Brooklyn native Kyle Neptune is back in the Big Apple for his first head coaching gig. He’s also the latest to try to resurrect the fortunes of Fordham’s basketball program. The former Villanova assistant, who was part of two national championships with the Wildcats, arrives in the Bronx with a proven pedigree. He’s the third former Jay Wright assistant to take over an Atlantic 10 program in recent years, joining La Salle’s Ashley Howard and Billy Lange of Saint Joseph’s.
Plenty ailed the Rams last season, starting with an extended pandemic shutdown that kept them from playing a nonconference schedule. They didn’t debut until Dec. 30, when George Washington visited for the A-10 opener. It's little wonder a team that had its share of struggles on offense even before last season never established traction at that end of the floor in the winter of 2021. Therein lies Neptune’s biggest long-term challenge.
“We’re going to want to get up and down, get in the paint and kick out, share the ball and really play some unselfish basketball,” Neptune said.
This is not an overnight project, of course. Fordham’s last winning season came in 2015-16. It hasn’t finished at .500 or better in the A-10 since 2006-07. This year figures to be about constructing a foundation and laying down markers about how the Rams will function moving forward.
“The main thing he’s been trying to instill in us this offseason is just to play hard and play together,” forward Chuba Ohams said. “We already have a lot of respect for him. Coming in, everybody was all ears.”
Neptune comes from a program as defined by culture as nearly any other in the sport. But even Villanova had a hiccup a decade ago, but regrouped while making no compromises and established itself as one of college basketball’s steadiest teams. The standard Neptune wants his first Fordham team to meet is abundantly clear.
“We want to be a really gritty team,” Neptune said. “We want to walk on the court every day and leave the court after the game knowing we were the tougher team. Honestly, whatever happens on the floor, if we do that, we’re happy.”
A Look at the Rams:
Coach: Kyle Neptune, first season at Fordham and first as a head coach
Last year: The Rams didn’t get underway until conference play because of the pandemic, finishing 2-12 overall and 2-11 in the Atlantic 10. The No. 14 seed in the league tournament, Fordham fell 53-49 to George Washington in the first round a year after beating the Colonials at the same stage.
They’ll miss: Fordham heads into the Neptune era without its top three scorers from last season. Guards Chris Austin (11.4 ppg) and Ty Perry (7.5 ppg) and forward Joel Soriano (10.4 ppg, 9.2 rpg) all transferred out, leaving Jalen Cobb (7.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg) as the team’s top returning offensive threat.
Impact returners: Neptune inherits some known quantities in the backcourt, including three regular starters from last winter. Junior Jalen Cobb (7.2 ppg) had a team-highs in assists (51) and steals (24), while graduate student Josh Navarro (6.6 ppg) and junior Kyle Rose (5.3 ppg) were mainstays with around 30 minutes a contest.
Newbies of note: Neptune unsurprisingly hit the transfer portal with gusto after taking over in the spring, and two veterans are likely to find themselves in the spotlight for the Rams:
Darius Quisenberry, a 6-2 guard from Youngstown State, was a first team all-Horizon League pick two seasons ago with the Penguins. And the 6-3 Antonio Daye Jr. steadily progressed in three seasons at Florida International. He averaged a team-high 17.1 points for the Conference USA school as a junior.
Reasons to be optimistic: While Fordham’s offense has sputtered in recent years, it at least has some history of playing more-than-adequate defense in its recent past.
The Rams were 64
th in KenPom.com’s adjusted defensive efficiency two seasons ago before slipping to 119
th in the pandemic-altered season. Two key figures on that end of the floor --- Navarro and Ohams --- are back.
“We’re going to want to continue to have a defensive identity moving forward, and those are two of the best guys to hold us down in that regard,” Neptune said. “Chuba is a long, athletic forward who plays hard and is very intelligent, tough and really knows the game. And Josh is one of the best on-ball defenders I’ve seen. His energy is endless.”
X factor: Quisenberry was hampered by injuries early last season. Nonetheless, he’s one of five players in Youngstown State history with 1,000 points, 300 assists and 100 steals.
Oh, and he did it in three seasons.
“He’s an offensive juggernaut,” Neptune said. “He does so much on the offensive side of the ball. He shoots it. He’s great in ball screens. He makes great reads. He’s very aggressive. He’s also very unselfish and is a great teammate. He’s been huge for us so far, especially being an older guy in a leadership position.”
Circle the date: Neptune’s debut is Nov. 9 against Columbia at Rose Hill Gym, but the highlight of the nonconference schedule is probably the Dec. 5 trip across the East River to face St. John’s in Queens. The Rams will face five New York City schools in their 13 games prior to A-10 play.
Bottom line: The 36-year-old Neptune is energetic, knows New York and has hired a young staff. The Rams have a long way to go, especially at the offensive end, but a jolt of enthusiasm and the loosening of last year’s stringent pandemic restrictions in the city should help. This year won’t determine whether Fordham’s latest reset will work out, but signs of the feistiness Neptune hopes to foster would be a welcome indication.
Patrick Stevens is a veteran freelance college basketball writer. A former sports reporter for the Washington Times, he has been a contributor to Atlantic10.com for the past eight years. Follow him on Twitter at @D1scourse.