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Posted: Tuesday October 22, 2002 1:56 PM Updated: Monday October 28, 2002 2:02 PM La Salle Explorers
The following preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the most thorough preview available of the upcoming season, order the 2002-03 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518. Team Preview | Blue Ribbon Analysis
Billy Hahn has built quite a reputation for himself during his 28 years as a college basketball coach. Many know him as a top recruiter who helped bring players like Laron Profit, Steve Francis, Lonny Baxter and Juan Dixon to Maryland during his 12-year tenure as an assistant to Gary Williams. Some, like former No. 1 pick Joe Smith, know him for the energy and emotion he brings to the game. Others, like Dixon, know him as a basketball genius with an innate ability to bring out the best in his players. Hahn will need to use all of these traits -- and many others -- as he tries to end a string of nine straight losing seasons and re-establish La Salle as a player on the national basketball scene. "The focus is on being able to play basketball the right way and playing with a passion," Hahn said. "When people watch La Salle, we want them to see a team that plays hard, plays together and gets better as the season goes on." Hired in April of 2001, Hahn spent a good part of his first season instilling an attitude and installing the up-tempo system he wants the Explorers to play. La Salle started slowly, opening the Atlantic 10 season with a 2-8 record, but played well down the stretch and used victories over Fordham and Temple to advance to a semifinal in the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the first time. The object this season is to build on those positives.
"I think step two is really the blending process," Hahn said. "I think you come in the first year and establish a work ethic or spirit with the players that are already there and the new coach and his staff. You really try to make a stamp on what you want the program to be. "The second part is a blending process with the new kids that you bring in." Hahn has certainly brought in his share of "new kids." He has signed four players in each of his first two seasons and because only two -- guards Mike Cleaves and Jeff Farmer -- played last season, the Explorers will be looking to work six newcomers into the lineup. They will also try to overcome the loss of four-year starters Rasual Butler and Julian Blanks. Butler (20.9 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.3 spg, 1.3 bpg), a 6-foot-7 forward who was selected in the second round of the NBA draft by the Miami Heat, did a lot of everything for the Explorers and finished his career as the fourth-leading scorer (2,125 points) in school history. Blanks, a heady point guard, ended his career as the No. 2 assist man at La Salle. "I think the real challenge for our coaching staff is to find the right combinations this season because we have six new faces," Hahn said. Many of the guard combinations are also sure to include Cleaves (11.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.0 spg), a 5-9 sophomore dynamo who came on strong in the second half of last season to be voted Big 5 Rookie of the Year. He also earned a spot on the Atlantic 10’s All-Rookie Team. "He’s a little bit of a novelty because he’s a 5-9 player who just has great explosiveness," Hahn said. "He gets up and down the court, he’s athletic, strong and powerful and gets to the glass." Although he did not start, the 6-5 sophomore Farmer (4.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.1 apg) did display an ability to make big shots while playing about half of the time. "He can shoot the jump shot and he’s got pretty good bounce to him," Hahn said. Cleaves and Farmer benefited from having a year in La Salle’s strength and conditioning program and are important parts of the Explorers’ future. "I think the development of Mike Cleaves and Jeff Farmer is going to be fun to watch," Hahn said. Senior Dwayne Jones and junior Rasheed Quadri are the most experienced members of the backcourt. Jones (3.0 ppg, 1.4 rpg) made 24 starts last season and is a steady role player. Quadri (5.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.0 spg), a 6-3 junior, is a determined defender with the ability to match up with guards and small forwards. The Explorers missed him when he was out with an ankle injury last season and he has worked hard to upgrade his offense. "He’s a very good on-the-ball defender and brings a lot of spirit and heart to our team," Hahn said. Hahn went back to his Maryland roots to land two guards, Jermaine Thomas and Gary Neal, who should help the Explorers right away. "They are sort of ahead with their basketball skills because they come from such good high school programs," Hahn said. The 6-2, 175-pound Thomas (24.0 ppg) was selected Maryland’s Player of the Year after leading Thomas Johnson High of Frederick to the state championship. Thomas, who hails from the same high school as former Maryland star Terrence Morris, had been leaning toward joining the Terrapins but followed Hahn to LaSalle instead. The 6-4 Neal (18.0 ppg) comes from Baltimore’s Calvert Hall High School, the same program that produced Dixon. An All-Metro Team selection by The Washington Post, Neal is best known for his outside shooting ability. Junior walk-ons Kurt Simmons and Matt Thornton round out the backcourt. The 6-6 Simmons (0.4 ppg) appeared in 14 games last season and the 6-1 Thornton is a transfer from Arcadia College. The Explorers do not have a great deal of experience in the frontcourt, but they do have Chukwunike Okosa’s positive example to follow. Okosa (11.3 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 1.2 spg), a 6-10 senior, was known as Reggie last season but has decided to go by his given name this year. Regardless, a rebounder by any other name is still a rebounder, and Okosa led the Atlantic 10 in offensive boards per game (3.97) last season while finishing third in the conference in rebounding. "I think he has a pretty good feel for where the ball is going to come off of the glass," Hahn said of Okosa, a transfer from Virginia Commonwealth who started every game during his first season at La Salle. "He’s hungry to get the ball. He’s not a 'great' athlete, but he works hard at rebounding. Guys that rebound well like to rebound, and he does." Steven Smith, a 6-8 freshman forward from Northeast High School in Philadelphia, will be counted on to help offset the loss of Butler. A non-qualifier last year, Smith could not work out or meet with the team and is anxious to get started and prove himself to his hometown fans. An All-Public League and All-City selection at Northeast, where he averaged 16.8 points and 10 rebounds in 2001, Smith can hit the outside shot and score tough points in the paint. "He’s a pretty good player," Hahn said. "He’s a tough kid and he really competes." The Explorers are hoping to get more out of 6-9, 265-pound junior Joel Jean-Baptiste (1.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg), their only other returning scholarship player in the frontcourt. Jean-Baptiste, a native of France, has benefited from a year in La Salle’s conditioning program and should be able to do more over longer stretches this season. Three other freshmen, including a red-shirt, will also have the opportunity to play right away. Dzaflo "Flo" Larkai was part of Hahn’s first recruiting class, but recurring tendinitis in his knee kept him sidelined all of last season. An athletic 6-8 forward with good shooting range, Larkai averaged 12 points and nine rebounds for the Gunnery School in London, England, before signing with LaSalle. Forward/center Lewis Fadipe and forward David Bell were late signees who could be early contributors. Fadipe, a 6-10 native of Nigeria, did not arrive in the United States until January. He caught La Salle’s eye as a reserve for Christian Faith Center Academy in Creedmoor, N.C. "We liked his athletic ability," Hahn said. "He’s really long and can run and jump." Bell, a 6-7 Philadelphia native, starred at Olney High School (20.4 ppg) and prepped at Mount Zion Christian Academy in North Carolina. Bell earned first-team All-Public and third-team all-city honors at Olney, and has the versatility to play every position on the floor except center. "He’s a good get for us," Hahn said. The 190-pound Bell is thin and will need to add strength, but that won’t prevent him from contributing. "He’s not so skinny that someone is going to blow him over," Hahn said. "He’s strong enough to hold his own." Hahn, who was the head coach at Ohio University for three seasons before joining Williams at Maryland, knows experience is invaluable for a head coach. "The second time around was much easier for me," Hahn said. "I knew what kind of system I wanted to run and I was much more sure of myself the second time around than I was the first time." The Explorers are hoping the same holds true for them, but their second trip through the Atlantic 10 probably won’t be any easier than the first. Replacing Butler and Blanks, who had been cornerstones of the program for four seasons, will be the biggest challenge for an extremely young team. Hahn has preached the values of togetherness and team basketball to his players and they must buy into it to compete with the league’s best teams. Cleaves could develop into a marquee player in the league and Okosa gives his best effort every game, which means he could come close to averaging a double-double in points and rebounds. Quadri and Farmer need to continue to develop and the freshman in the frontcourt will be thrown into the mix right away. Smith and Bell have the talent and experience of growing up in Philly to fall back on and some of Butler’s shots are likely to go to Neal and Thomas in the backcourt. It takes quality players to win in this league and Hahn is starting to stockpile them. The building and blending processes have begun for the Explorers. The program just needs more time to get back up and running toward the top again.
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