 66.2% (339th in the nation)
For a team that prides a chunk of its offensive strategy on hitting free throws, going from 74.1% as a team in 2022-23 to one of the worst in the nation is alarming. Fordham also enjoyed taking 41.7 threes per game, 70th in the country, which were not falling.
The Rams need to be able to hit shots at efficient clips rather than accumulating volume. If they have games where they go, say, 8-15 from range and hit their free throws, that generates extra wins. The focus must be solely on free throws and preaching good shot selection—those alone fix many of Fordham’s offensive woes.
Medor’s role is somewhat of a mystery for this team, and depending on which Fordham fan you ask, you’ll get almost every opinion on the spectrum about him. If I were to poll most fans on his role, most folks would agree he should come off the bench.
The reason is that not only did his assist rate plummet from 28.2% to 20.7%, or his fouls drawn per 40 also fell from 6.6% to 4.9%, but he ultimately shot 35% at the rim this past season. Nobody disagrees that he can get into the middle of the defense with his speed, and his court vision is fine despite his assist totals saying otherwise.
Pinning all the issues on Medor is unfair because Fordham was so in and out collectively on that side. The most prominent issue was the lack of leadership—this isn’t a diminishment of Medor, but he could not do it alone. With the new shakeup of the team, Medor coming off the bench is a significant role for him. Fordham’s bench will be inexperienced for the most part, and Medor could be the guy who will lead that unit. Fordham could get more out of him in a reduced role, especially with the lineup flexibility Urgo will have.
Another significant loss is Ed Kull leaving for St. John’s vacant athletic director role. With his fundraising prowess and unique marketing strategy, Kull played a vital role in reviving Fordham athletics, specifically basketball. Kull trusted Urgo to lead the program following Kyle Neptune’s departure, in which it paid immediate dividends. His foresight, enthusiasm, and drive will be sorely missed.
X-Factor: Will Richardson has a role to play as a junior. His shooting took a hit last season—33/29/67 were his shooting splits—also struggling with the role that was asked of him, which appeared to be scorer AND organizer. With Johnson III in the backcourt and Medor returning, Richardson can focus solely on scoring the ball while being secondary in ball-handling duties. Fordham’s offensive potential is up in the air. Still, if you ask me how they’ll produce points to win games, I see Johnson III and Zona leading the charge, given they come from superior conferences. And while the splits weren’t there, Richardson should find his way into this scoring trio, given he’s more wired to score than create—also, by default, Richardson has the most experience in this system at Fordham.
Outlook: Since the new regime took over, Fordham has quietly become one of the more polarizing teams to evaluate. Most put them towards the bottom, others put them in outer space, and then do what I did last offseason. As someone who has been around the program, they won’t repeat what they did last season (14th in the official league poll is nuts). Urgo’s teams will compete in every game. Fordham added much-needed leadership and offensive skills, which should take pressure off the defense to drive the car. The question becomes how these guys evolve on offense. The OOC, especially in November, could be rough sledding because they will play at least four teams with hopes for the NCAA tournament. So long as they are ready by A10 play, Fordham should be in the thick of it all.
