X-Men have something to prove

By Monty Mosher, The Chronicle Herald 

Steve Konchalski’s St. Francis Xavier X-Men men’s basketball team had a season to remember in many good ways last year until it ended in bitter disappointment.

This year’s X-Men, 17-3 in the regular season, intend to use the experience gained at the CIS tournament last year in Ottawa to take the next step.

The X-Men won 28 games and were ranked in the CIS top five all season.

But senior first team all-star Tyler Richards was held out for the playoffs pending resolution of a legal matter and the X-Men were upset in the AUS final by the Dalhousie Tigers and — after earning a wild card selection to the nationals — were eliminated in the quarter-finals by the eventual champion Carleton Ravens.

Leading the way for the X-Men this season will be fourth-year point guard Christian (T-Bear) Upshaw. Halifax’s Upshaw comes off a strong season in which he led the team in scoring at 19.9 points per game to be selected conference MVP and first-team all-Canadian.

Point guard Will Silver and six-foot-nine forward Alberto Rodriguez, also fourth-year players, will be counted upon for leadership. Fourth-year forward Terrence Taylor has worked his way back from severe sinus issues just in time for the season tipoff.

Konchalski said his veteran class believes it has something to prove. The X-Men won six of seven league championships from 2000 to 2006, but hasn’t won since.

"That whole recruiting class came in with a lot of promise and they’ve won a lot of games, but collectively we haven’t won a championship with this group," said Konchalski. "I think that’s the focus. This group came into a program that was winning every year and for whatever reason we’ve fallen short and that’s what we really want to prove."

Ex-Horton forward Jeremy Dunn, a conference all-rookie pick last year, and forward Chad Warren will see more minutes.

Bench strength at guard will come from Will Donkoh, Jordan Hope and Rhett Thompson.

Konchalski’s strong recruiting class includes the tallest player ever to wear a St. F.X. uniform — seven-foot-two post Riiny Ngot from SUNY-Orange Junior College in New York — guard Charlie Spurr from Algonquin College.

Ngot was an all-conference player two years ago before sitting out last year due to injury while Spurr was a CCAA all-Canadian, averaging 21.8 point per game. Spurr brings instant offence.

Konchalski, in his 35th year with the team and with no plans to retire, can get some history out of the way Friday night when his X-Men visit the UPEI Panthers, one of three openers on the men’s schedule. His next win will be No. 735, passing former Brandon coach Jerry Hemmings for top spot on the all-time CIS men’s list.

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for the coaching profession in Canada — we’re not doing it for the money," Konchalski said of the record. "It’s an honour to say that I have that many wins and am the leader in that category. Somebody will come along and break that, that’s the way things go, but I do feel I’ve accomplished something. Like I said, there are a lot of great coaches in this country."

Cape Breton (15-5)

First-team all-star forward Phil Nkrumah will be a force along with transfer guard Paris Carter, a Baltimore native who played at New Mexico State. Carter broke his hand in an exhibition game last month, but is expected back after Christmas if not sooner.

Guard Jimmy Dorsey, a junior college transfer also out of Maryland, has been a force in the pre-season. So has Ontario native Cameron John-Proctor, a guard who played junior college in Indiana.

Depth and speed will be the key for the Capers, coached by Jim Charters. The team is 9-1 entering the campaign.

Tremaine Fraser, Scott Jaspers-Fayer, fifth-years Mark McGarrigle, Ryan Roper and Chris Noddle, Lasario Burrows, Al Alilovic and are all back.

"We have more scoring this year and that really hurt us last year," said Capers head coach Jim Charters. "We didn’t have anybody in the top 10 in the conference last year. If we can play to the level we played at last year we should have a pretty successful season."

Dalhousie (13-7)

Head coach John Campbell returns a strong nucleus from last year’s AUS championship squad, the school’s first title since 1996.

Fourth-year guard Simon Farine (19.1 ppg.) and fifth-year guard Andrew Sullivan will lead the team as captains and share the work in the backcourt.

Stephen Lopez has a chance to be an impact player in the backcourt if he recovers sufficiently from knee surgery, but won’t be available before January if at all. Forward Sandy Veit and Calgary transfer Joe Schow, both in their fourth year, will provide a national-calibre front-line of size, skill and athleticism.

Rob Nortmann and Jason Wang will provide depth to the front-court. Second-year players Nick Flynn, Galen Enlow and Tim Coote will strive to move into significant on-court contributors.

Newcomers Mari Peoples-Wong, Chris Hunt and William Yengue are athletic, skilled wings who will contribute immediately.

AUS tournament hero Josh Beattie and Germain Bendegue are the big losses.

Saint Mary’s (12-8)

The Huskies have a rock-solid nucleus with AUS first all-stars Joey (King Handles) Haywood, a third-year player from Vancouver, and fifth-year Mark McLaughlin, both guards, back in the fold.

Haywood averaged a league-best 21.4 points per game. Dartmouth’s McLaughlin, a former conference top rookie, scored 19.4 per outing and ranked second in assists.

Fifth-year Ikeobi Uchegbu, with 13.1 point per game, Jack Gallinaugh, Miguel Pink, Ronald Vanel, Iain Robertson, Mike Poole and all-rookie team member Simon Marr are the other returnees.

Ryan deWinter and Jonathon MacLanders, both ex-Tigers, and rookie Demitri Harris out of B.C. are the new faces.

Acadia (6-14)

Steve Baur’s Axemen mix three returning starters with a blue-chip recruiting class. Acadia went 6-2 in the pre-season.

The front court features AUS second-team all-star Alex Traikov, a fifth-year centre, and CIS first-team all-rookie Casey Fox of Halifax, Acadia’s top scorer.

Power forward Justin Boutilier was also a top rookie a year ago.

Former Axemen football player Joe Nwabuzor, in his fifth year, should be a physical force up front.

The big-time recruits are Anthony Sears, a point-guard from Riverview, N.B., who is a projected starter in his first year. Jonathan Kamba, a guard from Bathurst, N.B., and Owen Klassen, a six-foot-10 forward from Kingston, Ont., are also expected to make an early impact.

The top Maritime recruits are Dartmouth guard Alex McLaughlin, Mark McLauglin’s younger brother, and Waterville guard Dustin Poirier.

Andre Grant, a fifth-year guard returning after an absence, and Tyler Lutton, a point guard out of the B.C. small college ranks, round out the recruiting class.