Men's Basketball

Head coach Pat Sullivan enters his 32nd season at University of St. Francis and while he may be a familiar site on the USF bench this winter, many of the other faces will not be as recognizable.

That is because Sullivan had nine seniors on last year’s squad, including NAIA honorable mention all-America pick Mike Smith. That group of nine was the core and backbone of each of the last two Saints’ teams, units that reached the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament championship game in 2006 and the semifinal round in 2007 before losing to eventual league champion Robert Morris both years.

Senior guard/forward Chris Hobson is the top returnee on this year’s club and the only player back who averaged more than three points per game in 2006-07. 

Despite the fact that over 70 percent of the offense is gone from a year ago, Sullivan remains optimistic about his 2007-08 Saints.

“We have brought in some talented players that will join our returning group and give us a very good chance to remain competitive in our league,” says Sullivan. “We all know how good Robert Morris has been in the past few years and Olivet Nazarene and Saint Xavier either go to the national tournament or narrowly miss a bid almost every year.  But our kids have clawed and scratched their way to the conference tourney finals and semifinals the last two years and have been on the brink of going to Kansas City.”

Besides Hobson, the list of returning players includes seniors Troy Talkington, Reggie Davis, Dan McCarthy, Adam Kielbasa and Jason Opoka. Also back are juniors Ian Jones and Chris Hulka and sophomore Ryan Gunderson.

Among that group of returnees, Jones and Opoka had the most playing time a year ago in their first seasons after transferring to USF. Jones averaged 2.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in about 12 minutes per game and Opoka scored 1.5 points per contest in just under 11 minutes per game.

Talkington, a member of the USF tennis team, missed most of last year with a foot injury. Davis appeared in five games as a backup post player and McCarthy and Kielbasa played in a handful of varsity games in reserve roles. Hulka missed almost all of last year with an injury and Gunderson, a member of the USF football squad, appeared in just two games.

Much of the success of the 2007-08 USF squad will be reliant upon the production of the corps of newcomers.

Sullivan hopes for immediate contributions from senior guard/forward Barry Murdock and junior transfers Jeremy Kreiger, Dan Kieres, Sam Robinson and Rob Rabenau.

Murdock, a Joliet Township product, has played at both Saint Xavier and Lewis and will finish his career with the Saints. Kreiger, also a Joliet Township product, comes to USF via St. Joseph’s College (IN) and is expected to step into the point guard position vacated by the graduation of USF’s all-time assists leader Eric Epps.

Kieres, a transfer from Missouri-Rolla, will vie for playing time at both the shooting guard and small forward positions, while Robinson, a lean 6-foot-5-inch forward, should contend for a starting spot inside.

Rabenau will likely fight with Jones for playing time in the low post after coming to USF from Lincoln Community College.

A pair of sophomore transfers – Zach Jones and Tristan Therkield – will also be in the mix and fighting for starting positions. Jones, a 6-7 forward, comes to USF to play both football and basketball after starting his career at NCAA Division I Ball State. Therkield, a shooting guard, first attended Williston State College in North Dakota before coming back home to the Chicago area. He prepped at Richards High School in Oak Lawn.

Jeff Miller and Christos Zouliantis are the only two true freshmen on the roster. Miller hails from Stagg High School in suburban Palos Hills and should give the Saints another outside shooting threat as well as decent size at a guard spot. Zouliantis is from Greece, but did play some prep basketball in Colorado.

Rounding out the Saints roster are junior Hozay McGaha and redshirt freshman Drew Emmel.  McGaha is a Chicago Lane Tech product and Emmel played his prep basketball at nearby Providence Catholic.