More Unknowns Than Usual Surround Gophers

More Unknowns Than Usual Surround Gophers

TOWSON, Md. - Predicting how a Division III basketball team will perform over the course of a season is a lot like forecasting the weather.

It's not an exact science.

Many times you are in the ballpark. Every now and then, you are dead on; just as often, you are not even close.

But predicting what Goucher might do in 2007-08 would seem to be a difficult assignment because there are even more unknowns than usual.

For one thing, there are nine names on the roster that weren't there at the conclusion of last season - six freshmen and three transfers.

For another, the Gophers have left the Capital Athletic Conference - their home for the past 16 years - to join the Landmark Conference. Goucher has never faced four of the schools in the brand new conference in the sport of men's basketball, and Catholic, which also bolted the CAC, is the only Landmark school the Gophers have gone up against on any sort of regular basis over the years.

"For the most part, we don't know a whole lot about the Landmark schools," admitted Leonard Trevino, who is into his 18th season as the head coach of Goucher's men's basketball program. "But at the same time, except for Catholic, none of them know a whole lot about us. I think that's going to be a big advantage for us, particularly if they think we're going to be similar to what we've been the past two seasons."

After compiling an 18-9 record as recently as 2004-05, the Gophers have managed only 10 wins the past two seasons combined. That, more than anything, is what sparked Trevino and his staff into bringing in so many new players this season.

"We're going to be young, but so much more athletic than we've been. particularly those past two seasons," according to Trevino, who has averaged 13.47 wins per season at Goucher. "The new players are going to get their chances to show us what they can do, and once they learn what we're trying to get them to do, we've got the chance to be a much improved team."

Goucher had two players score the 1,000th points of their careers last season, but neither James Russo nor Pierre Jones are back. That leaves senior forward Cameron Brown (Baltimore, MD/Owings Mills) as the leading returning scorer (9.9 points per game in 2006-07).

Look for senior forward Ian Brown (Durban, South Africa/Glenwood Boys) to put up much bigger numbers than the 3.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game he averaged last season, his first with the Gophers after transferring from Genesee Community College.

Tim Merritt (Pasadena, MD/Chesapeake) is the only other returning player to start  more than 10 games last season and he will likely be asked to produce off the bench as a senior.

Among the freshmen and transfers, Amir Hakim (Baltimore, MD/Baltimore City College), Marcus Cotton (Silver Spring, MD/Springbrook) and Ryan Comstock (Frederick, MD/Middletown) may be the most prominent contributors, at least early on.