Men’s basketball begins practice
The Saint Joseph’s University men’s basketball team held their first practice on Saturday, Oct. 1, marking the return of basketball on Hawk Hill. The team announced prior to the practice that graduate student Javon Baumann, senior Brendan Casper, and sophomore Lamarr Kimble were voted team captains.
“It’s always a player’s vote,” Head Coach Phil Martelli said. “I’m interested in hearing from them because the captain here has a couple of responsibilities. It’s not a ceremonial position. It’s a working position in our program.”
Kimble is the third sophomore captain in team history, and the second in three years.
“It means a lot,” Kimble said of being elected a captain. “It means my hard work actually paid off and the type of person I am. Also, my teammates trust me [by] making me captain. Voting for me at this age is a blessing.”
Additions to this year’s team include freshmen Nick Robinson, Charlie Brown, Gerald Blount and Lorenzo Edwards.
“First of all, they fit,” Martelli said. “They’re good teammates on a group that that’s a priority with all of these guys—to be a good teammate and develop into a great teammate. Where they will fit [within the team] and how they will play, we have a lot of opportunities here and so far they’ve measured up. They’ve measured up in the classroom, they’ve measured up socially and they’ve measured up on the court. Now we’ll see. Now, it’s no longer about an individual, it’s about us. How do they fit in our plan and our work to make sure that we have a chance to beat Toledo, and then at that point, they’re not freshmen. They’re basketball players.”
After losing DeAndre’ Bembry to this past NBA draft, as well as losing Isaiah Miles, Aaron Brown, and Papa Ndao to graduation, fans have expressed concern as to how the Hawks planned to replace their level of production.
“Just relying on each other to step up,” junior James Demery said. “We were working hard during the offseason, so I feel like we’re able to make up those losses.”
Martelli agreed.
“We knew going into last year that we had a superstar [Bembry],” Martelli said. “We watched a guy develop in front of our eyes. We had older guys. Papa Ndao was a sixth year player. Aaron Brown was a fifth year player. We don’t have that, so we have inexperience. We have a lot of competition. And we have a lot of opportunity, so my thing to them is seize it. Seize the opportunity. I’m not giving anything to anybody, but they’re going to be able to seize [the opportunity to play]. It’s about winning. Winning beats the alternative.”
Last season far exceeded expectations. This season, the squad is striving to top last year’s success.
“The goal is to end up in the same spot and further,” Kimble said. “It’s like that every year and so far we’re trying to get back and win another A-10 championship. The goal is never to lose or say that it’s a rebuilding year. We’re coming to win.”
