Season Outlook
Two seasons ago the Haverford College men’s basketball team advanced to the Centennial Conference championship game with a team that had the right mix of senior leadership and talented youngsters. This season those talented youngsters are now seasoned veterans that hope to lead the Fords back after an 8-16 record last season.
The 2008-09 team has six seniors on the roster, all of whom are either starters or key reserves. The Fords will likely make it as far as the senior class can carry them and that will all start with the guard play.
Backcourt
Haverford returns its starting backcourt with seniors Chaz Thomas and Greg Rosnick. The formidable duo have started 42 games together the last two seasons. Thomas, a two-time all-conference selection, has established himself as one of the Centennial Conference’s elite players and has developed into the Fords most clutch player. He was the teams leading scorer in 2007-08 at 15.8 points per game and led the conference in steals. Thomas has amassed 717 points in just two seasons and is primed to be only the 13th player in school history to score 1,000 points.
Rosnick, the veteran point guard, has led the team in assists each of the last two seasons and has averaged 2.5 per game for his career. He sits in 12th all-time in school history and could likely move into the top-five before seasons end.
Frontcourt
A trio of seniors will be counted on to provide height and experience in the post. Forward Brent Anderson led HC in field goal percentage (.525) and rebounds (98) as a junior and provides leadership in the post. He will be joined down low by Ben McDowell, who averaged 6.0 PPG and 3.7 RPG last season. David Nowacki returns after studying abroad last season. He averaged 5.0 points and rebounds per outing in 2006-07.
Depth
Haverford will have three sharp-shooters returning in junior Matt Palmer and seniors Alex Schwada and Matt Stitt. Palmer finished second on the team with 31 treys a year ago and Stitt led the team in three-point field goal percentage at a 37.5 percent clip. Schwada was also a threat by connecting on 10-of-34 three’s as a junior.
Newcomers
Head Coach Michael Mucci is counting on the contributions of three freshmen to add to his already deep bench. Ian Goldberg, Joel Michel and Bo Friddell will all compete for playing time. Goldberg is a point guard that can spell Rosnick when need be. Michel will add depth as an outside threat, while Friddell is a guard/forward combo that can run the floor.