Men's Basketball | 11/14/2013 4:17:00 PM

ROCHESTER, NY– With a handful of veteran leadership and some new, young talent, the RIT men's basketball team believes they have a combination that can carry them to success in the 2013-14 season.
 
After winning nine games in 2012-13, the coaching staff looked to add some young shooters and speedsters to a squad filled with experienced vets, in the hopes of adjusting to the faster pace of the game and their conference opponents.
 
"We have recruited for a little bit different style this year," said RIT head coach Bob McVean, now in his 31st season at RIT.  "We're playing a more mobile group that I think in matching up with the Liberty League and defensively this is what we've put a premium on."
 
Guard #Jameel Balenton (Syracuse, NY/Christian Brothers)# highlights the group of seniors, after playing in all 25 games for the Tigers last season. He led the team in scoring with 12.8 points per game. As a captain, Balenton brings a wealth of knowledge and leadership to the court every game.
 
Senior forward #Brendan Reinert (Wheatfield, NY/Starpoint)# is also a RIT captain and offers a handful of experience after playing in 23 games last year for RIT. Reinert averaged 3.2 points and 1.5 rebounds per game coming off the bench and was key for the Tigers from the free throw line, shooting a team best 85 percent. He provides some much needed toughness in the paint.
 
#Casey Bobelis (Bradenton, FL/Braden River)# appeared in 20 games last season, averaging 3.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Rounding out the senior class is #Matt Gundrum (East Meadow, NY/East Meadow)# who appeared in nine games for RIT last year, and #Gabe Nicasio (Essex Junction, VT/Essex)#, who sat out last year due to injury. In 2011-12 Nicasio averaged 8.1 points and 2.1 assists per game.
 
Junior #Desmond Scott (Murphy, TX/Plano East)#, the third RIT captain for 2013-14, will have an even bigger role for the Tigers this season. Also returning are sophomores #Kamron Davis (Syracuse, NY/Nottingham)# who appeared in 22 games last year, and 2012 Liberty League All-Rookie team selection #J.P. Reagan# who is deadly from three point range.
 
Coach McVean looks to that core group of returners to set the tone for the rest of the team as they face the grind of a college basketball season.
 
"Obviously leadership is something we talk about a great deal," said McVean. "The seniors that we have are all great workers that are leading by example and are really showing the young guys what college basketball is all about."
 
Five freshmen make their way onto the squad this season, bringing sharp shooting and quickness. #Joe Stortini (Red Hook, NY/Loomis Chaffee) and Casey Evans (Cicero, NY/Bishop Grimes)# are the two quick guards with solid decision-making ability. 
 
Forwards #Mitch Herman (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) and Kevin Drain (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker)# who stand at 6-foot-4, and 6-foot-5 respectively, offer some strength and height defensively for the Tigers, along with the 6-foot-5 transfer #Sheldon Clay (Detroit, MI/University of Detroit Jesuit)# who has collegiate basketball experience after playing the 2012-13 season at Adrian College. Herman is the grandson of RIT Athletics Hall Of Famer Dario Armanini '63.
 
"This is a very good strong group of recruits that are going to see some action this year," said McVean. "They all are going to add, not only knowledge of how we want to play, but also some scoring and rebounding abilities." 
 
With such a great core of leadership leading the charge, those five newcomers should have no problem adjusting to basketball at the collegiate level and in the Liberty League.
 
Despite being projected to finish seventh in the 2013-14 Liberty League preseason coaches poll, McVean and his team see that as fuel to their fire and believe they can achieve much more.
 
"Our goal every year is to make it to the NCAA's," McVean said. "The preseason poll in this case is more of a motivator for to get into that top four and play for a conference title and we feel we have the people to get it done."
 
RIT tips off its season at the SUNY Maritime Tip-Off Classic against The United States Merchant Marine Academy and SUNY Maritime on Friday Nov. 15-16 in Throggs Neck, N.Y.
 
The following weekend The Tigers return home for the 28th annual Harold J. Brodie Tournament Nov. 22-23. This year RIT welcomes Keuka, Baptist Bible, and Alfred State to Clark Gym for the tournament.
 
Starting Dec. 4, the Tigers will participate in the annual Wendy's College Classic, Division III's longest running in-season tournament, up until Dec.7 for a college hoops filled weekend, with local opponents Rochester, St. John Fisher, Nazareth, Hobart, Roberts Wesleyan, Brockport and Geneseo State.
 
RIT will ring in 2014 with a road game at Kueka on Jan. 7, before heading out to Hobart one week later on Jan. 14, for the start of Liberty League play, which encompasses the final 16 games of the season. With all the conference foes vying for a spot in the conference tournament which beginning on Feb. 26, every one of those games counts.