2009-2010 Adelphi University Season Outlook

Information Provided By Adelphi Sports Information

The Adelphi University men's basketball team will kick off its 2009-2010 season on Wednesday, November 18 when they travel to take on Pace University for the program's first Northeast-10 Conference contest.

"The Northeast-10 is one of the best Division II conferences in the country. We will have to be ready and prepared to play at a high level every night, and I expect us to be a factor in the conference when it is all said and done," said eighth-year Head Coach James Cosgrove.

The Panthers are coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons as they finished 20-9 overall last year with a 13-5 record in the East Coast Conference. The men's season ended with a loss to Bridgeport University in the ECC Semifinals.

Adelphi, for the third time in the past five years, took the top spot as the nation's leader in field goal percentage defense in Division II, holding their opponents to a shooting percentage of 37.6 from the field. The Panthers were also ranked in the top-five in the country in scoring defense.

Dominick Savino, who brings over 25 years of coaching experience, is back for his third year as a Panther assistant. "Dominick is a great assistant coach who has been around the game for a number of years and we are very fortunate to have him," explained Cosgrove.

Thomas Paul, a former four-year letter winner for the Panthers, returns for his second campaign on the Panther sidelines. "Thomas is a key member of our staff who knows the system really well and is very proud of our tradition," said Cosgrove.

Coach Cosgrove has a new addition to his staff this year in Eric Schneider. Schneider spent the 2008-2009 season as an Assistant Coach at Suffolk Community College - West. "Eric is doing a great job so far and we expect him to continue to do so as the season progresses," added Cosgrove.

The Panthers return their top-two scorers from last season in junior tri-captain Richard Byrd (Central Islip, NY) and senior tri-captain Casey Cosgrove (Andover, MA). The men will look to replace the production of Alvin Vivican and Sky Khaleel from a year ago. Vivican finished third on the team with nine points per game and second on the team with 54 assists. Khaleel led Panthers in blocks (48), finished third in rebounds per game (4.7), and was fourth on the team in points per game (8.9).

Byrd, who was an All-ECC First-Team selection as well as an All-Met Division II Men's College Basketball First-Team member, led the Panthers in scoring (16.4 points per game) and rebounding (6.4 rebounds per game) last season. "Richard is a tremendous player who we expect big things out of this year. His leadership and presence on both ends of the floor will be vital to our team's success," said Cosgrove.

Cosgrove, the Panthers' starting point guard, was an All-ECC Second-Team member for his efforts in 2008-2009. Cosgrove led the team in steals (45) and assists (139), while scoring 10.9 points per game and pulling down 4.4 rebounds per game. "We expect Casey to be a leader on our team, while also running our fast break and spear-heading our defense," noted Cosgrove.

Senior tri-captain Chris Diasparra (Mahopac, NY) is coming off a red-shirt year in 2008-2009. Diasparra had a solid junior season where he averaged 9.4 points per game, 5.4 rebounds per game, 1.8 assists per game, while starting in all 30 games. "Having Chris back healthy will be a big boost for our team. He is a great defender and we will need his leadership in order to be successful this season," added Cosgrove.

The third senior on the Panther roster is Steffon Farley (Lanham, MD). Farley played in all 29 games last year with five starts, while averaging 5.6 points per game and 3.4 rebounds per game. He also finished second on the team with 30 blocks. "Steffon is ready this year to come in and play a big role for our team. His athleticism and size should allow him to be a huge factor in our league," said Cosgrove.

Junior David Akinyooye (Elmont, NY) is coming off a very productive sophomore campaign for the Brown and Gold. Akinyooye averaged 7.9 points per game, 5.4 rebounds per game, and collected 26 blocks in 29 games. "David gets better each day and we expect him to build on his sophomore season. David is also a very good scorer, defender, and rebounder," Cosgrove said on his junior forward.

Sophomore Robert Johnson (New Rochelle, NY) saw action in 22 games as a freshman, totaling 26 points and 22 rebounds. "Robert has emerged as a player who we can count on with his scoring and great defense night in and night out. He is a mainstay in our line-up and a positive influence on our team," said Cosgrove.

The remaining two returners from last year's squad are sophomores Norron McDonald (Brooklyn, NY) and Richard Harkins (Bellmore, NY). McDonald saw action in 14 games last season, recording 23 points and nine rebounds, while Harkins played in 19 games, scoring nine points and handing out 15 assists. "We will be counting on both Norron and Richard to give us minutes off the bench and help us each night," explained Cosgrove.

The Panthers welcome six newcomers to the 2009-2010 team, which includes four freshmen, one sophomore, and one junior.

Freshmen John Calarco (New Rochelle, NY), Chris Ranglan (Yonkers, NY), and Bradley Simpson (Goulburn, Australia) will all look to make an immediate impact in their first season in an Adelphi jersey. "John, Chris, and Bradley were all highly recruited and we expect them to contribute right away and throughout the entire season," added Cosgrove.

Junior Paulius Skema (Vilnius, Lithuania) comes in after spending two seasons at Division I New Jersey Institute of Technology. As a freshman, Skema appeared in 26 games, while averaging 3.7 points per game in 28 contests as a sophomore. "Paulius will give our frontcourt a lot of experience which will help us throughout the season," said Cosgrove.

Sophomore Ky'ron Fitzgerald (New Rochelle, NY) and freshman Andrew Marbach (Bridgewater, NJ) round out Coach Cosgrove's newcomers this season. "I expect Ky'ron and Andrew to give us great depth at the guard position this year," said Cosgrove.

The Panthers will compete in three tournaments during the first half of the season. On November 20-21 they will play in the Lion's Classic - ECC/NE-10 Challenge, followed by the Caldwell Tournament on December 19-20, and the Adelphi Tournament on December 29-30.

"All the teams in our tournaments this year are from the ECC or CACC and teams that we have played in the past. I feel that playing these programs in non-conference games will better prepare us for our challenging schedule in the Northeast-10," noted Cosgrove.

Adelphi will face the likes of two top-25 teams in the nation this season in #9 Bentley University and #15 Merrimack College. The Panthers will play each of these two on the road starting on January 16 at Merrimack, followed by January 20 at Bentley.

"The stakes are going to be extremely high this year with every program in the Northeast-10 being a very competitive team. We need to be at our highest level each night, and the fans will get to see some great basketball night in and night out," added Cosgrove.