BRONX, N.Y. (Nov. 5, 2023) – The Fordham men's basketball will officially kick off its 2023-24 campaign on Monday evening when it hosts Wagner at the historic Rose Hill Gym for a 7:30 p.m. tip. The game will be the second half of a doubleheader with the Fordham women's basketball squad, which will welcome Adelphi beginning at 5:30 p.m.
ESPN+ will carry the contest live with Andrew Bogusch and Mike Watts on the call. A tape-delayed broadcast of the game will air on SNY at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
Tickets for the contest are available by
clicking here.
The Rams will open their 121
st varsity season, their 99
th inside the Rose Hill Gym, when they welcome Wagner to the Bronx on Monday. Fordham will look to build upon the success that it enjoyed last year in the program's first season under the direction of Head Coach
Keith Urgo. Under Urgo's tutelage, the Rams went 25-8, tying for the second highest single-season win total in program history and finishing just one victory shy of the famed 1970-71 squad that went 26-3 and rose as high as no. 9 in the nation. In Atlantic 10 play, Fordham turned in a mark of 12-6, good enough for a second-place finish and the program's best win total and winning percentage in nearly three decades of conference membership. Three Rams were named to all-league teams, as
Darius Quisenberry found a spot on the all-conference second team,
Khalid Moore earned a spot on the third team and
Kyle Rose claimed all-defensive honors. Urgo became the first Fordham head man since 1999 to be named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year.
The Rams will look to replace the scoring and veteran leadership of Quisenberry (16.9 ppg), Moore (15.7 ppg) and Rostik Novitskyi (6.9 ppg), but the squad is set to return plenty from last year's team. In total, eight of the 11 players who averaged more than 5.0 minutes per game a season ago will return for the 2023-24 campaign.
Rose will suit up for a fifth season on Rose Hill after ranking third on the team with 7.3 points per game a year ago. He also paced the Rams and placed third in the conference with 1.8 steals per contest. A versatile talent on both ends of the floor,
Antrell Charlton will begin his third season with the Rams having started 60 of his 65 appearances over the past two years. In 2022-23, he averaged 7.2 points and a team-best 3.6 assists, the latter of which led the team and ranked 10
th in the league. Also entering his third year at Fordham is
Abdou Tsimbila, a Preseason Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Team selection after ranking second in the conference in blocks (1.9 per game) last season.
Will Richardson returns for a highly anticipated sophomore season after finishing his debut campaign on a tear. Over the final 17 games as a freshman, Richardson averaged 9.2 points and shot a blistering 45.7 percent from beyond the arc. Overall, his 41.9 percent effort from deep was the best by a Fordham player since Brenton Butler in 2006-07. Richardson leads a string of talented returning underclassmen who will look to contribute:
Zach Riley,
Elijah Gray,
Angel Montas,
Romad Dean and
Noah Best.
Fordham was one of the only teams in the nation to not lose a single scholarship player in the transfer portal over the offseason.
In addition to all of its returning talent, Fordham welcomed four scholarship newcomers to the roster this season. Three of the four are proven Division I transfers while the lone freshman is one of the highest rated recruits in Fordham history.
Japhet Medor comes to Fordham following one season at UTSA, where he was one of the nation's most effective player in terms of getting to the free throw line. Medor impressed in the Rams' charity exhibition against UMBC, scoring 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting.
Joshua Rivera joins the Rams for his sophomore year after a standout debut season at Lafayette, where earned Patriot League All-Rookie selection after averaging 10.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Over his final 15 games, he averaged 15.1 points and shot 41.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Ogheneyole Akuwovo, a well-traveled 6-foot-9 forward from Nigeria, is entering his sixth year of college basketball after stints at Howard and Binghamton, where he led the Bearcats in offensive rebounding despite logging just 13 minutes per game.
Jahmere Tripp, a Brooklyn native comes to the Rams from Our Saviour Lutheran in the Bronx, where he was a three-star prospect and ranked 241
st nationally in the 247Sports Composite. He was the no. 8 high school recruit in the state of New York according to ESPN.
Last season, the Rams won more home games than any team in the nation, going 18-2 inside the Rose Hill Gym. One of those wins came against Wagner, a 72-59 victory on Dec. 6. The Rams are 24-3 all-time against their neighbor from Staten Island, including a 15-1 record in the Bronx. The Seahawks' lone win at the Rose Hill Gym came in January of 1979.
Four of the Seahawks' projected starters are returners, led by junior guard Ramir Moore at 8.3 points per game. Last year at Fordham, the Saint Joe's transfer netted a team-high 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting to go along with three assists.
The Seahawks are entering their second season under the direction of Donald Copeland, a former Seton Hall standout and assistant coach, who led Wagner to a winning record (15-13, 8-8 NEC) in his first year at the helm.
