The preseason report says the IUP Crimson Hawks have five starters returning from last year.
That’s accurate to a point. The Hawks do return five players that started last year, but two have taken reserve roles to make room for two new starters that sat out last year.
Dallis Dillard, a 6-foot-3 redshirt senior guard, returns to the starting lineup after a two-year absence following major knee surgery, and he is expected to lead the team in scoring.
Bautista Rodriguez, a highly touted 6-foot-6 sophomore forward, is set to make his collegiate debut as a starter.
Starters from last year occupy the next three spots.
Kymani Merraro, a standout sophomore point guard, has his spot secure for as long as he puts on the IUP jersey.
Damir Brooks, a fifth-year senior, returns at center.
Christian Moore, a senior guard who led the team in scoring last year at 16.8 points per game after transferring from Division I New Hampshire, is looking to round out the starting five, although either Tyler Grove, Ian Herring or Sarp Furtun could move into that spot on a game-by-game basis depending on matchups.
“The big thing is with Bautista and Dallis joining the team, guys’ roles are different than last year, and some shrunk, and some shrunk considerably,” IUP coach Joe Lombardi said. “That’s not an easy adjustment to make, but everybody has to make sacrifices for the good of the team. When you have two new starters that’s going to happen.”
That gives IUP a solid and deep bench or occasional starter with four returning regulars available along with Moore: Grove, a 6-7 forward who started last year as a freshman; Furtun, a 6-3 guard starter who started as a junior; Herring, a 6-5 sophomore; 6-7 senior forward Luke Triggs; and senior point guard Alfonso Pickens Jr.
Tasso Sfanos, a junior guard who transferred from South Carolina Beaufort, is redshirting along with two freshmen: 6-9 New Zealander Harry Keighley and guard Ralph Blundo from New Castle.
“I have different expectations on a lot of returners — different from last year,” Lombardi said. “They were all brand new last year, and some of them got a lot of grace because it was such a learning process, but I feel I can and need to be a lot more demanding of them all this year. So, it’s up to me to get them to play at a level of intensity they haven’t played at before. I have to close the gap between where they’re at with their ability potential and where they can get to. It doesn’t always happen just by asking so there’s a certain amount of demanding that goes along with coaching.”
IUP was picked second behind Gannon, the two-time defending champion, in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference preseason coaches’ poll released Thursday. Gannon and IUP are followed in the PSAC West by California, Slippery Rock, Seton Hill, Edinboro, Pitt-Johnstown and Clarion.
In the PSAC East, West Chester is picked first and followed by East Stroudsburg, Millersville, Shepherd, Shippensburg, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Kutztown and Bloomsburg.
Lombardi got the first look at his team against competition during a five-day road trip last week. The Hawks climbed into university passenger vans and headed south to play scrimmages against Virginia Union, South Carolina Beaufort and Anderson (.S.C.).
Bautista made the trip but didn’t play because of a sprained ankle he turned two days before departure, and Merraro suffered a concussion and didn’t play in the second half against Beaufort or the following day against Anderson. Both are expected to return to practice this week.
Regardless, though no official results were kept, IUP won two of the three scrimmages, faltering in the second half against Beaumont’s press without two starters.
“It was fruitful,” Lombardi said. “We learned a lot, and it was nice to be able to do it three weeks before the first game because you really get exposed. … When you play scrimmages, my philosophy has always been let’s try to win with our habits and really not spend any time on the team we’re playing.”
IUP faced Virginia Union’s zone and half-court zone press, Beaufort’s full-court press and Anderson’s half-court man-to-man. The Hawks don’t face much zone defense, and non-conference opponent St. Thomas Aquinas and Gannon, the two-time defending Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference champion, employ a full-court press.
“We got film that’s useful,” Lombardi said, “so we won’t see anything too unique on opening weekend.”
Merraro got to observe more than he wanted a year after he became the first freshman to start at point guard in Lombardi’s 20-year tenure and was named the PSAC West Freshman of the Year.
“It was very eye-opening,” he said, “so it’s very exciting just seeing how good you can be.”
Last year IUP finished 14-16 – its first season below .500 since Lombardi’s second year — and shot only 43.5 percent from the field and 32.1 percent from 3-point range. The Hawks scored 72.5 points per game and allowed 73.2.
“One thing we did that I was really pleased with was passing the ball a lot better,” Lombardi said, “and that was leading to good shots. And we shot the 3 pretty well over the course of those three games so that was encouraging because we struggled with that last year. We’re still not up to the standard defensively that we’ve had in the past with championship teams, and hopefully we can get there.”
“I feel like we played hard,” Herring said. “We were down Bautista and Ky so a lot of us had to step up and play hard, and it was good.”
The trip also served as a bonding experience. In addition to long hours on the road, the team dined together, slept in hotels and spent some time on the beach in South Carolina.
“They played ‘walk football’ on the beach,” Lombardi said. “There was no running. I didn’t want any sprained ankles.”
“It was a great time hanging out with each other and just building that family and building that brotherhood,” Grove said. “On the court, we learned a lot. There are definitely a lot of things that need fixed up before we get started.”
IUP opens the season Friday, Nov. 14, against Concord (W.Va.). The Hawks play Lincoln, out of Philadelphia, the following evening. Both games are at 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Field House, IUP’s former home. The move was made because the KCAC is contractually bound to an annual cheerleading competition on the second weekend of November, and the NCAA moved the start date for games back one week from previous seasons.
In another scheduling note, the game at Lincoln slated for the day before Thanksgiving has been canceled due to a facilities issue.