Photo courtesy Quinnipiac Athletics
By: Chris Dacey
The weather is getting colder in Hamden and that means we are that much closer to basketball in the TD Bank Sports Center. However, there are some new faces that have joined the men’s squad for the 2016-17 season.
The Quinnipiac men’s basketball team and head coach Tom Moore are coming off its worst season during the Moore era. That’s in the past and now the team has six new faces that it welcomed to campus in August, four junior college transfers and two freshmen.
With Giovanni McClean transferring and James Ford Jr. gone, the Bobcats have some spots to fill within the starting five and with players coming off the bench.
Moore believes he new faces here on the team have been setting themselves up for success as the new players are gaining their footing as they were on campus in the summer working in the classroom before the school year even started.
“As a whole, their attitudes have been really good and we haven’t face any adversity yet so we don’t know how it going to affect them but right now everyone is working hard,” Moore said.
The new players on this team are coming in during a crucial season for the Bobcats as all the pressure is on Tom Moore to improve on last year’s nine-win season.
Let’s meet the new Bobcats that will be on this year’s squad:
Ja’Kwan Jones: 6-foot-7 forward
Hometown: Newburgh, New York
Transferring from Wabash Valley Junior College (Mt. Carmel, IL)
2015-16 stats: 10.6 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 57.1 FG%
Jones is coming from a different Mt. Carmel campus. Moore said he sees Jones as a small or power forward, but so far he has solely played the power forward position in practice. Moore had high praise about the transfer describing him as a “smart and consistent worker” on the court. Jones has competed with sophomore Abdalai Bundu and Moore thinks that competition has helped Jones get better for this upcoming season.
Reggie Oliver: 6-foot-1 guard
Hometown: Lake Oswego, Oregon
Transferring from Howard Junior College (Big Spring, Texas)
2015-16 stats: Not known on date of publish
Reggie Oliver has the chance to be one of, if not the best perimeter player on the court for the Bobcats this season. That being said, Moore also thinks Oliver could provide a spark coming off the bench for this team. High praise for a guy who has yet to play in a game for this team, but sounds promising.
Philip Winston: 6-foot-2 guard
Hometown: Lakewood, Washington
Transferring from Utah State Eastern Junior College (Price, Utah)
2015-16 stats: 15.1 PPG, 5.8 APG, 43 FG%
Moore said the Winston has been “terrific” as a point guard so far in practice. Moore stressed that this team is going to play faster and they are going to look to push and run the floor often. Moore says Winston wants to play this way and wants to get those easy buckets in transition.
On the defensive side of the ball, the graduated James Ford Jr creates another gap that will need to be filled. Moore believes that Winston can step and be the guy on defense to be tough on the ball and work on those tough stops late in games. So far he has proven this in practices to the head coach.
“He has the most competitive desire to guard the ones and the two on other teams,” Moore said.
Cameron Young: 6-foot-6 guard
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Transferring from Arizona Western Junior College (Yuma, Arizona)
2015-16 stats: 17.2 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 72.1 FG%
Young, quiet and reserved off the court, needs to become more vocal in Moore’s eyes. He wants Young to be more emotional on the court and he believes that Young will be a better player because of it. Along with the emotional part, Moore wants him to be more vocal while communicating with his teammates.
Onto the freshman, Mikey Dixon and Peter Kiss. Moore has been pleased with their progress so far. He also mentioned that he believes both players could have an impact this season. The transition to the Division I game, Moore says, has been usual to this point.
“It’s the typical things they don’t know quite yet,” Moore said. “It’s the same you get every year.”
Mikey Dixon: 6-foot-2 guard
Hometown: Hockessin, DE
High School: The Sanford School
2015-16 stats: 26 PPG, 2.3 APG
With Dixon, Moore said he was trying to figure whether Dixon would be a better fit at the point guard or shoot guard position. However, Dixon is willing do both and according to his coach he has been playing both “pretty well.” It will be interesting to see how Dixon will be used if he is called upon during the season.
Peter Kiss: 6-foot-5 guard
Hometown: New York, New York
High School: Notre Dame Prep (Fitchburg, MA)
Pete Kiss will “be in the mix” this year. During Bobcat Madness, Moore said to the crowd that Kiss along with Dixon would be able to spread the floor and shoot the three ball.
Kiss also said that all the new faces on the team have received help in some way by the older guys on the team like senior Daniel Harris.
“Daniel Harris sets a great example for us new guys so we have just followed his lead so far,” Kiss said.
All these new players are coming are coming into Quinnipiac with different backgrounds and different experience but they are now all Bobcats. Moore believes this group of new players will have what it takes to succeed in the MAAC, after the team finished second to last just above the Marist Red Foxes last season.
“Right now everybody is happy and we are working hard,” Moore said. “From a basketball point of view, it seems to me that the ball is moving quicker and sharper with more purpose and we are making more shots.”
The Bobcats have one more scrimmage before they start their 2016-17 campaign in a clash with Vermont at home on Saturday, Nov. 11.
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