RUTGERS-The Scarlet Knights,off of a surprisingly good 15-17 record under first year head coach Mike Rice, return stars Gilvydas Biruta and Dane Miller and shooter Mike Poole. They also bring in a talented freshman class anchored by St. Anthony’s point guard and Jerome Seagears from Baltimore. The Knights will mss the scoring of Jonathan Mitchell, now playing in Europe, but for the first time in years have much depth and athleticism. They play a challenging schedule which includes LSU and Florida at the RAC and Miami on the road.  Prediction: NIT.

SETON HALL- They return pg Jerome Theodore and forward Herb Pope, but lose leading scorer Jeremy Hazell from last year’s disappointing squad. Second year head coach Kevin Willard brings in some talented but untested frosh who will have to contribute.    Prediction: No postseason.

ST. JOHN’S- The surprise of the Big East regular season last year under new head coach Steve Lavin. The veteran coach and former UCLA mentor had 10 seniors on his squad and they finally performed as a unit. He lost all of them, along with a frosh transfer and he returns exactly 3.0 of scoring. Lavin brought in a Top 10 nationally recruiting class, but 5 of them will not be eligible until second semester.The star of that class is 6-8 Maurice Harkless. He also has one of the most challenging out of Conference schedules in the country. Lavin is a good coach and Gene Keady, former Purdue coach is an excellent bench assistant, but the team will struggle, especially early on. Prediction: No postseason.

The closeness of the game was made apparent immediately. Mini-spurts by each team earned the largest advantage each achieved in the first half. Five unanswered points by the Rams gave Fordham a 16-11 lead at 13:25 of the first half. Late in the half, six straight points by the visitors earned Charlotte a 28-24 advantage with 3:02 left in the half. To the joy of the hopeful fans in the gym, Fordham led 30-29 at the half.

Charlotte began the second half with three straight baskets to move ahead by a score of 35-30. Chris Gaston then put on a one-man show. The Fordham frosh scored the next 12 points to give the Rams a 42-35 lead with 14:58 remaining in the game. Fordham coach Jared Grasso said of the young man’s effort, “He’s the best freshman in the league. Today, he was the best player in the league.  He put the team on his back.” Two layups by Fordham’s Jacob Green gave Fordham its game high lead of 10 points, 59-49, with 6:59 left. The lead was reversed with an 18 point contribution by Derrio Green of Charlotte during the final five minutes. Green scored 22 of his team high of 24 in the second half. Grasso praised the achievement,

“Derrio Green was fantastic. Hats off to him! He made some great shots. That’s what great players do.” Fordham’s Chris Gaston accomplished his 13^th double-double of the season. He scored 32 points and grabbed 12 boards. He also led the Rams with six assists. He is the favorite to earn the A-10 Rookie of the Year award at the conclusion of the season.

Grasso, youngest head coach in NCAA Division I, was pleased by the progress of his freshman dominated squad, “It was one of those games where we had them on the ropes. This team grew up today. This team, when we add some pieces, will be very good. I’m happy with where we are. We’re moving in the right direction.” The Rams return home on Saturday, February 13^th for a 1 PM matinee with George Washington.