2009-10 SEASON PREVIEW
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Entering his fifth season as head coach,
expectations are running high for Bill Herrion and the University of New Hampshire men’s basketball team as they prepare for the upcoming 2009-10 season. A year ago, Herrion and the Wildcats knocked on the proverbial door; this year they want nothing less than to walk through it – or bust it down. With nine letterwinners – including four starters – returning, combined with three newcomers who should have an immediate impact, the Wildcats are in good position to make it happen. Despite graduating captain and 1,000point scorer Tyrece Gibbs and fellow guard Eric Gilchrese, who helped lead the Wildcats to their most successful season in 15 years, which included just their sixth America East semifinal in school history that saw them fall seconds short of hosting their first ever title game, the ‘Cats come back with a loaded junior class and a pair of experienced, veteran players in Radar Onguetou (Yaounde, Cameroon) and Colbey Santos (Onset, Mass.). Onguetou, whose toughness and rebounding ability will be a staple under the basket for the Wildcats, will come back a full year removed from a knee injury that robbed him of all but four games of the 2007-08 season. A junior forward, Onguetou played in 28 games last season, including 23 starts, and averaged 5.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 24.3 minutes per game, while also being named to the five-member America East All-Academic Team. Santos, a senior guard who sat out the 2007-08 season after transferring from James Madison, played in 29 games last season while averaging 3.1 points during 13.7 minutes of action per game. His
best game, however, came in the most important contest of the year when he displayed the deadly shooting ability and athleticism that will make him a major perimeter threat. With two of UNH’s top 3-point shooters out of its semifinal matchup with Binghamton, Santos came off the bench and in 22 minutes poured in
JUNIOR guard ALVIN ABREU a career-high 17 points on 5 of 7 shooting, including 4 of 5 from behind the arc, to go along with seven rebounds and two steals Juniors and 2008 America East All-Rookie Team members Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass.) and Tyrone Conley (Burlington, Vt.), who will be counted on to pick up some of the scoring load from the departed Gibbs, join Santos in the backcourt. Abreu played in 27 games last season, including 20 starts, but missed the final three contests due to injury. Abreu,
who moved between the point guard and two-guard spots, averaged 12.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists, while playing 29.6 minutes per game. With added depth at the point this season, Abreu should be able to play his more natural two-guard position and carry the majority of the scoring load. Conley, meanwhile, was one of three Wildcats to play in all 30 games while starting 24 contests. Despite battling an injury all season that was corrected in the spring, Conley averaged 8.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 27.8 minutes per game. Sophomore Russell Graham (Norristown, Pa.) will return as the team’s most experienced point guard. A combination of his ferocious defense as one of the Wildcats’ top on-the-ball defenders and the sevenweek absence of Gilchrese put Graham into 24 games, including five starts, where he averaged 2.7 points, 1.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists and a 1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio that was third best on the team in 15.2 minutes per contest. Classmate Ryan Herrion (Dover, N.H.) rounds out the returning backcourt for the Wildcats. Herrion appeared in eight games off the bench last season, while averaging 2.5 minutes per contest. Herrion showed he was a true deep threat when he scored a career-high six points on 2 of 3 shooting from behind the arc in the season opener against Suffolk on Nov. 16. The Wildcats will welcome in freshman Chandler Rhoads (Berryville, Va.), who will compete with Graham for the starting point guard slot. The 6-foot2, 190-pound Rhoads attended Air Force Prep last season and averaged 17 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals per game. Rhoads, who has great size, speed and strength and will increase the
2009-10 New hampshire Basketball