The Hartford Hawks Website

[SUMG]

http://www.hartfordhawks.com/HomePage.dbml...=12400&KEY=

Please note: They list our game time as 3, but that's because they're in the Eastern time zone.

[Buford_Julep]

Hartford is a D-1 team. Sagarin makes NT the favorite by 13.72 points. NT should be a solid favorite, but there is no evidence that this game should be a blowout.

Here is a Sagarin comparison to some teams we have heard of:

226 McNeese State

236 Louisiana-Lafayette

239 Central Arkansas

246 Princeton

247 Middle Tennessee

248 Pennsylvania

252 Hartford

255 SMU

257 Arkansas State

263 Rice

273 Texas-San Antonio

[MeanGreen61]

Pomeroy predicts we will win by 24 (87-63).

http://www.kenpom.com/sked.php?team=North%20Texas&t=p

Edited December 7, 2007 by MeanGreen61

[Cooley]

Last Season 13-18 (.419)

Conference Record 6-10 (t-6th)

Starters Lost/Returning 3/2

Coach Dan Leibovitz (Pennsylvania '96)

Record At School 13-18 (1 year)

Career Record 13-18 (1 year)

RPI Last 5 years 168-235-300-268-228

COACH AND PROGRAM

Dan Leibovitz had two goals he wanted to achieve by the end of last year, his first as a head coach after spending 10 years as an assistant to John Chaney at Temple. No, they weren't to win the America East Tournament, or make the NIT. Leibovitz, who graduated from Penn in 1996, is smarter than that. His goals were: A) to establish a team identity so that when he hit the recruiting trail he would have something to pitch other than beautiful West Hartford; and to teach his players as much as possible so they would be able to impart their wisdom on this season's incoming freshmen.

Although the Hawks didn't exactly get straight A's learning Leibovitz' style of play, and suffered from more than a few identity crisis along the way, Leibovitz believes he accomplished what he set out to do, which should make this season not only more enjoyable, but more successful. ''Last year, there weren't any seniors who could say to the younger guys, 'hey, this is how you do it,' '' Leibovitz said. ''Everybody was on the same page. Now we have some guys who have gone through a season and know what we're doing. Some things we didn't get to last year, but the work ethic has been established.'' If you listen long enough to Leibovitz talk about work ethic, heart and leadership, you can almost envision him in gray, hooded sweatshirt and a headset, coaching Hartford's football team, if only it had a football team. He has that type of mentality. Perhaps it's fitting the Hawks are led by a pair of guards with impressive football resumes.

PLAYERS

Last year's scouting report on 6-0 sophomore guard Joe Zeglinski (12.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg) included as much about his family (his older brother Zack played running back at Penn State and younger brother Sam is a freshman point guard at Virginia) and football career (he was a 3,000-yard rusher at Archbishop Ryan in Philadelphia) as it did his basketball career. Zeglinski, however, made basketball the main issue by starting all 31 games and earning a spot on the America East's All-Rookie team. Zeglinski showed he can be a big-time scorer, pouring in 24 against Vermont and 23 against Stony Brook, and that was a year removed from an ACL and meniscus injury.

Leibovitz believes he's capable of even more. ''He'll improve his lateral quickness and do a little more off the dribble,'' Leibovitz said. ''He probably shot more threes than he was comfortable with. ''I was thinking today that one of the best things I did was recruiting him.'' With Zeglinski established at the off-guard position, Leibovitz hopes that another former football player with surgically-repaired knees -- 6-2 junior Jared Von Rosenberg (10.5 ppg, 2.5 apg) -- will emerge at point guard. Von Rosenberg, who was a high school football standout in Texas and tore his ACL twice, shared point guard duties last year with 6-1 senior Rich Baker (5.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg). The pairing wasn't disastrous, but it wasn't ideal. ''When he pushes the ball, there aren't a lot of people who can keep him in front of them,'' Leibovitz said. ''His nature is to attack, which is good. But we're trying to get him to be more of a floor general.'' Even when he doesn't have the ball in his hands, Von Rosenberg is valuable defensively.

''He never stops on defense,'' Leibovitz said. ''We had a number of games where we came back from double digits and won. Jared was always the guy out there pressuring guys and turning people over. I hope we're not in that position, where we have to come back that much. But it's great to have somebody with that energy level.'' Baker, who was a captain last year, will be part of the rotation if he can remain healthy. He missed 10 games last year with a stress fracture in his foot and missed the entire 2004-05 season with a quadriceps tear.

Brian Glowiak (4.9 ppg, 1.9 rpg), a 6-3 senior, will add depth. Although the Hawks will have a serviceable backcourt, their frontcourt might struggle with no player taller than 6-7. One player who should help bolster the unit is 6-6 forward Warren McLendon, a transfer from The Citadel. McLendon, who weighs in at 250 pounds, averaged 12.8 points and 6.7 rebounds his freshman year at The Citadel and was chosen to the Southern Conference All-Freshman team. He was also won Georgia's players of the year his senior year in high school. Leibovitz is enamored by McLendon's physical attributes -- he claims he leg-pressed 1,000 pounds over the summer -- but knows it's hard to tell how he'll perform. McLendon sat out last year and didn't receive much individual attention because the coaching staff was busy preparing eligible players.

''He's a physical specimen and he knows how to score down there,'' Leibovitz said. ''It remains to be seen, when the lights go on how he handles it. But he has a great chance to make a huge difference for us on the boards and as a scorer.'' Leibovitz knows he'll receive a contribution from 6-5 junior Michael Turner (5.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg). Turner, who started 24 games last year, can score, but his true value is on defense and as a leader. ''He's our defensive anchor and he's a great communicator,'' Leibovitz said. ''He's an essential guy for us; he's our glue guy. We'll rely heavily on him.''

The frontcourt will be further bolstered if Leibovitz can receive contributions from 6-7 junior forward Fabrice Tafo (3.3 ppg, 1.6 rpg) and 6-7 sophomore forward David Bookman (0.9 ppg, 0.6 rpg). Tafo can play interior defense but needs to continue to develop offensively. ''With us playing so many young guys down there, we need an anchor,'' Leibovitz said. ''Fabrice has a chance to be that.'' Bookman played in only nine games last year, but averaged a double-double in high school. With a glut of guards already on the roster, Leibovitz focused on recruiting post players. Not surprisingly, one who could contribute right away was also a pretty good football player. Kevin Estes, a 6-7 forward from Richmond, Va., was recruited heavily as a tight end but chose to stick with basketball. His older brother, Pat Estes, is a tight end for the San Francisco 49ers.

Anthony Minor, a 6-6 forward from Philadelphia, isn't as big as Estes but has more athleticism and could also play guard. ''He's kind of sneaky athletic,'' Leibovitz said. ''He looks skinny and he kind of floats around, then all of a sudden he'll dunk the ball in a crowd.'' Turner will have somebody to talk to in 6-7 forward Morgan Sabia. The San Francisco native played in the same high school league as Turner, earning player-of-the-year honors last year. The lone guard in the recruiting class, 5-10 Andres Torres, will do his best to further muddle what is already a jam-packed rotation. Torres hails from Puerto Rico and represented his country in the FIBA America U18 championships, averaging seven points and three assists.

''He's one of these guys who's been a point guard since he was four or five,'' Leibovitz said. ''He just commands respect from his teammates. He runs the show. He's a great guy to have in our program.'' Leibovitz doesn't have the most talented team in the America East, but he might have one of its toughest with a collection of former football-playing guards and wide-body forwards. Alas, basketball is not a street fight. The Hawks are going to have a hard time defending and rebounding in the post with no player taller than 6-7 and very little in the way of game experience outside of Turner, who's probably more comfortable playing a wing position. McLendon could give the Hawks a huge lift, or he could be overwhelmed by the stronger competition.

At first glance, the guard position appears to be an area of strength, but there are so many guards, and most of them don't have defined roles. Leibovitz would like Von Rosenberg to emerge as the point guard, but Baker might be better suited if he can stay healthy. Torres is probably a year away from being the No. 1 option. If heart won games, Hartford might be in the running. But its talent will keep it near the bottom of the standings.

BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS

BACKCOURT: A-

BENCH/DEPTH: C

FRONTCOURT: C

INTANGIBLES: B