Tonight, head coach Keith Urgo makes his return to the Fordham sidelines as the Rams host Rhode Island. Wednesday Night’s matchup against Rhody marks Coach Urgo’s first game back from his 4-game suspension, which was self-imposed by Fordham consistent with an NCAA investigation into potential recruiting violations.
Following Fordham’s loss to UMass three weeks ago, Coach Urgo highlighted noticeable improvements in Fordham’s toughness, a cornerstone of his coaching style for the past three seasons. Moving forward, Coach Urgo explained how continued progress in physicality, as well as in playing more together, would be a key priority moving forward. Naturally, one would assume that without Urgo at the helm, this forward momentum would be considerably stifled, if not halted completely.
However, through 4 games without Urgo, associate head coach Tray Woodall led the Rams to their first two wins in Atlantic 10 play, bookended by two single-digit losses. While still 5 games under .500 in the Atlantic 10, Fordham’s performance through their last four games shows clear improvement from their first 5.
Throughout this four-game stretch, I have had several opportunities to talk to interim HC Tray Woodall on where the Rams have improved over the last four games, and how they can carry said improvements into the second half of A10 play.
Coach Woodall’s Interim Run
- 1/22: 70-66 Loss @ Loyola Chicago
- 1/26: 65-63 Win vs. Duquesne
- 1/29: 88-72 Win @ La Salle
- 2/1: 75-73 Loss @ St. Bonaventure
Preserving Momentum
Woodall began his interim HC tenure with a 70-66 road loss to Loyola Chicago. Despite the loss, Coach Woodall highlighted improved rebounding, ball movement, and what he described as “culture plays.”
“I saw the toughness throughout the whole game,” Woodall said in an interview a day after the loss. “Our guys [were] doing exactly what our game plan was; guys taking charges, [making] culture plays, [taking] dives on the defensive end. We saw that from our guys, and I think it’s encouraging.”
Fordham outrebounded Loyola Chicago 28-25, outscoring the Ramblers 13-4 on second chance opportunities. The Rams also did a solid job at countering a tough post offense from Loyola with 9 made three pointers. However, Loyola was able to counter Fordham’s toughness by winning the turnover battle, scoring 23 points off 18 Rams TOs.
Over the last four games, Fordham has outrebounded their opponents by an average of 5 RPG. Ball movement has also improved considerably, checking off that second point of focus Coach Urgo highlighted after the UMass game. Fordham averaged 16.3 assists per game over this four-game span, up nearly 5 APG compared to their first 5 games in conference play. This unselfish, fluid offense has given Fordham several of their most efficient performances from the field since December. Against La Salle, Fordham made 12 3-pointers, their most since hitting 14 against Georgian Court way back in November.
Leading the way on offense are Fordham’s backcourt stars in Jackie Johnson III and Japhet Medor. Through all 9 games in conference play, Johnson and Medor have averaged 18.1 PPG and 15.9 PPG, respectively. As two of three players on the roster averaging over 30 minutes per game in A10 play (Romad Dean being the third), nearly every play runs through either Johnson or Medor. In his second season with the Rams, Medor has fully embraced the floor general role, recording the highest assist averages of his career. In A10 play last year, Medor recorded 1.6 APG. This year? He’s brought that all the way up to 4.8.
Rebuilding Defensive Roots
As Fordham finds their shot, they are also taking away valuable shots from their opponents. Even excluding the 3 overtime periods against UMass, Fordham’s field goal attempts allowed in their last four games have decreased from their first 5 A10 games by an average of around 6 attempts per game. Isolating that stat to just 3-point attempts also shows a decrease of around 6 attempts per game. Both La Salle and St. Bonaventure, two teams who have each shot over 30% from deep in conference play, were limited to 25% against the Rams. For Coach Woodall, limiting opposing threes is a cornerstone of Fordham’s defense that’s been crucial for this team to re-develop.
“We want to limit three point opportunities, because once teams start hitting threes, it becomes a three point contest,” Woodall said following the La Salle win. “Those are the types of things that blow games open. We want to play [with] low scores in the 60s, maybe 50s, but to be able to do so, you want to make teams take tough twos and try to defend without fouling.”
While Fordham has not made as drastic of an improvement on controlling their fouling compared to other facets of their game, there have been glimmers of clean play. Against Duquesne, Fordham committed just 3 fouls in the first half out of 11 total for the game, their lowest mark of the season. As they kept it clean, the Rams forced 18 Dukes fouls, leading to their best foul margin of conference play.
Looking Ahead
While a suspended head coach puts most teams in a position fans would never like to see, getting a direct glimpse of Coach Woodall’s impact on this team (as well as two wins) was no doubt a unique moment for the Fordham basketball community. Following the win over La Salle, Coach Woodall talked about the noticeable progress this roster has made since New Year’s Eve.
“Our goal is always to be the best team we can be by the end of year,” Woodall said after the La Salle win, echoing a statement frequently made by Coach Urgo. “The team that we were on January 4th [in a 20-point loss to Bonaventure], we are not that same team.”
Fordham, once again with Coach Urgo at the helm, begins a two-game homestand tonight against Rhode Island.
