Coming off the most successful season in school history, expectations are high for the York College men's basketball team. Last year, the Cardinals shocked many after they went 22-8, won the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) Championship and advanced into the second round of the NCAA tournament.
This year, the Cardinals will not be able to sneak up on anyone, as the target is now on their back as defending champions. Though Head Coach Ronald St. John— now in his 27th year leading the program—is not worried about the added pressure that comes with being a defending champion.
"I don't look at it as more pressure on us," said St. John. "Last year gave us a taste that we could play at that level and get past the first round of the NCAA tournament. If anything, it gave us a push that we are determined to do this again. That's our motivation right now—to put ourselves in the same situation we did last year and possibly go a little further."
Last year, the Cardinals were led by their dynamic duo of Michael Woods and Omar St. John (no relation to coach St. John—more on that later), who combined to average 47 points per game last season. Woods, who averaged 28.1 and ranked second in the nation in scoring, has no eligibility remaining, so now it's St. John who will be looked upon as the main scoring threat.
"All I need from Omar is to duplicate what he did last year," added St. John. "I don't need him to pick up Mike's slack. We can make up his production with two or three players we brought in."
The Cardinals also return two other vital pieces of last year's championship team—Du'Quan Lawson and Jaron Williams. Lawson, a senior point guard and captain, has improved every season. Last year, he ranked second in the CUNYAC in assists per game (5.2) and was first in assists/ turnover ratio (2.6). Williams, a senior forward, was a force down low, pulling down 9.4 rebounds—good for third best in the CUNYAC—while leading the conference in blocked shots (2.5).
Terell Roper is another senior who has been a solid contributor for York over the past three seasons, both off the bench and as a starter. He started about half the games last year, averaging 4.3 points and 3.3 rebounds. Other key returners, who are expected to contribute off the bench, are sophomore James Wolf and junior Julian Jones.
As coach St. John mentioned, in order to replace the production of Michael Woods, York has brought in a number of players that are expected to be contributors right from the start.
Two of those players are transfers from fellow CUNYAC school, Hostos Community College, who won the Community College CUNYAC title a season ago. Taron Pascal is a 6-4 guard, who was CUNYAC All-Star at Hostos last season and averaged 9.8 points last season. Rashaan Bailey, a 6-7 forward, averaged 7.2 points and 5.3 boards a year ago for the Caimans.
Another big addition is Cyril Reid, who previous played at Division I St. Peters College and Division II Urbana University. At Urbana, he averaged 7.4 points and 3.5 boards per contest.
But perhaps the most noteworthy addition to the roster is Ronald St. John's son—Ryan St. John. Ryan played previously at nearby Farmingdale State College before transferring to play for his father at York.
"I'm going to enjoy coaching him. It's going to be interesting," added St. John. "He didn't have a lot of on-court experience playing at Farmingdale. I hope he can make the adjustment. But he's capable of shooting the ball very well. If he can adjust to shooting the ball at this level, he's going to be very good."
On the schedule this year, in addition to the usual slate of CUNYAC teams, the Cardinals have a number of difficult opponents to face, including two teams that advanced in the NCAA tournament (Purchase College and Dickinson College). York plays Purchase—who made it to the NCAA second round in 2013-14—on the road on Dec 3, and host Dickinson—who advanced to the Sweet 16 and is ranked #14 in the D3hoops.com pre-season poll—on January 3rd. York also faces tough opponents in McDaniel College and the University of Rochester early in the season.
As a team, the Cardinals strength is pushing the ball up court and finishing in transition. The Cardinals fast-paced style of play proved very successful in both the CUNYAC Championship and NCAA First Round game last season. York will hope to continue that this year. York will also have a lot more depth than last year. Although they will miss the production of Woods, they can go a lot deeper off the bench to make up for that loss.
Rebounding was a weakness for the Cardinals last season, with not much height on the roster outside of Jaron Williams. This was particularly an issue in York's loss to Amherst College in the NCAA second round, when the Cardinals were out-rebounded badly, which proved to be the difference. York is hopeful that the added height on the roster this season will correct that issue.