Image courtesy Fordham Athletics
Tonight against the NJIT Highlanders, Fordham Rams Fans will get their first up-close glimpse of the Mike Magpayo system. In his introductory press conference back in April, Coach Magpayo discussed his plans to bring a “moneyball, analytic-intense” focus to Fordham Men’s Basketball. Two weeks ago, I spoke to Coach Magpayo over the phone to get more details about the history of this approach, how it affected the construction of this team, and how it will be rolled out in games. While advanced stats and athletics can be seen in every program around the country, Magpayo’s attention to detail was unlike anything I’ve seen in my previous five seasons covering the program.
As Fordham moves into a new era, how can this analytic-oriented system bring the program to heights rarely seen since joining the Atlantic 10?
The System
When asked about his moneyball approach to basketball, Magpayo credits current Stanford head coach Kyle Smith as its key pioneer. Magpayo worked as an assistant coach under Smith at Columbia from 2010 to 2014, then as Director of Basketball Operations under Smith during the 2017-18 season. Other assistants under Smith during that span include Florida HC Todd Golden, current Columbia HC Kevin Hovde, and Cleveland Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman. According to Magpayo, this system, further refined throughout his 89-63 stint at UC Riverside, tracks 50 different aspects of a player’s performance during practice. This data is then fed back to the players and coaching staff, which then determines the lineups for scrimmages.
“It’s really just about building their habits,” Magpayo explained. “[As a player] you’re just trying to make yourself really, really hard to beat. It’s kind of how we did it at UC Riverside…at San Francisco…at Columbia, building these programs based on relentless accountability, on the habits.”
Success in boxing out, offensive rebounding, and diving for balls are just some of the things used to build these comprehensive player scores.
“You’re just trying to let them know that it’s being tracked, and that every single thing that they do on the court has purpose, and they’re supposed to do their job.”
Due to its comprehensive nature, this system was rolled out progressively over the summer and into the fall as the team shifted focus from executing shooting drills, to building a defensive identity, then finally into the full “Moneyball” regimen. In five-on-five scrimmages, different coaches on Magpayo’s staff are tasked with tracking specific traits for each player; a rebounding coach evaluates box-outs, a defensive coach evaluates matchups, an offensive coach evaluates spacing, all in the pursuit of what Magpayo describes as “relentless accountability.”
“Now, they’re getting it [statistical evaluations] every single day,” Magpayo said. “They know they’re competing not just on the court, but they’re [also] competing against their teammates for a chance to play and start in the first scrimmages.”
When talking to Magpayo, his use of terms like “rebounding coach,” “defensive coach,” etc., stuck out to me. While specialization is common for assistant coaches, Magpayo’s is reminiscent of how a football team delegates duties, which he clarified was by design. When talking about this system, Magpayo once again recounted his time at Columbia, where he served as the “rebounding coach,” Todd Golden as the “offensive coach,” and Kevin Hovde as the “defensive coach,” all under head coach Kyle Smith. In terms of how this breakout will look in games, Magpayo assured me that everyone on the bench will be tasked with different aspects of the gameplan.
The Roster
As expected with such a system, Coach Magpayo and his staff sought players that could do specific jobs (shoot, rebound, defend) at a consistent, high level. In general, Magpayo sought players with an offensive rating over 100, strong assist-to-turnover ratings, and high volume shooters. When talking about expected key contributors on this year’s roster, Magpayo made sure to highlight what each guy he named brought to the table. For example, graduate F Zarique Nutter (14.2 PPG last season Georgia State) was brought in for his ability to draw contact down low and shoot short twos, while graduate G DeJour Reaves (17.3 PPG at Iona last season) will see a lot more time around the arc along with G Christian Henry (37 3P% at Eastern Michigan) and G Marcus Greene (39.4 3P% at Hawaii).
Coach Magpayo highlighted Reaves as a key leader on offense, especially at the point guard position. While Christian Henry had limited time in summer practices due to a wrist injury, Reaves earned a lot of reps at point guard in scrimmages. With these extended reps at PG, expect Reaves (and later Henry once he’s 100%) to be a focal point of this team.
“Usually, point guards do really well in our program,” Magpayo said. “Day-Day’s [Reaves] really come along there.”
Magpayo also highlighted Louis Lesmond, a graduate transfer G from Harvard, as another player who has stood out in practice. Lesmond averaged 8.4 PPG over 29.1 MPG in four years with the Crimson.
The Schedule
When building this year’s schedule, Coach Magpayo focused on bringing Fordham back to relevancy, while also giving the conference a boost come Selection Sunday. While teams towards the top focus on the quality of their wins just as much as the quantity, teams projected to finish in the lower half of the conference like Fordham need to win as many non-conference games as possible to give everyone on top a boost. For Magpayo, that benchmark is around .700-.750 in the non-con.
“That is our responsibility, to help the league,” Magpayo said. “Then, in the top five, they have to actually schedule for at-large bids. We have to establish ourselves as a program that’s relevant, and we have to learn how to win.”
In 13 non-conference games this season, Fordham will play 9 of them at the Rose Hill Gym. Key matchups at home include Wagner (11/11), Manhattan (12/13), and Holy Cross (12/6). Fordham will play 4 games outside the Bronx, first against Iona on November 14th, and then three games from November 28th-30th against Franklin Pierce, Albany, and Colgate. All three of those games will be played in Montreal Quebec as part of the 2025 Northern Classic.
The Community
No stranger to New York thanks to his time at Columbia, Coach Magpayo says he’s adjusted well from life on the West Coast. In the months before his family moved out to New York, Magpayo spent some time in an apartment with the staff just off campus, where they’d visit Arthur Avenue multiple times a day for what he described as “too much Italian food,” highlighting Enzo’s as one of his favorite locations. Once his family got to the city, he spent time with his wife and children at the Bronx Zoo, as well as the Botanical Gardens.
“Fordham is gorgeous,” Magpayo emphasized. “I’ve already had a bunch of visitors.”
The Rams tip their season off tonight against NJIT at 7 pm at the Rose Hill Gym.
