Mike Magpayo had fond memories of working his first college basketball coaching job in New York when he was at Columbia from 2010-14.
He was all too eager to return to the Big Apple after a five-year run in charge at UC Riverside culminated with an NIT berth last season.
“When that job came open, I called my agent and he was like ‘Really? Fordham?’” Magpayo said. “And I was like ‘Yeah, it’s New York City and it’s the Atlantic 10.’ The next day I had a Zoom and it went from there.”
Magpayo is part of a coaching tree that holds burgeoning appeal. His boss at Columbia, Kyle Smith, is known for a data-driven approach and has since made stops at San Francisco, Washington State and Stanford. One of Smith’s former assistants (and Magpayo’s former colleagues) is Florida coach Todd Golden, who led the Gators to a national title in April.
It’s unsurprising, then, that Magpayo took an analytical path to building the Rams’ roster. But he also looked at what worked when Fordham went 25-8 in 2022-23 and enjoyed its best season since 1990-91 --- five years before the school joined the A-10.
“There’s a little bit of a blueprint, just seeing it three years ago and the excitement that brought to the university and the whole community,” Magpayo said. “It’s a challenge just like anywhere else. We attack it like we’ve always done.”
The priorities were to get old and efficient, and Magpayo also leaned on his international ties, too. During his Columbia days under Smith, the Lions plumbed Canada and Germany for recruits. At UC Riverside --- first under David Patrick, and later after he was promoted --- Magpayo had an Australian talent pipeline.
The Rams have six international players, though one of the biggest additions wasn’t from too far away. Dejour “Dae Dae” Reaves is from Syracuse and played in the New York area at Iona last season.
“I feel like it was a bigger and better opportunity for me, playing in the A-10,” Reaves said. “Also, my decision to play in the A-10 is [so] I’m close to home. Just having family and friends be able to come support me is a big plus for me.”
Magpayo’s previous teams tended to take care of the ball and rebound well. They
weren’t likely to swat many shots, and these Rams probably won’t be emphatic rim protectors. But they do have some length in most spots, and that should be Fordham’s best asset on defense as Magpayo sets about elevating the program back toward the top half of the A-10.
“Hopefully we can get New York City rocking,” Magpayo said.
A look at the Rams
Coach: Mike Magpayo, first season at Fordham, 89-63 in five seasons overall.
Last year: The Rams took an 8-5 record into conference play, only to lose their first four Atlantic 10 games by double figures. Fordham dropped eight in a row to close the regular season at 3-15 in the league, but pulled a first-round surprise against Rhode Island in the A-10 tournament before falling 88-81 to George Washington the next day to finish 12-21.
They’ll miss: Fordham’s top players last season were Jackie Johnson III (19.5 ppg) and Japhet Medor (13.6 ppg, 4.0 apg). Johnson finished his time with the Rams with a flourish, scoring 64 points over two games in the Atlantic 10 tournament. Medor ranked sixth in the league in both assists and steals (1.6) per game.
Impact returners: Magpayo’s task in the spring was to construct an almost entirely new roster. Sophomore guard Ryan Pettis (1.0 ppg in 24 games) is the only player who appeared for Fordham who is back this season. The Rams saw 99.1 percent of their scoring, 98.0 percent of their rebounding and 97.2 percent of their minutes depart via graduation or transfers.
Newcomers of note: Reaves averaged 17.3 points at Iona and will play a prominent role in the backcourt. So, too, will senior Christian Henry (14.7 ppg at Eastern Michigan), a true point guard who shot 37.0 percent from 3 and plays with great pace.
There is hope internally that graduate transfer Marcus Greene can regain the form that allowed him to average 15.1 points for Houston Christian two seasons ago. Zarique Nutter (14.2 ppg at Georgia State) was a part-time starter in his first Division I season last year and is exceptional at drawing fouls.
The frontcourt will be heavily populated with UC Riverside transfers who followed Magpayo from the Big West: Junior Rikus Schulte (3.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg), sophomore Jack Whitbourn (3.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg) and redshirt freshman Abass Bodija.
As for an under-the-radar breakout candidate? Former Harvard wing Louis Lesmond, a Frenchman who averaged 7.9 points and 3.1 rebounds for the Crimson last season, could be just that.
“This style of play, just concept-based, is freeing him up maybe,” Magpayo said. “He’s just in a different environment. You see it in the transfer portal where you see someone is in a different environment and all the sudden he’s thriving.”
Reasons to be optimistic: As obvious as it sounds, you have to score to win. Little wonder Magpayo targeted offensive efficiency while building his first roster at Fordham.
Defense also matters, of course, but the Rams appear to have some options to create some pressure on opponents.
“The ball’s been going in the basket a lot the first week of practices,” Magpayo said. “I’m pretty confident in the perimeter players. We have a lot of shooting ability out there both in the backcourt and the frontcourt. You’ll see a cohesive style, guys playing in a lot of ball screens and a lot of actions
X factor: Reaves was a third team all-Big Sky pick at Northern Colorado two seasons ago, then a first team all-Metro Atlantic selection last season. He’s the prototypical wired-to-score guard, but he’ll be asked to run the offense some, too.
“He put me in a point guard role, but I hadn’t played point guard a day in my life,” Reaves said. “Putting me in a point guard role is helping me be more vocal and help me get guys in positions they need to be at.”
The quirky part of this decision isn’t that Magpayo made it, but rather that no other coach did so before given Reaves’ size.
“It’s crazy; this guy is 6 foot and never played point guard in his life,” Magpayo said. “He’s pretty good at it, as far as I can tell.”
Circle the date: The Rams have a nonconference schedule heavy on opponents from the tri-state area making their way to Rose Hill Gym. First up is NJIT, which pays a visit to the Bronx on Nov. 4 to open the Magpayo era.
Bottom line: It’s a new start for Fordham, and Magpayo’s coaching lineage makes him a promising choice for the Rams. Backcourt scoring should be a strength; an inexperienced frontcourt and defense on a team built for offensive efficiency are the question marks. If the defense improves throughout the winter, Fordham could uncork a few surprises before the season is through.
Patrick Stevens is a veteran college basketball writer that has worked for The Washington Post, Syracuse Media Group and The Washington Times. He has written selected pieces for the Atlantic 10 since 2013.