2011-12 Hofstra Men's Basketball Media Guide - GoHofstra.com

2011-2012 Outlook
The Hofstra Men’s Basketball program
has been built for the last three seasons
around standout guard Charles Jenkins,
a second round draft pick of the NBA’s
Golden State Warriors. The key to the
2011-12 season will be whether the
supporting cast and newcomers can pick
up their level of play and help the Pride
maintain the program’s high level of
success.
Jenkins graduated as the school’s all-time
leading scorer with 2,513 points and was
an All-American selection by several
media outlets (Sporting News, Basketball
Times, SI.com, CBS Sports.com). In
addition to losing Jenkins, the Pride also
graduated the top shot-blocker in school
history in big man Greg Washington, and
the team’s point guard in the second half
of the season in Brad Kelleher.
The cupboard is far
from bare, though,
as Hofstra returns
two players who
started every game
last year for Head
Coach Mo Cassara
in senior guard Mike
Moore and junior
forward David Imes.
Hofstra also has
two experienced
redshirts to add to
the mix in senior
swingman Nathaniel
Lester (who missed
last year with an
injury) and junior
point guard Stevie
Mejia (who sat out
last season after
transferring from
Rhode Island).
Senior guard Dwan
McMillan also
missed the final
22 games last year
with an injury
and will be back
to give the Pride
additional backcourt
depth, while
sophomore forward
David Imes
mike moore
Steven Nwaukoni
and sophomore guard
Shemiye McLendon
were key rotation guys
off the bench and should
be ready to contribute
even more this winter.
Here is a position-byposition
look at the Pride
heading into the 2011-12
season:
Guards
Senior 6-5 shooting
guard Mike
Moore thrived as a
supplemental scorer to
Jenkins last year. He
averaged 14.9 points per
game, stretched defenses
with his unlimited
shooting range (62
three-pointers) and was
a valuable rebounder,
especially on the
baseline when Hofstra
utilized a zone defense
(5.4 rpg). Moore may be
the primary option in the
offense this season and
see additional defensive attention, but
he has all of the offensive tools to be
a go-to weapon.
McLendon is a strong candidate
to step into the vacated shooting
guard role left behind by Jenkins.
Although he won’t be expected to
match Jenkins’ 22.6 points per game,
McLendon showed flashes of strong
scoring ability in his rookie season,
averaging 6.1 points off the bench
and hitting several clutch threepointers
and foul shots.
Hofstra has two solid point guards
for next year as well. McMillan
handled the point guard role for the
first 11 games before an injury ended
his season. McMillan averaged 6.8
points and 3.3 assists before being
injured, and also showed the ability
to be a lock down defender with his
ability to pressure the ball.
28 2011-2012 HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY MEN’S BASKETBALL