preview 2004-05 PREVIEW

The 2004-05 Saint Joseph’s Hawks have a tough act Martelli now to follow. Last year’s team posted a magical 30-2 season faces one of his and captured the attention of the nation with a perfect biggest challenges regular season record, a number-one ranking, and a top in his 10-year seed in the NCAA Tournament. Their run to the NCAA career, but if any Elite Eight ended just two points shy of the Final Four coach is up to the with the heartbreaking loss to Oklahoma State. task, it’s the Hawk The Hawks were the “feel good” story of college mentor, who knows in 2004, with an unselfish squad that played that what he had tenacious defense and solid team basketball. Led by last year was very consensus National Coach of the Year , the unique. group put together the most significant season in school “You don’t history and won the hearts of fans from coast to coast. replace the three of This year’s squad returns three starters and a few them (Nelson, key reserves from that record-setting team, but signifi- Barley, West). You cant pieces are missing. The ’04-05 Hawks are minus couldn’t possibly , Tyrone Barley and . That replace what the adds up to the National Player of the Year, two NBA First three of them Round Draft picks, and a senior class which won 98 brought. What you games in four years. hope they would John Bryant Nelson captured all of the Player of the Year awards leave behind is their and made himself as a first-round pick in the NBA. West, way of doing things, such as their approach to work the team’s second leading scorer and an honorable and their dignity in the way they handled their success. mention All-America, made the leap to the NBA after his Also, the fire that was never quenched in terms of indi- junior season and landed in the first round as well. vidual improvement or the team being successful,” said Barley, the team’s sixth man, was the heart of SJU’s Martelli. “So we’re going to have to do it in a different swarming defense. way because we don’t have anybody on our team who has the skills of Jameer or Tyrone or Delonte. It doesn’t mean we’re not going to have good players, it just means we’re not going to have that set of skills on this particular team.” But the experience of winning 30 times in one sea- son is invaluable and Martelli expects that there should be some lasting effect in the minds of the 10 returning players. “I would hope that they would understand the stan- dard of play that they’re being held to. The sharing of the basketball, the maximum effort on defense on every play – I wholeheartedly expect they know that is how basket- ball is meant to be played,” said the head coach. “The standard to which to play to is number one. The idea that we expect to win is second. Because Jameer’s gone, or because Tyrone’s gone or because Delonte’s gone, that doesn’t mean that we expect to take a step backwards. I expect them to expect to win, and therefore, prepare to win.” SJU has won many times in the last four years and in 2004-05, the Hawks will be seeking a third straight NCAA Tournament berth, a fifth consecutive Atlantic 10 regular season title, and a third straight outright crown. But to continue the winning ways, the Hawks are going to have to find more ways to score. That seems to be the biggest question mark in Martelli’s mind, and

Pat Carroll 10 2004-05 PREVIEW rightfully so. Nelson and West alone accounted for by Jameer Nelson, who is arguably the greatest play- almost half of the team’s offense. er in Hawk history. The hard-working Lee has studied for One of the obvious choices to carry a large part of his role diligently, and will get opportunity this year the scoring burden is senior swingman , the despite averaging only eight minutes per game over the only returning double figure scorer (10.1 ppg). He is one last two seasons. of the nation’s best from three-point range, converting The two-guard spot could go to any number of play- 45.8 percent last year, with a fluid jump shot. Often the ers, with one of them being returnee Chet Stachitas. The beneficiary of the defense keying on Nelson or West, 6-5 junior was a valuable reserve last season scoring 6.5 Carroll will need some creativity to obtain his shot this ppg and shooting 43.9 percent from three-point range. year. The team’s Most Improved Player in 2004, Stachitas Joining Carroll in providing leadership and experi- brings great energy and confidence to the squad and ence will be classmate John Bryant at the other forward will play a key role, whether he’s called on to score or spot. Bryant is a valuable defender and rebounder who defend. does all of the little things that don’t show up in the boxs- A pair of freshmen will be in serious competition for core. The 6-7 senior will be looking to maximize his all- playing time. began his career at Lake around level of play in his final season. Howell High School in Florida as a 5-11 . Dwayne Jones is already considered one of Since then, he’s grown to 6-10 and thus possesses some the top defensive players in the Atlantic 10, as the unique skills for a player of his size. Calathes can score league’s top shot blocker with 1.97 per game, but the from the outside and will pose interesting matchup prob- Hawks will definitely need him to increase his offensive lems for Hawk opponents. production. The 6-11 junior showed glimpses of his full Classmate Abdulai Jalloh, an All-Metro D.C. selec- potential last year, with a string of three double-doubles, tion from National Christian Academy, is an extremely but Martelli will need him to put up those numbers on a athletic 6-1 guard who will be a versatile addition to the more consistent basis. backcourt. Like Calathes, Jalloh brings an incredible Junior Dave Mallon struggled with injuries last sea- energy and enthusiasm to the Hawks. son, but the 6-10 forward’s outlook is positive if he can Other reserves include 7-foot center Artur Surov, stay healthy. Mallon has addded more weight and who saw limited action last year but is a developing proj- strength and provides the Hawks with a post player who ect. Fellow sophomore Arvydas Lidzius is an energetic can also pop outside and hit the three-pointer. 6-7 forward looking for his chance to contribute. Junior Redshirt freshman Rob Ferguson spent a year learn- Rob Sullivan and sophomore Andrew Koefer are hard ing the system and often was considered one of the top workers who each earned a spot on the history-making players in the squad as walk-ons. practice ses- With the success of the program comes the notori- sions. The 6-8 ety, and the Hawks won’t back away from the chal- forward, who was lenges. Included in the slate are trips to Kansas and the Florida Class Ohio State, as well as to the University of San Francisco’s 5A Player of the Northwestern Mutual Shootout. In addition to local rivals Year in 2003 Villanova, Penn and Drexel, the league schedule will be from Mariner High challenging as well. The Atlantic 10 Conference proved School, can score its strength last year as it sent four teams to the NCAA around the bas- Tournament and had Xavier join the Hawks in the Elite ket and will be a Eight. welcome addi- “Each year what you have to do with your non-con- tion to the front- ference schedule is plan for the Atlantic 10. You have to court. look and see what you’re going to face in the confer- One of the most ence. We have some road challenges. We have some difficult tasks games that people will say ‘well, you should win’, but falls upon the that’s the same as it is in the Atlantic 10 – there are some shoulders of jun- games that we should win,” stated Martelli. “But every- ior Dwayne Lee. thing is in preparation for the league because it is the The two-year vehicle that takes you to national prominence. It did last backup must year for us and if that’s to be this year, it will be the exact now step into the same thing.” role of point guard vacated Dwayne Jones 11 Q & A WITH PHIL MARTELLI

Considering that you’ve had time to reflect, what stands out in your mind from last season? I think that in this day and age, to see players so selflessly give of themselves, from the All-Americans to the walk-ons, the only thing that mattered was the team.

What do the achievements of that team do for the expectations of the program this season and in the future? Expectations is the wrong word. What it does first, is now players coming to St. Joe’s or the current team expect and should expect to win. For future players, it shows that all of your dreams, whatever they may be in the context of basketball – they can come true here.

What has it done for the perception of the program – from potential recruits to opponents? What happened will encourage other teams that it can be done. Whether they be from the Atlantic 10 or from small schools – what our run showed is that things is possible if you band together. I think that we’re going to have to do it again to be consid- ered among the elite. That’s why I think the Gonzaga comparison is good because they’ve done it consistently now. So it’s not a surprise to see them up there with the ‘big boys’, so to speak.

What do you hope that the returning players will take from last year’s experience? I would hope that they would understand the standard of play that they’re being held to. The sharing of the basketball, the max- imum effort on defense on every play – I wholeheartedly expect they know that is how basketball is meant to be played. The standard to which to play to is number one. The idea that we expect to win is second. Because Jameer’s gone, or because Tyrone’s gone or because Delonte’s gone, that doesn’t mean that we expect to take a step backwards. I expect them to expect to win and therefore, prepare to win.

How do you replace not only Jameer, but Delonte and Tyrone? You don’t replace them. You couldn’t possibly replace what the three of them brought. What you hope they would leave behind is their way of doing things. Their approach to work. Their dignity in the way they handled their success. The fire that was never quenched in terms of their individual improvement or their team being successful. So we’re going to have to do it in a different way because we don’t have anybody on our team who has the skills of Jameer or Tyrone or Delonte. It doesn’t mean we’re not going to have good players, it just means we’re not going to have that set of skills on this particular team.

What characteristics or style of play will this team have? First of all, I think this team is going to be highly competitive and confident. I expect this team to play with a degree of confidence. I think that this team will have a degree of wonder- ment about it. They don’t know who is going to emerge here as the leader or star or ‘go-to’ guys. I expect this team to be fully committed defensively because realistically, I know we’re going to compete and I know we’re going to guard and I know we’re going to share the ball. Those are the standards here. How we’re going to score the ball – I don’t know that yet. What style we’re going to use to score it – I don’t know that yet. But that’s what I’m going to use the summer for – to evaluate and put us in the best possible position.

Which players need to step up the most? They all do, across the board. I don’t think that it’s just any one player, although everybody’s going to put a spotlight on the backcourt. I think it’s got to be across the board. I think every one of these players has to improve and if they don’t, then we’re going to be doomed to be mediocre. To me the answer is that every one of them has to improve. Because if they don’t, it won’t be good enough. We won’t be good enough. The other thing that I expect is there to be the most competition that I’ve ever had within a team.

What are the team’s strengths? All these guys have won. They’ve all experienced winning. They understand what that means. I see an incredible work ethic. I see a defensive mindset with this group. I see inner team competition. It makes us better because they’re all competing for minutes. And if one lets down, the other guys move forward. I see it as a very energetic gym. Depth is going to be very interesting for this team. This is the largest group of ‘good’ players we’ve had at one time, but we just don’t have a ‘great’ player.

What are its weaknesses? The weakness is that there is no star. If we had to score a basket now for the success of our season, I don’t know where we would go yet. Scoring the ball is going to be an on-going process because we have one double figure scorer back in Pat Carroll. And someone will say his scoring came off Jameer and Delonte. So how do we score the ball?

Is Dwayne Lee ready to step in and run the point? Mentally he’s ready because he’s been well schooled from high school. Over the past two years, Tyrone and Jameer have made real efforts to make sure he’s prepared. On the other hand, he doesn’t have any experience. It’s a lot different playing 10 to 12 minute stretches than it is for three to four minute stretches. In a way, he’s a junior who’s really a freshman. But he’s tough minded and anxiously awaiting this opportunity. And he’ll be given every opportunity.

How big of a factor can Dwayne Jones be this year? He’s the same as the other players. He has to get better. I’m not big into numbers, but all of a sudden, your frontcourt is your returning starters so they have to take on the added burden. I don’t think there’s a better big player in this league defensively. He’s like a sponge - he wants all the information we can give him. But I also believe that there has to be for all of our guys a hunger to go in the gym all by themselves.

What are your thoughts on the schedule? I think it’s fair for this particular group. Each year what you have to do with your non-conference schedule is plan for the Atlantic 10. You have to look and see what you’re going to face in the conference. We have some road challenges. We have some games on there that people will say ‘well, you should win’, but that’s the same as it is in the Atlantic 10 – there are some games that we should win. But everything is in preparation for the league because it is the vehicle that takes you to national prominence. It did that last year for us and if that’s to be again this year, it will be through conference play.

12 2004-05 ROSTER

NUMERICAL

NO. NAME POS. HT. WT. YR. HOMETOWN HIGH SCHOOL/COLLEGE 1 Abdulai Jalloh G 6-1 190 Fr. District Heights, MD National Christian Academy 3 Rob Sullivan G 6-1 180 Jr. Philadelphia, PA La Salle 5 Dwayne Lee G 6-0 180 Jr. Jersey City, NJ St. Anthony’s 11 Artur Surov C 7-1 245 So. Helinski, Finland Memorial Day (GA) 12 Pat Calathes G/F 6-10 205 Fr. Casselberry, FL Lake Howell 13 Chet Stachitas G/F 6-5 195 Jr. Ponte Vedra Beach, FL Nease 15 Pete Kathopoulis G 5-11 180 Fr. Upper Darby, PA Haverford School 21 Dwayne Jones C 6-11 250 Jr. Chester, PA American Christian School 31 Andrew Koefer G 6-1 190 So. Whitehall, PA Allentown Central Catholic 33 Pat Carroll G/F 6-5 190 Sr. Horsham, PA Hatboro-Horsham 34 John Bryant F 6-7 225 Sr. Woodbridge, VA Woodbridge 40 Dave Mallon F 6-10 240 Jr. East Aurora, NY East Aurora 44 Arvydas Lidzius F 6-9 210 So. Kretniga, Lithuania Montrose Christian (MD) 52 Robert Ferguson F 6-8 225 Fr. Cape Coral, FL Mariner

ALPHABETICAL

NO. NAME POS. HT. WT. YR. HOMETOWN HIGH SCHOOL 34 John Bryant F 6-7 225 Sr. Woodbridge, VA Woodbridge 12 Pat Calathes G/F 6-10 205 Fr. Casselberry, FL Lake Howell 33 Pat Carroll G/F 6-5 190 Sr. Horsham, PA Hatboro-Horsham 52 Robert Ferguson F 6-8 225 Fr. Cape Coral, FL Mariner 1 Abdulai Jalloh G 6-1 190 Fr. District Heights, MD National Christian Academy 21 Dwayne Jones C 6-11 250 Jr. Chester, PA American Christian 15 Pete Kathopoulis G 5-11 180 Fr. Upper Darby, PA Haverford School 31 Andrew Koefer G 6-1 190 So. Whitehall, PA Allentown Central Catholic 5 Dwayne Lee G 6-0 180 Jr. Jersey City, NJ St. Anthony’s 44 Arvydas Lidzius F 6-9 210 So. Kretniga, Lithuania Montrose Christian (MD) 40 Dave Mallon F 6-10 240 Jr. East Aurora, NY East Aurora 13 Chet Stachitas G/F 6-5 195 Jr. Ponte Vedra Beach, FL Nease 3 Rob Sullivan G 6-1 180 Jr. Philadelphia, PA La Salle 11 Artur Surov C 7-1 245 So. Helinski, Finland Memorial Day (GA)

Head Coach: Phil Martelli (Widener '76) - 10th year Record: 179-99

Assistant Coaches: Monté Ross (Winston-Salem '92) - 9th year Mark Bass (Saint Joseph’s ‘95) - 6th year Mike Rice (Fordham ‘90) - 1st year

Pronunciation Guide

(Pat) Calathes ...... kah-LATHE-es Abdulai Jalloh ...... AB-duel-LIE JALL-oh Arvydas Lidzius ...... r-VEE-das LIDGE-uss (Chet) Stachitas ...... stah-KITE-iss Artur Surov ...... R-tour SURR-ov Monté (Ross) ...... MON-tay

13