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LOCATION: Richmond, VA
CONFERENCE: Colonial Athletic Association
LAST SEASON: 15-12 (.555)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 10-6 (3rd)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 1/4
NICKNAME: Spiders
COLORS: Red & Blue
HOMECOURT: Robbins Center (9,171)
COACH: John Beilein (Wheeling Jesuit '75)
record at school 38-20 (2 years)
career record 385-225 (20 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Phil Seymore (Canisius '89)
Jeff Neubauer (La Salle '93)
Matt Brown (Shippensburg '94)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 8-8-13-23-15
RPI (last 5 years) 233-229-167-66-164
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference first round.
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Greg Stevenson is a perfectly fine name. Nice and simple, no chance for an announcer to do a butcher job when introducing the lineups. Fits nicely on the back of a jersey and all that. There will probably be a few times this season when the 6-6, 220-pound University of Richmond junior wishes his name was something else, anything else. At Richmond, Stevenson is a last name that invites comparisons as in, is that Jarod Stevenson's brother? Jarod Stevenson was the Colonial Athletic Association's Player of the Year in 1997-98, when he led Richmond to the league championship and into the second round of the NCAA Tournament. That season, Greg was a sophomore at Penn State. The forward made 16 starts over two seasons, then decided to transfer to his brother's school. After sitting out the required season, he is likely to step right into the starting lineup. As a sophomore at Penn State, Stevenson averaged 4.2 points and shot .423 percent from three-point range. He averaged 3.4 points as a freshman. "Their athletic ability and skill level are similar, but their skills are different," Richmond coach John Beilein said of the Stevenson brothers. "Greg is an extremely good rebounder, maybe a bit more physical than Jarod. We think he's really going to be helpful. We'll make the comparisons very few. We won't put any pressure on him. We're just going to let him go."
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT B- BENCH/DEPTH B
FRONTCOURT B+ INTANGIBLES B
These guys could end up being good, really good. That's not good for the rest of the CAA Richmond will be intact for two seasons because it has no seniors. Coach John Beilein's main concern seems to be keeping everybody happy. It's not such a big deal when you have only 8-9 guys who can play. "I think we'll be deeper 1-10," Beilein said. "The big thing is who are the top eight and how can we create a chemistry that is advantageous? Chemistry is easy when you only have 7-8 guys fitting into that flow. We'll have 10-11 who can fit in, but we won't go past 8 or 9." It probably won't be too difficult. The 8-9 may change with each game. The constants will be Charles Stephens, Kinte Smith and Greg Stevenson. Even if one of them is off, Beilein has viable options. And he has enough available talent at the other spots to jiggle his lineup around depending on matchups. Freshman Eric Zwayer can match power inside, junior Scott Kauffman can handle a more finesse-oriented team. Against bigger teams, sophomore Scott Ungerer can get time at the point. Against smaller, quicker teams, sophomore Marques Cunningham can handle the spot. Freshman guards Jeff Myers and Reggie Brown and redshirt freshman center Johnathan Collins are all capable of helping this season. There isn't a coach around who really thinks having too many players is that big of a problem. Beilein will work things out just fine. |
Stevenson doesn't have to be the second coming of Jarod to elevate the Spiders considerably. Richmond will be senior-less this season, and if Stevenson proves merely capable rather than extraordinary, he will give the Spiders a third player who makes for a difficult matchup. The others are 6-5 junior Kinte Smith and 6-5 sophomore Charles Stephens, the two who were primarily responsible for Richmond's third-place finish last season in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. They will line up with Smith at the wing, Stephens at small forward and Stevenson at power forward. They're somewhat interchangeable. Smith, who started his career at George Washington, averaged 13.3 points and 6.6 rebounds in his first season as a Spider. He shot .806 percent from the free-throw line. Stephens was the CAA's Freshman of the Year, though he somehow didn't make the All-CAA team. He was second in the league in scoring at (17 ppg) and second in rebounding (8.3 rpg). He shot .519 percent from the floor. Two nice weapons have been joined by a third. "Kinte will be the oldest player on the team, and we're really looking for leadership from him," Beilein said. "He's never had to do that and he seems to be doing a good job. He'll play more guard than forward, but he's so good around the hoop and such a good rebounder. "Charles is working on expanding his game and making people guard him outside." Beilein said "Who knows what the sophomore year brings to people? He does want to be the best player he can be and he still works at it." Richmond's point guard situation could be interesting. Sophomore Marques Cunningham (8.8 ppg, 2.0 rpg), 6-1, will get another look. He had his moments last season, good and bad. He can play, although he needs to work on being more of a point guard. "His mentality has to be this: I'm a point guard who can score as opposed to I'm a scorer who plays point guard," Beilein said. "He sees that now." Jeff Myers, a 6-1 freshman (Boylan Catholic/Rockford, Ill.), will also get a chance. He averaged 12.1 points and 10.1 assists for a team that was 53-5 over two years. A very intriguing option at the point is 6-7 sophomore Scott Ungerer (4.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg), who was very effective last season once he recovered from foot problems. At 6-7, Ungerer is a matchup problem outside. At point or elsewhere, Ungerer will get lots of time as Richmond's sixth man. "He can substitute at the 1-4 spots and last year played the 5," Beilein said. "He's the (John) Havlicek or whatever you just put him in there. Because of his intelligence, he can get it done. He's not a great jumper, but he's a very good rebounder. For some reason, he has a feel. We thought he'd have problems defensively, but he's smart enough to see the moves and screens before others do." Beilein has options inside, too. Junior Scott Kauffman (4.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg) is the incumbent center. Beilein said the 6-9, 225-pounder does more than the numbers indicate. "Everybody seems to underrate him," Beilein said. "He does so many little things." Tim Faulconer (1.4 ppg, 1.7 rpg), a 6-11 sophomore, has put on 20 pounds and is up to 220. "He still has a ways to go, but he has skills that can bring him to another level," Beilein said. Johnathan Collins, a 6-9 freshman (Ryan Academy/Norfolk, Va.), redshirted last year and gained 25 pounds to 195. He averaged 16.8 points and 12.4 rebounds as a prep senior. "We're really high on him," Beilein said. "He's a shot blocker extraordinaire and that's always good to have." Those two have had to get big. Freshman Eric Zwayer (Sebring HS/Sebring, Fla.) comes in big. The 6-9, 235-pounder averaged 18 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks as a prep senior. From the sound of things, he could end up the man inside. "He's strong and loves to play," Beilein said. "We have to have somebody to be able to play against some of the bigger guys in the league. As far as screening and passing and hitting open shots, he's what we like. We like our centers to be able to pass the ball. He can do that, too." Also back is 6-4 junior Rick Houston (3.3 ppg, 1.4 rpg), who had 19 points in his first game as a freshman and hasn't done much since. He will get a chance to be the shooter off the bench, as will 6-4 freshman Reggie Brown (Archbishop Malloy/Flushing, N.Y.). Brown averaged 19 points as a prep senior. "We hope to give Houston an opportunity to shoot his way into the lineup," Beilein said. "Reggie is going to combine with Jeff Myers to be a tremendous backcourt in the future. I'm really pleased with the recruiting class. "For those (new) guys, it's not so much which one is most ready but which one of our guys who comes back who isn't ready. That's where they'll get their shot." Junior Tyler Phillips (0.3 ppg, 0.3 rpg) and sophomore Justin Lay (0.4 ppg, 0.4 rpg) return as reserves. Both are 6-4 guards who will again see limited time. More time would probably be available for 5-10 sophomore guard Cordell Roane (1.3 ppg, 0.2 rpg), but he is on the Spiders' football team and can't report until late. Richmond made the Division I-AA football playoffs last season. "If they have another (football) season like that, we might not get Cordell until late December," Beilein said. "So it's hard to say he's in the mix. There were times when he was the most effective in practice and they don't come any quicker than him."
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