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Like Bryant and Merrimack years ago, Le Moyne has quickly adjusted nicely in their second year of D2>D1 transition from the Northeast-10 conference to the Northeast Conference.
Going 15-17 (9-7 in conference play) in their first season in the NEC, Le Moyne alum Nate Champion is now leading the Dolphins for his sixth season as the offensively-minded coach loves high IQ, skilled players that can contribute in a variety of ways in the team’s motion-heavy style of offense. The team shoots a lot of threes (14th highest 3PA/FGA nationally last season; 55.5%) and share the ball freely (15th highest A/FGM ratio; 60.7%) but after their first season at the D1 level, Champion and his staff put an emphasis on adding size and playmaking ability to adjust to their new environs.
UTA transfer Freds Pauls Bagatskis, a former Georgia Tech commit, is the perfect blend of added size and playmaking. The 6’8 180 Lativa native is willing to score from anywhere in the halfcourt and boasts a high level of IQ.
Backcourt transfer additions Zek Tekin (Siena) and Will Amica (Albany) are quick guards that Champion is excited to run the pick-and-roll with as both players and breakdown the defense and get to the basket. Sharing the floor together, Amica plays more off-ball and does more of his damage on the perimeter. He did not play Saturday, so we’ll see what his status is for Wednesday.
Le Moyne’s transfer additions helped fortify an already solid group of returning Dolphins – more on the transfers later, though. Playing backup minutes in his freshman season, 6’7 215 sophomore Nate Fouts has had an excellent start to the season. The skilled, shot-making big will play a lot of 5 in five-out motion sets. Finishing last season as the most efficient offensive player in the NEC, Darrick Jones Jr. is a 6’5 200 fifth-year senior who is an excellent shooter, but can also score inside too. He did not play in Le Moyne’s close loss to ‘Cuse, but he came off the bench against CSUN and should be able to work his way back to a heavy workload in short order.
6’8 215 senior Ocypher Owens is an athletic, long two-way forward who is Le Moyne’s best all-around defender, and while he has some versatility in his offensive bag, he is a low-usage big. Owens was injured (leg) during the Syracuse game and didn’t play on Saturday against SUNY Poly, is listed day-to-day, so we’ll see.
Like Owens, junior Trent Mosquera does a little bit of everything well, albeit from the wing position. At 6’4 215, he’s one of Le Moyne’s more physical players and can play anywhere from the 2 to the 4. Sophomore guard AJ Dancler missed the first two games of the season, returned against SUNY Poly. Dancler is shifty guard who can get to the basket and score at three levels.
Transfer additions Dwayne Koroma and Robby Carmody boost Le Moyne’s positional size and physicality. Originally recruited by Rick Pitino at Iona, Koroma is an athletic two-way power forward from Germany. Koroma is probably Le Moyne’s most athletically gifted forward. After injury issues forced Carmody to play a total of just 23 games across his four seasons at Notre Dame, the big guard was finally healthy last season at Mercer. Carmody can pick-and-pop and also use his size and IQ to get to the paint to score and distribute. Like Owens, Carmody started against Syracuse, but had a minor leg injury that made him sit out against CSUN and SUNY Poly on Saturday. He’s day-to-day.
There’s a lot I like about Le Moyne: they are well coached, play an interesting style of basketball and have done a good job adding size and individual skill to their roster. Similar to Sacred Heart and New Hampshire, I wouldn’t be shocked if Le Moyne gets off to a decent start before UConn regroups to win by 30+.
Going 15-17 (9-7 in conference play) in their first season in the NEC, Le Moyne alum Nate Champion is now leading the Dolphins for his sixth season as the offensively-minded coach loves high IQ, skilled players that can contribute in a variety of ways in the team’s motion-heavy style of offense. The team shoots a lot of threes (14th highest 3PA/FGA nationally last season; 55.5%) and share the ball freely (15th highest A/FGM ratio; 60.7%) but after their first season at the D1 level, Champion and his staff put an emphasis on adding size and playmaking ability to adjust to their new environs.
UTA transfer Freds Pauls Bagatskis, a former Georgia Tech commit, is the perfect blend of added size and playmaking. The 6’8 180 Lativa native is willing to score from anywhere in the halfcourt and boasts a high level of IQ.
Backcourt transfer additions Zek Tekin (Siena) and Will Amica (Albany) are quick guards that Champion is excited to run the pick-and-roll with as both players and breakdown the defense and get to the basket. Sharing the floor together, Amica plays more off-ball and does more of his damage on the perimeter. He did not play Saturday, so we’ll see what his status is for Wednesday.
Le Moyne’s transfer additions helped fortify an already solid group of returning Dolphins – more on the transfers later, though. Playing backup minutes in his freshman season, 6’7 215 sophomore Nate Fouts has had an excellent start to the season. The skilled, shot-making big will play a lot of 5 in five-out motion sets. Finishing last season as the most efficient offensive player in the NEC, Darrick Jones Jr. is a 6’5 200 fifth-year senior who is an excellent shooter, but can also score inside too. He did not play in Le Moyne’s close loss to ‘Cuse, but he came off the bench against CSUN and should be able to work his way back to a heavy workload in short order.
6’8 215 senior Ocypher Owens is an athletic, long two-way forward who is Le Moyne’s best all-around defender, and while he has some versatility in his offensive bag, he is a low-usage big. Owens was injured (leg) during the Syracuse game and didn’t play on Saturday against SUNY Poly, is listed day-to-day, so we’ll see.
Like Owens, junior Trent Mosquera does a little bit of everything well, albeit from the wing position. At 6’4 215, he’s one of Le Moyne’s more physical players and can play anywhere from the 2 to the 4. Sophomore guard AJ Dancler missed the first two games of the season, returned against SUNY Poly. Dancler is shifty guard who can get to the basket and score at three levels.
Transfer additions Dwayne Koroma and Robby Carmody boost Le Moyne’s positional size and physicality. Originally recruited by Rick Pitino at Iona, Koroma is an athletic two-way power forward from Germany. Koroma is probably Le Moyne’s most athletically gifted forward. After injury issues forced Carmody to play a total of just 23 games across his four seasons at Notre Dame, the big guard was finally healthy last season at Mercer. Carmody can pick-and-pop and also use his size and IQ to get to the paint to score and distribute. Like Owens, Carmody started against Syracuse, but had a minor leg injury that made him sit out against CSUN and SUNY Poly on Saturday. He’s day-to-day.
There’s a lot I like about Le Moyne: they are well coached, play an interesting style of basketball and have done a good job adding size and individual skill to their roster. Similar to Sacred Heart and New Hampshire, I wouldn’t be shocked if Le Moyne gets off to a decent start before UConn regroups to win by 30+.
