Rider turns page from historic senior class as Broncs retool

 

Kevin Baggett loses four 1,000-point scorers and only returns four players from last year’s Rider team, but Broncs’ coach is hopeful that his group will continue to improve heading into March. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

Last March provided an unfortunately all too familiar feeling for Rider, a program with mounds of promise and postseason prospects abound, only to have it ripped right out of its hands.

Only this time, unlike the Broncs’ recent early exits in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament, this latest run was stalled due to extenuating circumstances beyond anyone’s control, as the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the entire balance of the 2019-20 season nationwide, just several hours before Rider was to take the court in the MAAC tournament quarterfinals against Niagara.

“We were in the hotel, and I finally got the call from our athletic director, Don Harnum, that the games had been called off,” Kevin Baggett recollected as Rider was stripped of an opportunity to play for a conference championship in the closest atmosphere to a home-court advantage it had in almost two decades, playing in Atlantic City, within two hours from the Broncs’ Lawrenceville campus. “I had to call a team meeting, and it was one of those abrupt endings that everybody was just caught off guard. There was not much to be said, but we had been hearing different reports from other leagues, so I don’t think everyone was surprised.”

The game — or at least, the preparation for it — has since resumed as Rider and the rest of the nation begins the slow healing process and return to play amid COVID-19, and the changes to the everyday operations in the game have been profound over the past six months.

“COVID changed a lot of things for us,” Baggett said, referencing that he remains unable to get his entire roster on the floor at the same time, working instead in groups of four for individual workouts at the present moment. “We had to learn how to recruit differently, being that we weren’t allowed on campus. We had to lean on scouting services, we really took to Synergy a great deal, and we had to take to our virtual tours that Rider offers to every student.”

“Where we are now, it’s a lot of protocol, trying to make sure we protect each and every one of our players at this point, to make sure we can hopefully have a season,” he continued, mentioning all Rider personnel has a phone application that helps to electronically monitor symptoms and compliance with medical guidelines. We’ve not really practiced, actually Monday was the first time we practiced. We have 16 guys, so that’s four sessions of 45 minutes to an hour a day, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We’re just trying to spread everybody out and protect our athletes, protect our players, protect our coaches. Everything is new, everything is different. Guys have to call over and come into the office now, there’s no more just showing up.”

Showing up is placed at an even greater premium this season, as the Broncs welcome seven incoming freshmen and three sophomores to a group that must replace a quartet of 1,000-point scorers in Stevie Jordan, Tyere Marshall, Frederick Scott and Dimencio Vaughn, the latter two of whom were graduate transfers to Boston College and the University of Mississippi, respectively.

“When you talk about Stevie, Dimencio, Tyere, Fred, those were all four-year guys that came through the program, all of them were 1,000-point scorers,” said Baggett. “Stevie left one assist out on the table that he would have broken in that next game to be the all-time assist leader in Rider’s history. You talk about graduating a lot of points, a group of guys that helped us win a lot of games, they’re tough to replace. They had a great career for us, we won the league (in 2017-18). To replace those guys is going to be difficult, but I like the group we have coming in.

Tasked with the responsibility of filling Jordan's shoes as the Broncs’ floor general will be sophomore Christian Ings, who — along with junior forward Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson — makes up the bulk of Rider’s incumbent experience. Ings showed flashes of potential as a freshman, and his coach was convinced enough to offer glowing optimism about his ability to lead the offense.

“It’s his offense to run,” Baggett declared, underscoring Ings’ role. “We’re counting on him to take the next step. He really worked this summer on his body, on watching film of himself all summer long. We’re certainly leaning on him and giving him the ball, and asking him to lead us as a point guard and be our floor general for us.”

Ings, Johnson, Allen Powell and Tyrel Bladen, who redshirted last season, are the sole returning players on a roster that has a dozen new faces. A short turnaround is not uncommon in the MAAC, particularly within Rider’s home state, as Shaheen Holloway led a Saint Peter’s team with six freshmen and three sophomores to a runner-up finish in the league a year ago. Baggett might not have as meteoric a rise this season, but his confidence and optimism is plentiful just the same.

“I’m confident,” he restated. “We have a different mixture. We have a couple of junior college guys, we have a fifth-year guy in Rodney Henderson, the five high school guys and the four returning players. We graduate a lot of points, so that’s always a concern, but the cupboard’s not bare. I’ve got confidence in myself and our staff that we’ll coach these guys up and get them better, and get them ready to go come November 25.”