Colonials Corner

With Evers gone, who will be the big play receiver for the Colonials in 2010?

It was the tale of two seasons for the Robert Morris football team. There was the unexpected collapse and six game losing streak to open the season, and then the remarkable turnaround with wins over the cream of the crop in the NEC to finish with a five game winning streak.

Despite the turnaround, a key question remains. How good is this team? For all his hiccups and perceived attitude issues, Jeff Sinclair had his best performances in the final few games of the season. The defense overcame a rash of injuries to become increasingly difficult to score against. And Garrett Clawson has become a fairly clutch kicker, always a nice luxury on a winning team.

But is the offense really on the way up? The offensive line still had problems maintaining any sort of consistency, even in the winning streak. And Sinclair will lose his top receiver, Sherrod Evers, to graduation. No one behind Evers really stepped up as a consistent threat outside of tight end Shadrae King.

Robert Morris will return 19 starters next year and plenty of depth. Will it be enough to finally return to the top of the NEC? We shall see. What follows is a breakdown of the highs and lows of the season and the strengths and weaknesses of the team heading into the offseason.

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With all the major Colonial sports on vacation, we’re taking one as well. We’ll be back this weekend with a recap of the football season. Until then, enjoy the turkey, family, and football. Have a “turducken” in honor of John Madden.

Karon Abraham has emerged as a potential threat for the Colonials. Photo courtesy of Robert Morris athletics.

Eleven days will pass until the Robert Morris Colonials play another basketball game.

It will be the longest 11 days of this young team’s short season.

Robert Morris’ spirited comeback fell short as the Colonials dropped a 71-66 decision to Albany on Sunday to close out the 2KSports Classic benefiting Coaches v. Cancer. The loss sank the Colonials to 1-4 on the season, 1-3 in the tournament.

“I just said, ‘Thanks guys, you just gave me complete motivation for practice over the next (11) days,” head coach Mike Rice said on his post-game radio show after Sunday’s loss. “We’re going to enjoy Thanksgiving but we certainly have things to work on.”

There have been several bright moments in the Colonials’ sluggish start. For one, their competition was extraordinarily difficult. The NEC is rated by RealTimeRPI as 28th in the nation out of 32 conferences. The Colonials have played #18 Syracuse (out of the #1 Big East), Albany (out of the #12 America East), Penn State (out of surprisingly low #20 Big Ten), and Detroit-Mercy (out of #14 Horizon League). Only Alcorn State (out of #26 MEAC) was rated in a conference near RMU, and the Colonials blew them out of the water on Saturday.

“It was more like our league,” Rice said of Saturday’s 107-76 win. “Its the consistency that we struggle with. We’re happy one moment that we’re doing it right and then we get full of ourselves and we forget the details for a bit.”

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Three games in three days. A basketball fan’s dream and a coach’s nightmare. Lucky for the Colonials, they have tremendous depth this year. Expect a rationing of the minutes, if possible, and a fully involved bench from Mike Rice’s group this weekend.

This post will serve as the home for all three games, beginning Friday and lasting through Sunday.

Location: SEFCU Arena, Albany NY

The opponents: host Albany (1-2, America East), Detroit Mercy (1-1, Horizon), and Alcorn State (o-3, SWAC)

Tip offs: vs Detroit (Friday, 5:00), vs Alcorn State (Saturday, 4:30), at Albany (Sunday, 5:00)

Radio: WPIT 730 AM

Web: rmucolonials.com, WPIT’s online media player, and follow the stats via your favorite college hoops site

Projected RMU starters: F Rob Robinson (6′8, 215, Sr.), F Dallas Green (6′8, 210, Sr.), G Jimmy Langhurst ( G Mezie Nwigwe (6′4, 195, Sr.), G Velton Jones (6′0, 170, So.)

RMU Leaders: Points – Velton Jones 12.5/game, Rob Robinson 9.0/game; Rebounds – Robinson 10.0/game, two tied with 3.5/game; Assists – Mezie Nwigwe 3.0/game, two tied with 1.5/game; Steals – Jones 2.0/game, Nwigwe 2.0/game

Projected Detroit starters: C Eli Holman (6’10, 255, So.), F Xavier Keeling (6’7, 235, Jr.), F Thomas Kennedy (6’7, 210, Sr.), G Chase Simon (6’6, 200, So.), G Lamar Lee (6’0, 170, Jr.)

Detroit Leaders: Points – Chase Simon 19.5/game, Eli Holman 15.5/game; Rebounds – Holman 9.5/game, Simon 5/game; Assists – Woody Payne 4.0/game, Xavier Keeling 3.5/game; Steals – Payne 3.5/game, two tied at 0.5/game

Alcorn State starters: C JaMarkus Holt (6’8, 240, Jr.), F Ian Francis (6’8, 189, Fr.), F Jamar Ragland (6’4, 177, Fr.), G Jonathan Boyd (6’3, 175, Sr.), G Keith Searcy (6’4, 158, Fr.)

Alcorn State leaders: Points – Boyd 13.3/game, Holt 12.0/game; Rebounds – Holt 10.0/game, Francis 4.3/game; Assists – Boyd 2.3/game, Alex Savannah 1.7/game; Steals – Savannah 1.3/game, Boyd 1.0/game.

Projected Albany starters: C Brett Gifford (6’11, 260, Sr.), F Will Harris (6’6, 230, Jr.), F Jake Lindfors (6’10, 225, Fr.), G Tim Ambrose (6’0, 220, Jr.), G Mike Johnson (6’1, 195, Sr.)

Albany leaders: Points – Ambrose 15.7/game, Harris 13.7/game; Rebounds – Ambrose 6.0/game, two tied with 4.7/game; Assists – Ambrose 4.3/game, Johnson 2.0/game; Steals – Johnson 3.0/game, Louis Barraza 2.0/game

This is it. The final game of the season. For several seniors, this is the final game they will ever play on a football field. We’ll get to them in a minute.

Kickoff is at noon and the game can be found at the usual stations.

Robert Morris audio – WPIT 730 AM (click listen live box on top of page) or rmucolonials.com

Live video/stats - rmucolonials.com

Our preview this week in the Times covers three defensive standouts that are playing their final game – Mark Syzmanski, Ian Milanak, and Adam Lawrence. We covered Sherrod Evers and Camdin Crouse last week.

Sixteen seniors are on the roster, but not all of them have exhausted their eligibility. Here’s who we know will be playing their last game on Saturday against Monmouth: SS Nathan Argenta, QB Camdin Crouse, TE Harry Girting, LB Adam Lawrence, DT Gavin Marshall, DL James Murphy, LB Ian Milanak, DE Mark Syzmanski, DL Mike Burkett, and WR Sherrod Evers.

Here’s who we know will be returning: RB Raphael Johnson (Prop 48), FS Mike Landers (focused on academics freshman year), and CB Marvin McCalla (academics in the past).

And here’s who have eligibility questions remaining: QB Desmond Brentley, DB Michael Richards, LB Robert Williams. Richards joined the team last year, Williams was a freshman in 2006 but not on the roster in 2007 before returning in 2008, and Brentley reportedly redshirted his freshman year at Grambling and will probably need to find out for sure from the NCAA if he has a year.

A few things to share as the middle of the week approaches:

• Ohio Guard Brook Turson officially signed his letter of intent to play basketball for the Colonials. He verbally committed a month or so ago and signed his LOI on Monday. Turson, who is close to senior Jimmy Langhurst and freshman Brad Piehl, chose RMU over Central Michigan, among others. Coached by his father at Plymouth High School, the 6’3, 200lb Turson has averaged 20.8 points per game in his first three years in high school.
• Robert Morris also has two other verbal commitments still out there – 6’7 JuCo forward Wilbur O’Neal and 6’4 Gonzaga High School wing Malcolm Lemmons. We’ll see if they officially sign during this signing period. RMU has two other scholarships available for next season.
• One of those could go to Iona Prep guard Jordan Bonner. A 6’2 guard, Bonner has interest from RMU, along with Monmouth and Binghamton. He will not be committing until the spring.
• Eric Hall of the Beaver County Times has a piece on Rob Robinson’s role as captain on this year’s team.
• Overseas, former RMU guard Jeremy Chappell currently leads the top Polish League in scoring. Through 7 games, Chappell has led Znicz Jaroslaw to a 5-2 record by averaging 21.9 ppg. He also leads the league in steals and is fifth in the league in rebounding. Others playing hoops overseas – Tony Lee just started playing for BK Ventspils in Latvia, A.J. Jackson’s season just started in Portgul as he suits up for Academica de Coimbra, Bas Rozendaal is a role player for GasTerra Flames Groningen in Holland, and Bateko Francisco will be playing in France once he’s done with some classes in December.
• We never get much news about RMU football recruiting until really late in the process, but a Florida quarterback has RMU on the shortlist. Scout.com says Zack Wynn has RMU as one of six suitors. Western Michigan apparently leads the race, but RMU is in there with Florida Atlantic, Troy, Harvard, and Duke.

Dallas Green and Gary Wallace fight for the ball with Penn State's Andrew Ott. Photo courtesy of the Associated Press.

For one half, it looked like Robert Morris was poised to pull a Boston College type upset.

But the inexperienced roster and shaky offense reared their heads in the second half as Penn State pulled away for an 80-61 victory.

RMU was down 34-33 at the half, but Penn State went on a 15-2 run to start the second half to put the game out of reach. Jimmy Langhurst, as expected, played more but wasn’t effective. Langhurst had 5 points on 2-9 shooting in 23 minutes. Russell Johnson led RMU with 11 points. Velton Jones had 10.

After starting off strong against Syracuse, Karon Abraham was held scoreless in 16 minutes, taking only 2 shots and fouling out of the game. Rob Robinson also had a rough night shooting, hitting just 4 of his 13 shots despite hauling down 5 offensive rebounds (9 total). He and Dallas Green had 8 points each.

Boxscore.

Anyone concerned with the early start should be reminded that the Colonials have played No. 24 Syracuse (coaches poll) and the defending NIT champion Nittany Lions. Both teams should contend for NCAA Tournament spots, although Syracuse should have an easier run in than Penn State.

Robert Morris will head back to upstate New York this weekend to play three games in three days – truly testing their depth. All of these games are part of the Albany regional of the Coaches vs Cancer Classic. The Colonials will play 1-1 Detroit on Friday, o-3 Alcorn State on Saturday, 1-2 Albany on Sunday.

Here’s the full schedule of games for the weekend. Times could change if games run late:

Friday – Robert Morris vs Detroit at 5:00pm, Alcorn State vs Albany at 7:30pm

Saturday - Robert Morris vs Alcorn State at 4:30pm, Detroit vs Albany at 7:00pm

Sunday – Alcorn State vs Detroit at 2:30pm, Robert Morris vs Albany at 5:00pm

Never a good start for a team when they lose by 40 in their opener, but they were a bit undermanned and a bit inexperienced against #25 Syracuse. The good news is that Eric Hall at the Beaver County Times is reporting that Jimmy Langhurst, while he won’t start, will be available for more than the 6 ineffective minutes he was available for against the Orange. The other good news is that the rest of the team now has a game under their belt, not to mention almost a full week of practice to deal with fixing the mistakes.

ROBERT MORRIS (0-1, 0-0 NEC) at PENN STATE (1-0, 0-0 Big 10)

Location: 7:30pm Bryce Jordan Center, State College, Pa.

Television: $2.99 at BigTenNetwork.com

Radio: WPIT 730 AM

Web: rmucolonials.com, WPIT’s online media player, and follow the stats via your favorite college hoops site

Projected RMU starters: F Rob Robinson (6′8, 215, Sr.), F Dallas Green (6′8, 210, Sr.), F Russell Johnson (6′6, 180, So.), G Mezie Nwigwe (6′4, 195, Sr.), G Velton Jones (6′0, 170, So.)

RMU Leaders: Points – Velton Jones 15.0/game, Karon Abraham 13.0/game; Rebounds – Rob Robinson 11.0/game, Dallas Green 5.0/game; Assists – Mezie Nwigwe 3.0/game, 4 tied with 2.o/game; Steals – Jones 4.0/game, Russell Johnson 3.0/game.

Projected Penn State starters: F Andrew Jones (6’10, 245, Jr.), F Jeff Brooks (6’8, 200, Jr.), F David Jackson (6’7, 210, Jr.), G Chris Babb (6’5, 215, So.), G Talor Battle (6’0, 170, Jr.)

PSU Leaders: Points – Talor Battle 27.0/game, Jeff Brooks 10.0/game; Rebounds – Battle 10.0/game, Jones 5.0/game; Assists – Battle 4.0/game, Babb 3.0/game; Steals – three tied with 1.0/game.

The final home game of the year comes with Wagner atop the NEC. RMU knocked 1st place Albany off last week. Can they do it again? We’ll be there to find out.

Robert Morris audio – WPIT 730 AM (click listen live box on top of page) or rmucolonials.com

Live video/stats - rmucolonials.com

This week’s preview in the Times centers on the seniors, primarily Sherrod Evers and Camdin Crouse. Evers has been the primary receiver the past two years and one of the leaders on the team. Crouse, meanwhile, has the interesting perspective of being the primary backup quarterback for most of his career. Crouse was the #2 man behind Erik Cwalinski in 2007 and 2008.

Sixteen seniors are on this year’s roster and there are only a couple question marks surrounding potential returnees. Nathan Argenta should have another year after sitting out last season with an injury. Desmond Brentley might have another year depending on how transfer rules shake out. Any others will need to work within the NCAA to see how it shakes out.

Since there was somewhat of a success with the football open threads, we’re going to continue using them through basketball season, especially in the early portion of the schedule. After all, the Colonials don’t play in Moon Township until December, so the only way to follow Mike Rice’s squad is via television, radio, and the internet.

So, without further adieu, a preview of the 2009-2010 season opener.

ROBERT MORRIS (0-0, 0-0 NEC) at SYRACUSE (1-0, 0-0 Big East)

Location: 7pm at Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y.

Television: ESPNU (Pittsburgh Comcast channel 266)

Radio: WPIT 730 AM

Web: rmucolonials.com, WPIT’s online media player, and follow the stats via your favorite college hoops site

Projected RMU starters: F Rob Robinson (6’8, 215, Sr.), F Dallas Green (6’8, 210, Sr.), F Russell Johnson (6’6, 180, So.), G Mezie Nwigwe (6’4, 195, Sr.), G Velton Jones (6’0, 170, So.)

Projected Syracuse starters: C Arinze Onuaku (6’9, 261, Sr.), F Rick Jackson (6’9, 249, Jr.), F Wes Johnson (6’7, 205, Jr.), G Andy Rautins (6’4, 195, Sr.), G Brandon Triche (6’4, 198, Fr.)

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