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LOCATION: Washington, D.C.
CONFERENCE: Colonial Athletic Association
LAST SEASON: 7-21 (.250)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 2-14 (9th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 2/3
NICKNAME: Eagles
COLORS: Red & Blue
HOMECOURT: Bender Arena (5,000)
COACH: Art Perry (Rutgers '75)
record at school 16-40 (2 years)
career record 22-60 (3 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Rich Zvosec (Defiance College '83)
Kevin Broadus (Bowie State '90)
Billy Donlon (UNC Wilmington '98)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 9-12-11-9-7
RPI (last 5 years) 221-231-194-192-280
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference first round.
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Art Perry and crew got to see Italy this summer. American's coach took his new staff and most of his team on a 12-day tour that, Perry hopes, did more than expose his players to a new culture. "It did what I wanted for several of our players," Perry said. "The guys who didn't get to play as much as we liked last season played a tremendous amount of minutes against some excellent competition. From a coaching standpoint, we got to experiment with what we wanted to do a little bit earlier. We could see if we wanted to go in that direction or make some adjustments." The trip would have been perfect had the Eagles been allowed to take their incoming players. Perhaps no team in the Colonial Athletic Association needs help from its new players as much as American. The five new Eagles will have a big say in whether American starts moving upward or remains the same AU. American's last five victories against CAA teams have come against William and Mary. Against the rest of the league, the Eagles have been striking out for more than a season. It hasn't helped that Perry hasn't had any roster consistency. The season was about 70 percent finished a year ago before he had a dependable lineup because of suspensions, injuries and defections. Jarion Childs hurt his hand. Freshman Bobby Thompson, leading the team in scoring, suddenly left the team for the catch-all "personal reasons." Ossie Jones got a late start because of an academic suspension. A little stability plus a lot of new contributors could turn Perry into a smart coach pretty fast. "I feel we have a good 8-9 guys that I know are healthy and are going to be in the lineup when October rolls around," Perry said. "This is the first time I go into a season confident I've got those guys."
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C BENCH/DEPTH C
FRONTCOURT C+ INTANGIBLES C-
Give us a dollar for every time we've heard, "You know, they really do have some talent at American" in the last two years and we're on a beach in Tahiti. Yes, they do have some talent at American. Heck, they have some talent everywhere. The key is having enough and AU hasn't had enough in a long, long time. If coach Art Perry's delight with his recruiting class is justified, that could change. The days of having just one shooter or just one inside force may be over, and that may make the Eagles tougher to guard. There's a ton of pressure on junior-college guards Ronald Dodson and Dejaun Goodwin. Jarion Childs is pretty good, and some help would make him much better. In the past, the only backcourt options besides Childs have been 30 percent shooters teams have wanted to leave open so they'd shoot and miss. Perhaps Dodson and Goodwin will demand some attention. AU's shooting woes have left plenty of rebound opportunities for Patrick Doctor and Saliou-Binet Telly. Many times, that was the only way they could get the ball. It would be nice for their sake if opponents had to go out and cover someone and leave them a little room to get the ball and do something with it. Again, that puts more pressure on Dodson and Goodwin. If they can handle that, American may pack its boxes and move out of the cellar. |
American's roster, like that of every team, is broken down into three categories: returning starters, other returnees and newcomers. More than any other team, the lines are clearly drawn at AU. There will be little mixing. The returning starters will start. The newcomers will provide the other starters and much of the depth. The other returnees will almost certainly fill the same role they did last year, be it major or limited. Senior point guard Childs (9.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.7 apg), 6-0, is the player who will direct the Eagles' attack. Perry hopes Childs won't have to spend all his time at point. Childs is one of the CAA's best defenders. "I hope as a senior he will have his best year at AU," Perry said. "He's probably our best athlete, and he's versatile enough to do whatever we need. I think our situation this year will enable us to play him at the off guard some. It will take off some of the pressure of having to run the show constantly." American's other returning starters are 6-9 sophomore forward Patrick Doctor (11.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and 6-8 junior center Saliou-Binet Telly (6.0 ppg, 6.4 rpg). Doctor has excellent potential. The Eagles need to get him the ball more than they did a year ago. Telly may not be as explosive offensively as people thought when he was a freshman. He can still be a rebounding/shot-blocking force. "Patrick has gotten stronger and is advancing much more rapidly than I expected him to," Perry said. "The biggest thing I like about him is he is playing like a veteran at this early stage of his career. Once again, he'll be a big focal point of our offense. "Telly is going to be solid, dependable. He played in the African championships with his national team from Mali and that was a big help to him." Perry went the junior college route for his new guards and the prep route for his new big men. The guards, both juniors, came from Vermillion (Minn.) Community College. Ronald Dodson, who is 6-3, is originally from Detroit. He averaged 25.2 points a year ago. Dejaun Goodwin, a 6-1 Shaker Heights, Ohio, native, averaged 14.8 points and 9.5 assists. Perry hopes those two combine with Childs for a versatile guard rotation. "Dodson has tremendous offensive ability," said Perry, whose team shot .391 percent a year ago. "You don't score 26 a game at any level without being able to put it in the hole, and that's something we lacked last year outside of Patrick. He and Dejaun make for a pretty potent duo. We felt we needed to attack that area in recruiting and think we got a pretty good pair." The big freshmen are 6-10 Derek Ahern (DeMatha/Andrews Air Force Base, Md.), 6-8 Charles Pringle (Christian Academy/Philadelphia) and 6-8 Tim Washington (Carroll/Washington, D.C.). Washington prepped a year at Winchendon Academy in Maine. Because of a knee injury, Ahern, who weighs 265, won't be available until early December. Washington averaged 18.2 points and 11.6 rebounds during his prep year. "I can remember two years ago losing in the (CAA) tournament on a tip-in at the buzzer," Perry said. "We've concentrated on trying to get some size and offensive ability. We were a little smaller and a little less physical than some of the frontlines in our league, so we went after some size." The other Eagles are 6-5 senior Jones, 5-9 senior guard David Olsen, 6-8 sophomore forward Keith Gray, 6-0 sophomore guard Jason Bannister, 6-3 freshman guard Hasheem Alexander (redshirted last year), 6-0 sophomore guard Bruno Neeser and 6-0 junior guard Eric Fischer. There's a place for Jones (8.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg) if he can control his impulse to shoot all the time. He shot .295 percent a year ago. Toward the end of the year, he spent more time on the bench. Olsen averaged 3.0 points last season. Gray (3.4, 2.9 rpg) is the one out of the bunch who may see an increased role after bulking up to 235 pounds. "He's always been a tremendous athlete," Perry said. "He still needs to refine his game a little offensively. If he stays within his limitations, he can be a tremendous asset for us." No assets will be enough if Perry's lineup is as varied this year as it was last. "I think this group meshes well and the combinations we can put together are the best we've had," Perry said. "But you do have to stay healthy."
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