Nov. 11, 2009
IN-GAME COVERAGE:
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GAME NOTES
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The Richmond men's basketball team opens up the highly anticipated 2009-10 season on Friday night, hosting Lehigh at 7 p.m. in the second game of a doubleheader with the women's team.
Tickets are available at the Robins Center Ticket Office, by calling 1-877-SPIDER-1 or online here at RichmondSpiders.com.
The Spiders, who have received national media attention throughout the summer and fall, are picked to finish third in the Atlantic 10 Conference and USA Today and FoxSports.com have picked Richmond to be included in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
The Denver Post just ranked the Spiders as the No. 4 program on the rise in its college basketball preview.
The Spiders won 20 games for the 16th time in school history last year and only lost their center to graduation. The replacement is 2008 Atlantic 10 All-Conference center Dan Geriot, who led the Spiders in scoring as a freshman and sophomore, but missed last season due to a knee injury. Richmond was the only Atlantic 10 team with three players to earn Preseason All-Conference honors with Geriot (3rd Team) joining the backcourt of Kevin Anderson (1st Team) and David Gonzalvez (2nd Team).
Along with Geriot's much awaited return, freshman Greg Robbins and Darien Robbins will dress in a Richmond uniform for the first time Friday night. Robbins was the second-leading scorer at Lower Merion High School, behind a player named Kobe Bryant. Brothers played locally at Benedictine and gives the Spiders three Richmond natives on their roster, joining Ryan Butler and Justin Harper.
Richmond senior David Gonzalvez needs to make just one three-pointer to tie Kenny Atkinson for fourth on Richmond's all-time list and with just five points he will move into the top-20 on the Spiders' all-time scoring list. Gonzalvez was ranked as the No. 39 best shooter in the nation by FoxSports.com's Jeff Goodman.
Lindy's College Basketball Preview had Anderson, a Second-Team All-Atlantic 10 Selection last season, ranked as the No. 17 point guard in the nation, while Geriot, a Third-Team All-Atlantic 10 pick as a sophomore in 2007-08, was ranked as the No. 23 center in the country.
Lehigh, which finished 15-14 last season, is picked to finish second in the eight-team Patriot League this season. Lehigh returns two of the Patriot League's top players in preseason conference player of the year Marquis Hall (13.9 ppg, 4.1 apg) and preseason all-conference forward Zahir Carrington (14.0 ppg, 8.6 rpg). The Mountain Hawks were 5-2 in non-conference road games last season.
The Spiders open the season with four of their first five games at home before playing No. 19 Mississippi State in the South Padre Island Invitational on Nov. 27. Richmond hosts VMI on Monday night at 7 p.m.
THE LATEST
Redshirt junior Dan Geriot will make his much awaited return to the Spider lineup for Friday's season opener. The last time Geriot suited up for the Spiders he scored 22 points in a 66-64 loss to Virginia on March 18, 2008 in the College Basketball Invitational.
The Spiders are picked to finish third in the Atlantic 10, the highest preseason pick since joining the league. Richmond was the only A-10 team with three players on the Preseason All-Conference Teams. Junior Kevin Anderson was named to the Preseason All-Conference First-Team, senior David Gonzalvez was named Second-Team and Geriot was named Third-Team.
Richmond was picked to be in the 2010 NCAA Tournament field by both USA Today and FoxSports.com, while the Denver Post has Richmond as No. 4 on its list of program's on the rise. Gonzalvez was ranked as the 39th-best shooter in the nation by FoxSports.com's Jeff Goodman, while Lindy's College Basketball Preview had Anderson as the No. 17 ranked point guard in the nation and Geriot the No. 23 ranked center.
Gonzalvez is fifth on Richmond's career list for three pointers with 161, needing just one trey to tie Kenny Atkinson for fourth. Gonzalvez has 1,216 points, which ranks 21st on the school's all-time career list, five points behind Eric Poole for the 20th.
Anderson, who scored 20 points or more in six of the last seven games in 2008-09, enters his junior season with 930 points, the fourth-highest scoring total for a Spider entering his junior year.
Last season the Spiders set the school record for total points in a season with 2,518 and tied the school record for steals with 262.
The Spiders have three scholarship players on the roster from Richmond, senior Ryan Butler (Douglas Freeman), junior Justin Harper (Meadowbrook) and freshman Darien Brothers (Benedictine).
Brothers, Greg Robbins and walkon Jonathan Benjamin will make their first appearance in a Richmond uniform against Lehigh.
Quick Hitters
The Spiders improve to 59-38 in season openers and 50-11 when the season opener is at home...fourth-year head coach Chris Mooney is a perfect 4-0 in season openers with the Spiders and 3-0 when Richmond opens the season in the Robins Center....the Spiders open their 38th season in the Robins Center and Friday's game is the 501st Spider men's basketball game played in the building....Lehigh's Brett Reed and Richmond's Chris Mooney are two of the 29 Division I men's basketball coaches under the age of 40...Kevin Anderson has scored in double-figures in 45 of his last 47 games and has scored 20 points or more in six of his last seven games....the Spiders tied the school record for steals last season with 262.
Preseason Hype
Richmond has been picked to finish third in the Atlantic 10 by almost every preseason poll, including the conference's coaches and media poll. USA Today and FoxSports.com have the Spiders in the 2010 NCAA Tournament field, while FoxSports' Jeff Goodman had the Spiders on his list of Twenty More To Watch outside the Top-25. ESPN's Jay Bilas, Fran Frachilla and Andy Katz mentioned the Spiders multiple times in their blogs and the Denver Post ranked Richmond as the No. 4 on its list of program's on the rise. Lindy's ranked Kevin Anderson as the No. 17 best point guard in the nation and Dan Geriot as the No. 23 center, while FoxSports.com's Goodman tabbed Gonzalvez the No. 39 best shooter in the country.
Preseason Honors
The Spiders have piled up the preseason honors as the only Atlantic 10 team with three players earning preseason all-conference honors. Junior Kevin Anderson was named to the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference First-Team, while senior David Gonzalvez was tabbed to the Second-Team and junior Dan Geriot was named to the Third-Team. With Anderson, Gonzalvez and Geriot, the Spiders boast three of the nine A-10 players who have earned all-conference honors in their career. Anderson was a Second-Team All-Atlantic 10 pick last season, while Gonzalvez was honorable mention all-conference. Geriot was named Third-Team All-Atlantic 10 as a sophomore in 2007-08, before missing last season due to injury.
Gonzo Rising In Record Book
Senior David Gonzalvez enters Friday's game fifth on Richmond's career list for three-pointers with 161, needing just one three-pointer to tie Ken Atkinson for fourth. Gonzalvez is currently 21st on Richmond's all-time scoring list with 1,216 points, just five points behind Eric Poole for 20th, 17 points behind Warren Mills (1,233) for 19th and 21 points behind Aron Stewart (1,237) for 18th.
Anderson Nearing 1,000 Points
Junior Kevin Anderson enters Friday's game with 930 career points, 70 points away from becoming the 38th Spider to score 1,000 points. Anderson has the fourth-highest career scoring total of a Spider entering his junior year. His 598 points last season rank ninth on the school's single-season scoring list.
Guarded Optimism
Last season Richmond was the only Atlantic 10 team with two players in the top 10 in scoring with Kevin Anderson seventh in the league in scoring at 16.6 points per game and David Gonzalvez averaging 16.0 points per game.
A-10 tion
Only four of the 14 Atlantic 10 teams have finished in the top-5 in the conference standings in each of the past two seasons, Xavier, Temple, Saint Joseph's and Richmond.
4 Man
With three players earning Preseason All-Conference Honors the Spiders are looking very capable of scoring on the offensive end, but do not forget about forward Justin Harper. A sportswriter passed on that when doing a preview for one of the summer preseason publications, Atlantic 10 coaches mentioned Harper as the league's best NBA prospect. The 6-foot-10 averaged 9.2 points per game last season as a sophomore, but he showed signs of stardom, including a 28-point, nine-rebound performance in a win over Rhode Island with a Los Angeles Lakers scout in the Robins Center that earned him Atlantic 10 Player of the Week honors. Harper also had 20 points and
eight rebounds in Richmond's win over No. 17 ranked Xavier. After an offseason dedicated to lifting weights, Harper gained some weight and strength which should help his game and his consistency.
Like Father Like Son
Richmond junior Ryan Butler and his father Jeff Butler are the second father-son duo to play for the Spiders, joining Pat DiServio (1981-83) and Tony DiServio (1945-47). Jeff Butler was a star for the Spiders from 1975-77, leading the team in scoring both seasons. He averaged 14.3 points per game in 1975-76 and 16.3 points per game in 1976-77. Jeff Butler was later an assistant coach for the Spiders under Hall of Fame coach Dick Tarrant, who regularly attends games in the Robins Center. Ryan Butler grew up in the shadow of campus, a and starred at Douglas Freeman High three miles from campus.
Tenacious D
In Chris Mooney's first season at Richmond in 2005-06, the Spiders led the nation in fewest points allowed for most of the season, not allowing 60 points or more for the first 10 games of the year. The Spiders finished the year allowing 57.8 points per game, which ranked seventh in the country. In 2006-07, with five freshmen seeing the bulk of the minutes, the Spiders did not have as much success defensively, but the past two seasons Richmond has been better on the defensive end, allowing 67.5 ppg in 2008-09 and 66.0 ppg in 2007-09. After a slow start on the defensive end last season, Richmond held back-to-back opponents (Rice and George Washington) to under 50 points for the first time since the 1950-51 season. The Spiders have held opponents to 50 points or less 18 times in 127 games under Mooney and have held teams to 60 points or less 37 times. Richmond has allowed over 70 points just 34 times in Mooney's five seasons and has allowed 80 or more points just 12 times.
Spiders Web Reaching NBA
While the Spiders do not have a former player on any NBA rosters, three Richmond former standouts are working the sidelines in the NBA. Kevin Eastman is an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics, earning a ring with the 2008 World Champions. Standout guard Ken Atkinson, a member of the 1988 Sweet 16 team, is in his second year as an assistant coach for Mike D'Antoni and the New York Knicks. Former guard Curtis Blair, who scored 18 points in the 1991 NCAA Tournament win over Syracuse, is in his second year as a referee in the NBA.
Young And The Restless
Richmond coach Chris Mooney got his first Division I head coaching job at the age of 32, which made him the fourth-youngest coach in the nation three years ago. Even with his youth, don't look for any grizzled veterans on the 37-year-old Mooney's staff. Associate head coach Kevin McGeehan is 36, assistant coach Jamal Brunt is 29 and assistant coach Rob Jones is 31. Directors of basketball operations Marcus Jenkins and Peter Thomas are 27 and 25, respectively.
More TV For Atlantic 10
The league's television schedule for the upcoming season consists of 133 televised contests representing 206 appearances, including the title game of the 2010 Men's Basketball Championship on Mar. 14 at 1:00pm on CBS Sports for the first time in league history. Among the highlights for this season's television schedule: 73 A-10 matchups will air on television this season, an increase of 25 percent from a year ago; an 18 percent increase in the total number of television appearances from last season; greater distribution in A-10 media markets; ESPN will televise 32 men's games on its three networks as part of its college basketball package representing 41 appearances; 10 games will be carried nationally on CBS College Sports Network, including the semifinals of the 2010 A-10 Championship; and 32 league contests will be part of CBS College Sports Network's syndication package, including the quarterfinals of the A-10 Championship.
