Open Legacy-Marist Red Foxes

[4dahomeboyz]

Hey everyone,

I am Michael Dennis (the real coach is Matt Brady). I've been coach at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York since the start of the 2004-05 basketball season. I replaced the coach of 18 years at Marist, Dave Magarity. I am very happy here with an overall record of 30-27. I was the one that recruited Jameer Nelson and Delonte West to St. Joseph's under Phil Martelli, and now trying to create my own head coaching legacy at Marist.

Ok, I'll start with the up and down season and my first season as I head coach. That year we finished with a record of 11-17. The season started out pretty badly. We started out with a 4-7 record and lost our first MAAC conference game. Then, we caught fire winning our next 6 games to propel us to a 10-7 record overall and a surprising to all 7-1 MAAC conference record, which put us in 1st place. Then, our center Will McClurkin got accused of selling his textbooks and was suspended for 4 games. In that period we went 0-4 and it all went downhill from there we won just 1 out of our remaining 6 regular season games. And then lost to conference rival Canisius in the first round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament. Our leading scorer was sophmore guard Will Whittington who averaged 16.1 points per game. Our leading rebounder was senior center Will McClurkin, 7.4. And our leader in assists was sophmore guard Jared Jordan, 6.3.

The next season ended up being a bit more promising for my future. That year we had a record of 19-10 overall. This one was less crazy. We finished about where we were expected with a 3rd place finish in the MAAC. And a loss to eventual MAAC champions Iona in the semifinals. Our leading scorer was junior guard Jared Jordan who averaged 16.1 points per game. Our leading rebounder was sophmore forward Ryan Stilphen, 7.0. And our leader in assists was junior guard Jared Jordan, 8.5. Jordan went on to win the national assist crown last year.

So that's were I am. Year 3 of my career, looking to bring Marist to at least a MAAC title this year. I'm glad I was able to introduce myself and my career to you. If you have any questions please leave them on here for me. Our schedule will be out very soon and I thank all Fox fans for staying loyal to this emerging program. Oh, and here is our roster from best player to worst.

G Jared Jordan, Sr
G Will Whittington, Sr
C James Smith, Sr
F Ryan Stilphen, Jr
F Ben Farmer, Jr
C Wilfred Benjamin, Jr
G Gerald Carter, So
F Shae McNamara, Jr
G Dejuan Goodwin, Fr
F Miles Orman, Sr
G Kaylen Gregory, So
F Lawrence Williams, Fr
G Dave Magarity Jr., Sr

We also have to transfers sitting out this year:
G Louie McCroskey, Sr, from Syracuse
F Ryan Schneider, So, from Vermont

Thanks to all for reading this,
Michael Dennis

[4dahomeboyz]

Hey everybody,

I'm just checking in again just to tell you guys what I've done as far as recruiting and will do in coming seasons.

My main recruiting point is hitting the region hard, I'll go after some of the most highly rated players in the region that fit my style. What I've noticed is that the MAAC is a highly offensive league. What, I'm looking for in recruits are those that play hard-nosed defense, so quickness is part what I'll be looking for while I'm recruiting. I'll also look for players with high intelligence and potential. I think one of the most important aspects of basketball is being able to know what to do when the game comes down to crunch time. Potential is always important, the best recruits coming out of high school don't always turn out to be the best players, the player needs to be willing to improve and have the ability to improve there skills.

The offense I run is a motion offense, much like my idol's offense, Coach K. On defense I will press, the full court trap, often so conditioning will be a big part of my practice time. Otherwise expect us to play a half court man-to-man with a little 2-3 matchup zone.

Expect the schedule to come out tomorrow. Okay I guys I'll check in with you once my schedule is official

Once Again,
Michael Dennis

[chestnutz6]

Should be interestin to see how you do with Jordan leading your team, I love him

[4dahomeboyz]

Hey everyone,

The schedule is now official. So, here is how are season is gonna play out:

11/12 at Seton Hall
11/16 at St. John's
11/20 Drexel
11/23-11/26 Deodorant Classic with Minnesota, Arkansas, Southern Illinois, West Virginia, Montana, Virginia Tech, and Western Michigan
11/30 Vermont
12/5 at Army
12/8 Canisius
12/10 at St. Peter's
12/17 at LaSalle
12/23 at #2 North Carolina
12/29-12/30 Red Fox Classic with Northern Illinois, Bucknell, and Central Arkansas
1/2 at Loyola (Maryland)
1/5 Rider
1/9 Iona
1/15 at Siena
1/18 at Niagara
1/20 at Canisius
1/23 St. Peter's
1/26 Niagara
1/30 Manhattan
2/3 Loyola (Maryland)
2/5 at Rider
2/8 Fairfield
2/11 at Iona
2/14 Manhattan
2/19 at Fairfield
2/24 Siena

Should be a challenging season, but I think we're ready for it.

Until Later,
Michael Dennis

[4dahomeboyz]

Game Update: Midnight Madness Red vs. White

This will be my little section where I recap all the games for you.

Red would jump out to an early 21-14 lead but, White would lead at halftime 24-23 who went on a strong 10-2 spurt where senior center James Smith scored 8 of his 14 first half points. Red was led by senior transfer guard from Syracuse Louis McCroskey who scored 6 points. McCroskey will be sitting out the season due to NCAA transfer rules.

White would start the 2nd half much like they ended the first. They started off with a 9-4 run to lead 33-27 in the first 4:05, led by senior guard Jared Jordan's 6 points in that spurt. White would not make another basket for 9 minutes as Red would pull out to a 34-33 lead. White would be take back the lead and led at 2:00 42-41. Smith would hit a layup after a Jordan blocked shot to make it 44-41 with 1:43 left. Smith would strike once again with a dunk to make it a 46-41 lead with 1:03 left. After a miss by McCroskey, freshman guard Dejuan Goodwin fouled Jordan who would make both of his free throws to extend their lead to 48-41. Jordan would then steal the inbound pass and dribble out the clock from there.

Result: WHITE 48 RED 41

Player of the game: C James Smith 22 points and 4 rebounds

Next game: at Seton Hall, a rematch after last year's Seton Hall 75-72 win

Talk to you again later,
Michael Dennis

[4dahomeboyz]

Preview:

Marist Red Foxes
at
Seton Hall Pirates

This should be a really good game. We match up well with this lower echelon big east team. Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez used to coach our conference rival Manhattan and every time we seemed to face them, a classic was written. My gameplan will be to pound them inside with Smith and Stilphen, because they don't really have any good big men. In which case we probably won't be pessing much, because all their good players are guards. So, be ready to see a lot of half court man-to-man.

I'll have one of my assistants update the game for you every few baskets.

Expert Pick: Seton Hall by 5

Ready to start the season,
Michael Dennis

[4dahomeboyz]

Game Update: Seton Hall (0-1) vs. Marist (1-0)

We jumped on them early in the 1st half. At one point we were leading 40-10, but Seton Hall was able to end the half on a high note on a 18-8 spurt to cut it to 48-28 at the half. Senior guard Jared Jordan led the way for us as he scored 13 points and didn't miss a single shot from the floor. For them, Jamar Nutter and John Garcia who each scored 8 points. A key stat for us in that half was field goal percentage as we were able to shot an amazing 62% from the floor and kept them at a 47% rate in the half.

Despite a Seton Hall surge as the game went on, we were able to hold them off for the whole game. At one point, they cut the lead to 5 on a Nutter 3 pointer at 10:07. But, we answered back with a spurt of our own to come out on top in this one. Nutter ended up scoring 12 for Seton Hall, but he was the only one in double digits. Senior center James Smith poured on 16 for us and 13 from freshman guard Dejuan Goodwin. The key stat in our win was that we caused Seton Hall to commit 29 turnovers. So, we kept up good defensive pressure using our man-to-man defense. I'm very happy with today's win and can't wait for our next game.

Result: MARIST 73 SETON HALL 62

Player of the Game: Jared Jordan 19 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist

Next Game: at St. John's, a rematch of our win last year 56-53

Talk to all of you later,
Michael Dennis