Rowan men’s basketball will open its season this Saturday, Nov. 9 against Ithaca College at the New York University Tip-Off Classic.

With just six returning players, the Profs have a new look, bringing in eight new faces, including four freshmen and four transfers.

“We’ve got a lot of new guys on this team,” head coach Eric Brennan said. “We have eight new guys, so we’re getting them to understand how we want to play, and what that looks like. Also, the level of basketball we want to be at and getting them to understand our strength of schedule. There’s no easing into anything with our program. We start off this weekend with a tournament at NYU, so really getting them to understand that every game is going to matter for us if we want to do what we say we want to do; make the tournament and make a run in the tournament, so the non-conference games are going to matter for us.”

Rowan named Brennan the head coach in June after spending last season as the interim head coach. Coming off a 21-8 season with an NCAA Division III Sweet 16 appearance, Brennan is trying to instill that same presence in this new squad.

“I think each day and each week everybody’s getting more familiar with each other and creating those bonds,” Brennan said. “That’s the character that you’re talking about. Knowing that we were bringing in a lot of new guys this year, we kept that in mind and tried to do some more team bonding stuff earlier in the year to make those relationships stronger. The good thing is that a majority of the transfers and freshmen are New Jersey-based kids. There’s a familiarity with them and among each other. The basketball world isn’t as big as you think it is, especially when it comes to the region.”

The Profs are laser-focused, working hard and pushing each other every day to attain those goals. With many playing in the same state growing up, some players already know each other and know the style of play required at Rowan. 

“What I’m seeing every day is guys coming in and competing,” Brennan said. “They’re really just competing at a high level every day in addition to learning our scheme. A lot of the guys from previous years are helping with that too. I think they’re starting to mesh together pretty well and that’ll be a key to our success.”

The two starters from last season that Rowan is returning are Khalif Meares and Jamir Spivey. Meares was the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Co-Defensive Player of the Year, and Spivey leads returners in rebounds per game at 6.4. Both players will lead the way for Profs this year but don’t expect it to be a two-man show.

“All the transfers we brought in will do a great deal for us,” Brennan said. “I think they’ll help us out immediately. A lot of the freshmen as well, we have a lot of faith in those guys that if they needed to step up they would. Obviously, the returners. I think they all will help in similar ways that they did last year and maybe even a little more.”

This weekend is a great time to gel in-game speed as a team, but the Profs are looking to show why they are a team to watch. They have the ability to go up to New York and show that there is no need for an adjustment period.   

“I would say come out with a win, hopefully, two wins,” Brennan said. “I think you want to learn while you win. That’s always a good way to do it, but I want to see us be able to pressure offenses and get them out of what they’re trying to run. Play our brand of basketball which is getting the ball up the floor, moving the ball around letting everybody get a touch of it. Then just keying in on how we want to play ball; screens where help side defense should be, playing up the lines. Things like that, that we’ve been trying to drill for the last week or so.”

Brennan hasn’t revealed the starting five but addressed that this team will have a lot of depth, and the minutes are going to spread out into a rotation.  

“We kind of have like a starting seven,” Brennan said. “Depending on what our matchups require, we can go with a couple of different looks… It is good to have options and getting our guys to buy in that we have a starting seven or eight. Really when it all washes out, the minutes seem to fall where they are, and I think that everybody will feel good about it. At the end of the game, it will always come down to who we think has had the best game or gives us the best shot at winning down the stretch.”

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