By Sam Bass
Jimmy Reilly enters his second season as the head coach of Jefferson’s men’s basketball team, hoping to have a bit of a different perspective than that of a year ago.
The Rams’ most historic program is coming off a season in which they finished 18-12 (12-5 CACC), falling to Caldwell in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament championship. This season, Reilly hopes some changes, as well as some similarities from last year, can bring Jefferson that coveted title.
Jefferson brings back 81% of its scoring from last year, including all five starters. One of those players is junior guard Erik Timko, the reigning CACC Player of the Year. Timko averaged 22.5 points per game, shooting an astounding 45.2% from beyond the arc. He scored 676 points last year, third all-time in Jefferson history.
Senior forward Antonin Kemkeng is also a returning scoring threat, posting averages of 11.6 points and 9.7 rebounds a season ago. Rounding out the starting five is junior guard Ahmed Barba-Bey, junior forward Bismark Nsiah, and junior guard Hakim Byrd. Troy McGregor, Jack Moynihan, Cosby Napoleon, and Justin Hawkins all offer returning experience off the bench.
Sources by Jaleel Laraki
First-year Marquis Hamby jumps to reach the net; the men's basketball team practices in the Herb Magee Arena.
Reilly hopes to improve in a lot of areas despite having a similar roster. He described the teams need to be better on defense, specifically getting aggressive on that side of the ball. “We are looking to get more deflections and steals,” he said.
“I see us being a good defensive team for sure,” Barba-Bey said. “We’ve made some improvements since last year, we just have to continue to build on it and pay attention to detail in the process.” Barba-Bey also described encountering obstacles throughout the year, and although being inevitable, he wants to be able to “learn from them and make the appropriate changes.”
Offensively, Reilly wants to take better care of the basketball and cut down on turnovers. He also stated he would like to see more options on offense emerge. Aside from Timko, no other Ram averaged more than 12 points per game, and having two or more scorers available would open up the floor on offense.
“The goal offensively is to increase our assist count from last year,” Timko added. The reigning player of the year would like to also see the Rams “play faster and score anywhere from 80-100 points [per game].”
The biggest change, though, is the loss of Darius Kinnel, Jefferson’s captain last season. “Darius was a leader. He was the first one in the gym and the last one out. He was 22 years old going on 42 the way he carried himself, he is a very mature young man,” Reilly said.
Having a new leader stepping up is crucial to the success of the Rams. They have a very experienced squad, so anyone can lead at any time. Barba-Bey knows how imperative leadership is to success. “When you have players holding each other accountable and reenforcing what the coaches preach, you’re bound to make something beautiful happen.”
"Having a new leader stepping up is crucial to the success of the Rams."
Leadership is something that is preached for the Rams, and Reilly does an excellent job of exemplifying that himself. He said that last season, “I was looking ahead too much instead of looking at what is in front of us.” He says that this season, he wants the teams focus to be game by game, practice by practice, and focusing on getting better every day. “If you looked at our schedule, there are obviously teams we want to play, but we are going to take it one day at a time.”
Reilly’s players have bought into this idea. Timko said, “taking a game by game approach is crucial and will help us stay focused on the present and not get too far ahead of ourselves.”
Although Jefferson hopes to take the season day by day, Reilly knows what the end goal is. “The goal for everyone in our conference is to win the conference championship,” he said. A conference championship also comes with a bid to the NCAA Tournament, where “anything can happen.”
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