2010-2011 Sage Men's Basketball Season Outlook

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Nov 15, 2010

The 2010-2011 season brings with it much anticipation for the second chapter in the story The Sage Colleges men's basketball program.

Brian Barnes led the young NCAA Division III squad to an impressive start as the Gators would finish with a 7-18 record, including a 5-15 mark in the highly competitive Skyline Conference.

Barnes was hired in June of 2008 and proceeded to lay the foundation for the first Gator Division III men's team as the former Sage Junior College at Albany played for several years in the ranks of the National Junior College Association until the 2002-2003 season. The team launched into the NCAA Division III ranks on November 15, 2009 as they stepped onto the hardwood with a young roster that boasted 15 freshmen and two juniors.
 

Barnes will be joined on the bench by Michael Foust, a 2003 St. Michael's graduate, who has spent the past two seasons helping to build the Gators' basketball program with his hard work on the recruiting scene. A former assistant with Barnes at RPI, Foust is familiar with the Capital Region basketball landscape. The pair will be joined by another Capital Region stand-out as Sean McAvoy joins the staff.

Barnes and Sage's coaching staff feel this team will benefit from an up-tempo style of play and has an ability to have an offensive pressure that will prove relentless to their opponents. Combined with the ability to score from multiple positions, this Sage squad will be one to take notice of.
 

The Gator coaching staff returns a talented number of performers that excelled last season, while another stellar class of newcomers completes the roster for the 2010-2011 season. Eight players return from the first squad, which is headlined by the 2009-2010 Skyline Conference Rookie of the Year, sophomore Matt Farbotko (Rouses Point, NY/Northeastern Clinton).

Farbotko averaged 14.0 ppg as a rookie and was the league's top scoring freshman last season after earning Rookie of the Week honors twice. He averaged nearly 28 minutes a game and was the team's only 25-game starter last season after shooting an impressive 54.1% from the floor with 7.2 rpg. He possessed the ability to play at either forward position and worked hard in the off-season on his perimeter game. The Gators will have to wait for his return to the lineup as a pre-season injury has benched the player for the start of the campaign.
 

Look for sophomore center, Marcus Hunter (Ridge, NY/Longwood) to pick up some of the slack created by Farbotko's absence in the lineup. A mid-season arrival on the bench last year, Hunter finished as the top shot blocker last year with 55 blocks, while racking up 13.4 ppg along the way. The team's leading rebounder with 7.7 boards a game, Hunter was tapped as the league's Rookie of the Week twice. Hunter's career highs include 25 points with 18 rebounds and three six-blocks efforts in his 15 games played. Barnes said of Hunter, "Marcus is a special talent, who has a very high ceiling." Barnes added, "we are looking for him to be contagious with his drive to win any competitive practice situation and carry that onto the court come game night."

Senior guard Garret Bishop (Saratoga, NY/Saratoga Springs) returns as the squad's veteran after his first season with the Gators was cut short. A six-game starter, Bishop was the team's high scorer twice and averaged 13.3 ppg while making an impressive 83.3% on his shots from the line. He has experienced considerable success already in his collegiate career.
 

Coach Barnes, said of Bishop, "Garret has a good skill set that allows him to score with or without the ball in his hands." He added, "his aggressiveness on both sides of the ball will set the tone for our style of play this season."

As a freshman, Bishop played and starred at Nichols College. He played in all 25 games adding 16 starts. He averaged 12.7 points per game which was good for second on the 2007-2008. He added 52 assists which were good for second on the team. Bishop was named TCCC Rookie of the Year and was selected TCCC Rookie of the Week twice throughout the season.
 

Additional newcomers in the freshmen class include swing-man Ryan LaBelle (East Berne, NY/Berne-Knox-Westerlo), sharpshooter Anthony Gallo (Slingerlands, NY/NY/Guilderland) 

NY/Guilderland) and six-foot-seven inch center Kyle Keegan (Troy, NY/Averill Park). LaBelle is a scoring wing that can get to the basket and also knock down the open jumper, while Keegan will give Sage front court depth once he is healthy.

Barnes feels some of the keys to success this season for the squad is to accept individual roles and selflessness, while team defense and rebounding will also be important for the Sage squad as they take to the court in 2010-2011.
The second chapter of Sage basketball opens on November 15 as the Gators will travel to RPI. Days later, the team will visit Southern Vermont College on November 17. The busy week closes with the team's home opener on November 19 as Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts will compete against the Gators in the no-so friendly confines of the Kahl Campus Center.

Sage will have host 11 opponents in the coming year before the regular-season culminates in late February. The league opener for the Sage in the Skyline Conference this season has the Gators travelling to Purchase College on November 30. A year ago, Purchase captured the league championship title and earned an NCAA tournament bid. Before the first semester wraps, Sage will have played five of their 2010-2011 Skyline Conference games with St. Joseph's College, a 2010 ECAC Metro participant visiting campus on December 4.

 

Sage will face stiff competition in the league with hopes of garnering a spot in the 2011 Skyline Conference Tournament and a shot at the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships. Among the team's the Gators will face will be SUNY-Old Westbury, Farmingdale State College, Maritime College, NYU-Poly, Yeshiva, Bard, Mount Saint Mary, and College of Mt. St. Vincent. All told, the Skyline Conference sent three teams to post-season play a year ago and has a long standing tradition of post-season success in men's basketball.