With a veteran squad comprised up of some of the top players in the region, the York College men’s basketball team looks poised to recapture the CUNY Athletic Conference championship that has eluded them the past two seasons.
The Cardinals have the rare luxury of returning all five starters from the previous year, including pre-season All-American Marcel Esonwune. Esonwune, a junior center, was among the national leaders in rebounds (12.0), blocked shots (3.0) and field goal percentage (58.8%) last season. He won a plethora of awards including, All-CUNYAC First Team, D3hoops.com All-Region Team, ECAC Second Team and MBWA Third-Team. “Marcel should be the CUNYAC Player of the Year this season,” said head coach Ronald St. John. “He’s been working hard on improving the few weaknesses he has. I think you’ll see an even strong player this year.”
Omari Phipps, a junior forward, will also be back and looks to be a force in the CUNYAC once again. “Omari is back with the same mentality that he had when he was Atlantic Region Rookie of the Year in 2007,” added St. John. “I like everything he’s doing right now.”
Seniors Nicholas Hamilton-Lopez and Elijah Evelyn return for their second season at York and will provide an outside threat for the Cardinals. Hamilton-Lopez averaged 17.1 points and led the team with the team with 57 three-pointers, despite only joining the team in the second half of the season. Evelyn also joined the team in the Spring semester and immediately gave the team a boost, averaging 9.8 points per game. It was no coincidence that the Cardinals went 12-4 after they joined the team.
York will also return its point guard Ryan Exum. Exum, a senior, finished the 2008-09 season ranked fourth in the country in steals per game ( 3.4) and 28th in assists per game (5.7). He will be looked upon to provide the same type of production on both sides of the ball this season.
“I think we have a good shot of winning the conference and advancing in the NCAA tournament because we have all of our starters returning,” noted St. John. “We just need some of the new players to step up and contribute as well”
Ike Iwu, a transfer from Queensborough will be one of those new players who will be asked to contribute. In the front court, three big men, Shamir Wilkinson, Amobi Moujeke and Lennox Norville will look to spell both Esonwune and Phipps. “It will be a big advantage for us if any one of them can step up and contribute when Marcel and Omari are on the bench,” said St. John.
Even if every player does his part, it still won’t be easy for York to capture its fourth CUNYAC title. A number of elite teams will by vying for the crown as well. “Brooklyn is the returning champion, so we know they are going to be a contender,” said St. John. “They are returning all their key players and have brought in some good recruits. Baruch definitely looks like a contender as well. It’s going to be a tough battle for us.”
In addition to chasing their goal of a CUNYAC championship and a win in the NCAA tournament, coach Ronald St. John will be chasing a personal milestone. With 297 career victories, St. John is just three wins away from 300.
“My first few years started off bad, so I never thought I would get this far. “When I see how few coaches have 300 wins in the NCAA record book—It’s a nice feeling. I’m looking forward to it.”
York will open up the season on November 18th when they travel to Old Westbury at 7:00 p.m.