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Rhode Island Rams (2001: 7-23)

The following team preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the nation's most comprehensive look at this and all Division I teams, be sure to order the 2001-02 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518.

Program overview

A lot of people believe the beauty of college basketball is found in the names found on the front of the uniforms, rather than those on the back. That's especially true at Rhode Island, where even the most die-hard fans will have a hard time recognizing the Rams this season.

The program was expected to undergo a facelift after Jerry DeGregorio announced his resignation in February, but as time went on it became apparent Rhody received the Phyllis Diller Special as only five players from last year's team will open this season with the Rams.

The biggest change comes at the top, where Jim Baron, who has made his name rebuilding programs at St. Francis (Pa.) and St. Bonaventure, his alma mater, has taken over as head coach. A tireless worker, relentlessly upbeat person and seasoned recruiter, Baron has already had most of his skills tested during the early stages of his new job.

Soon after taking over, Baron learned that Tavorris Bell (19.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.2 apg, 2.1 spg) and Zach Marbury (16.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.6 spg) the team's two top returning scorers, had basically dropped out of school. Both applied for the NBA draft, but neither was selected.

At the end of spring semester senior Marcus Evans (4.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg) and sophomore Andre Scott (4.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg), both 6-9 post players, were declared academically ineligible. Evans will miss at least the first semester of this season and Scott was dismissed from the team in September, but could return in the future if he makes enough academic progress.

The problems weren't limited to the players. In July assistant coach Shawn Hood, who Baron had hired away from Wisconsin, was charged with inappropriately touching a 9-year-old girl. He was placed on administrative leave by the university and eventually resigned in August. Dan Theiss was hired to take his place in early September.

Later in the summer Baron learned freshman guard Dawan Robinson, a 6-3 dynamo from Philadelphia, did not meet eligibility requirements and would have to sit out this season. On July 31 the university also did not admit Chaz Briggs, a 6-7 power forward who helped Wabash Valley (Ill.) College to the national junior college championship. Briggs, who would have been an immediate inside presence, ended up at West Virginia.

Through it all Baron remained upbeat. Despite its recent troubles, Rhode Island has a storied basketball tradition and is building a new $54 million, 8,000-seat Convocation Center scheduled to open on July 4, 2002.

The Rams also caught a couple of breaks toward the end of the summer when they signed forwards Marcel Momplaisir and Lazare Adingono, who left Rhode Island in June but transferred back from Xavier College in Louisiana without losing any eligibility.

Backcourt

The Rams do return their top two playmakers, senior Dinno Daniels and junior Howard Smith. The 6-0 Daniels (11.6 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.0 spg) showed dramatic improvement while starting 29-of-30 games during his first season in Kingston. He is a dependable ball handler and free-throw shooter (.779 FT) who should be a leader on the floor for the Rams.

Smith (4.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.5 spg), also 6-0, led the team in assists despite making just nine starts and playing only 23.3 minutes per game.

Knee injuries limited guard Brian Woodward (13.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.5 spg) to just eight games last season, but the 6-3 junior is the team's leading returning scorer. Woodward, a Top 100 recruit from Cardozo High School in Queens, N.Y., also tore up his knee in high school, but enters this season healthy and could be a productive player if he remains that way.

Steve Mello, a 6-1 sophomore who joined the team at the end of first semester last season, also returns. Mello (3.4 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 1.0 apg) made .353 of his three-point shots and is the Rams' top returning long-range threat.

Adingono, a 6-6 native of the Cameroon, walked into Baron's office in June and said he was leaving for Xavier, an NAIA school in New Orleans, but returned to Rhode Island and re-enrolled this fall. The junior played in 10 games after joining the Rams in January and posted modest numbers (2.0 ppg).

Guard Emmett Murphy, a transfer from Monroe College in the Bronx, and forward Troy Wiley, from Paris (Texas) Junior College, have the most experience.

Murphy, a 5-11 junior (13.7 ppg, 2.3 apg), helped the Mustangs to a 19-9 record last season while finishing second on the team in assists. The 6-8 Wiley (13.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.0 apg) is a face-up player who led Paris in scoring and handles the ball well in traffic.

Dustin Hellenga, a 6-4 shooting guard from Centerville, Va., is the first recruit of the Baron era. Hellenga caught the attention of Rhody assistant Desmond Oliver at Villanova's Charlie Webber Tournament and attended South Lakes High School, the alma mater of Grant Hill, in Virginia and prepped at the Winchendon School in Massachusetts (17.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 2.2 apg).

Frontcourt

Evans will help the Rams inside if he is cleared to return. Basically a banger, he uses his 250 pounds to clear out space inside, which is an area of the floor where the Rams don't have much size, depth or experience.

Baron's memory paid off in landing Jamaal Wise, a 6-5 forward from Maryland. Rhode Island hadn't even contacted Wise until Baron took over, but the coach remembered seeing him play in the Reebok League in 2000 and was able to land him. Wise (24.7 ppg, 11.7 rpg) dominated at Paint Bridge High School in Burtonsville and has made himself a better ball handler and shooter.

Forwards Momplaisir and Derrick Dale and guard Jeff Kalapos round out the freshman class.

The 6-6 Dale (17 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 6.0 apg) earned all-conference honors at Bogan Tech in Chicago and the 6-7 Momplaisir is from New York.

An athletic wing, Momplaisir did not play high school ball last season, but drew attention at the Las Vegas Big Time Tournament. He is thin and considered a bit unpolished. Kalapos is a 6-5 guard from Stradford, Conn.

Bottom line

It's hard to believe it's only been three years since Rhode Island came within a basket of knocking off Stanford in the 1998 Midwest Regional Final and advancing to the Final Four, because these Rams are light years away from the likes of Lamar Odom and Cuttino Mobley.

Baron made St. Francis (Pa.) and St. Bonaventure into NCAA Tournament teams and expects to do the same with the Rams. He just happens to be starting from the bottom because academic ineptitude has left him very little to work with.

The backcourt is serviceable when Woodward is healthy. Daniels and Smith are decent players, but won't win many games on their own. The frontcourt is a mess with Scott off the team and Evans out until at least the end of first semester.

Baron knows how to build a program, but needs time to put in a foundation before much can be expected.

"A lot of it is just reinvigorating a program with your attitude and that's what I'm doing," he said. "You've just got to stay at it. A lot of it is bringing in your own players and putting in your own system, but it has to be calculated and you have to do it the right way."

Which means the Rams won't be taking any shortcuts to the top of the conference. They might get there again someday, but it won't be this year.