Also in the Q&A Monroe discusses the additions of Division II transfer Ryan Cook and six freshman to the roster and what kind of expectations he has for this season.

Chris De La Rosa was one of the top pure point guards in the AEC last season.

Things didn’t go well for UMBC last year as they finished with just four wins and couldn’t managed to get a rebound or play a lick of defense. But that was last year. This year there is definitely good reason to believe the Retrievers can improve. Last season UMBC was not only the youngest team in the America East Conference but they were also the shortest team in the AEC. However, three big defensive minded graduate students are ready to change everything.

The return of Justin Fry, who missed all of last season after tearing his MCL, should have an immediate impact on the team. Fry started for three seasons prior to his injury and developed into a dominating interior defender and started to show strong offensive ability towards the end of his junior season. In the 2008-09 season Fry had a career year, averaging 8.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. While the injury that he sustained may be hard to come back from, Fry’s size and experience is still going to be welcomed back this season.

UMBC’s other grad student-athletes are both transfers. Laurence Jolicoeur transferred from Manhattan, where he was a two year starter and through he only averaged 4.6 points and 2.7 rebounds per game, he brings a great set of offensive skills. Jolicoeur, who is 6’9”, 210 pounds, primarily plays on the perimeter and has shown solid three-point shooting potential. But because of his size and athleticism Jolicoeur will run the floor and make dazzling dunks. King comes to UMBC after playing at George Washington, where he played in an NCAA tournament game his freshman season. The guard brings a strong defensive ability to the Retrievers, which really needed that last year. King also has three-point shooting ability and size to get inside and be a factor.

While UMBC adds to grad transfers and welcomes another grad student back, the Retrievers also return a solid duo from last season. Chris De La Rosa was fantastic in his first year at UMBC after transferring from Siena as he showed he was one of the best, if not the best pure point guards in the conference. De La Rosa led the AEC in assists, averaging 5.1 per game, and while he is a pass-first point guard he was forced to score last season after UMBC was so inconsistent and thrived in that role, scoring 11.7 points per game.

De La Rosa is definitely going to have to continue to be in a scorer’s role this year as four of the team’s top five scorers from last year as no longer on the team. Chauncey Gilliam (13.3 ppg) transferred to Akron, Robbie Jackson (8.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg) was forced to leave due to academic issues, Shawn Grant (8.1 ppg) transferred to Foothills Junior College, which is near his home in Northern California, and Matt Spadafora (7.0 ppg) graduated.

Those losses also mean UMBC is going to have to see big improvements from Adrian Satchell, who started every game as a freshman and averaged 6.3 ppg, and a team-high 5.1 rpg en route to an All-Freshman team selection. Satchell showed a lot of potential last season but is going to have to pick it up as a sophomore as she is one of two returning starters and the team’s second-leading returning scorer.

The last few years Randy Monroe has been running a six or seven man rotation and on good days he called on eight players. But this season he will be able to call on many more players and expect productivity. Returning to the team are Brian Neller (4.3 ppg), Jake Wasco (2.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg), and Bakari Smith ( 1.2 ppg). Neller showed tremendous three-point shooting ability last year and could develop into a three-point ace in the AEC. Wasco and Smith both bring two years of experience on the Retriever squad. The team is probably going to be without the only other returning player: Nick Groce, who broke his foot in the preseason and is out indefinitely.

Monroe also welcomes three freshmen, all of whom should make big impacts. Chase Plummer might be the best of all of them. While he did not start in high school he was the sixth-man at St. Patrick, one of the countries top high school programs. While Plummer brings a very good set of skills, including a lot of strength and a strong inside game, he has played against extremely high competition each day in practice as St. Patrick was where Kyrie Irving, the starting point guard for reigning national champion Duke, and Michael Gilchrest, the current top ranked high school player, were just two of the many talented players on Plummer’s team. Matt Conway is an uber-athletic forward that is not only a guy capable of nice dunks, but is a guy that is expected to play shutdown defense and hit some threes.

Finally, UMBC welcomes Jamar Wertz. Wertz was on the team last season but after tearing his meniscus in the preseason he was forced to take a medical redshirt. That year should really help his game, not because he wasn’t ready to make an impact, but not he had a chance to refine his skills. Wertz is a gifted offensive player. He’s a big and strong wing that is far from one dimensional, proven by his 1,700+ points in high school. Wertz will use his size to get inside but also had a soft shooting touch and will hit shots from outside.

Chase Plummer...learn who he is!

Last night was about the men’s soccer game, not about midnight madness.  The athletic department cut it close.  The men’s soccer game ended just a few minutes before 10:00, the scheduled start time for Midnight Madness, so the event only had to be delayed a few minutes.  This year Midnight Madness was not as jam packed full of student events of dance-offs so their would be more flexibility in case the start had to be delayed for a longer period of time if the soccer game went into overtime.

There weren’t any surprised this season.  The band, cheerleaders, dance team, and Wizards Dunk team all performed, and then came the introductions of the men’s and women’s basketball team.  The women’s team came out first, then the men’s team, Phil Stern handed the microphone over to his seniors it talk in place of him, and Randy went on to say his team would not disappoint.

After his speech Erin Brown and Michelle Kurowski went head-to-head in a three-point competition.  Kurowski, the second-leading active scorer in the America East Conference, won with ease.  In the finals she took on Travis King, a George Washington graduate transfer who beat Brian Neller, a lot to a little.  In the finals Kurowski topped King, extending the women’s team’s winning streak.

The event ended with the dunk contest.  Taking part in the contest were freshmen Matt Conway and Chase Plummer, redshirt freshman Jamar Wertz, and division two transfer Ryan Cook, who is not eligible to play this season.  Cook took the trophy away, and it wasn’t even close.  Cook mad athletic dunks each time he went to the rim, and never had to take a second chance.  Plummer attempted to repeat a John Zito performance by taking his shirt off before his first attempt, however, he missed and it went back on for his second dunk.

Jackson averaged 8.7 points and 5.1 rebounds last year

Normally when a team released their roster it is not a big deal. Fan’s know who’s back, who’s graduated, who’s transferring, but the men’s basketball team’s roster left a big name off: Robbie Jackson.

Jackson will not be with the men’s basketball team in 2010, which would have been his senior season, according to UMBC athletic officials.

“Jackson’s issues were just academic issues that he wasn’t doing his part,” Coach Randy Monroe said in an interview with the Baltimore Sun. “As a result, we hold our guys accountable. They have to do their part academically and athletically.”

In his first season with the Retrievers after transferring from Marshall, the 7’1″ center was second on the team in rebounding average, 5.1, and field goal percentage, 49.4%, and finished ranked third on the team in scoring, 8.7 points per game.

Jackson was expected to be a major contributor in the front court this season as he is the team’s second leading returning scorer.

With his loss the team will have to rely on junior Jake Wasco, sophomore Adrian Satchell, and freshmen Chase Plummer and Matt Conway to help redshirt senior Justin Fry on the inside.

The team will have just 11 scholarship players of an allowed 13, leaving room for a few walk-ons to make the team.

According to Jeff Goodman of foxsports.com Shawn Grant has been granted his release from his scholarship and will be able to seek transfer to another school.

Grant, a native of San Jose, Cali. said he will look to transfer to a place closer to home. He also said that Coach Randy Monroe was very understanding of his decision and that Monroe told him that if he were to reconsider his decision he could have his scholarship back.

The freshman guard finished the season fourth on the team in scoring with 8.1 points per game. He also led the team in three-point percentage, shooting 34.9%. He led the team with 17 points in the team’s opening round loss to Vermont in the America East Conference Tournament and also scored 28 points against Towson, matching Chris De La Rosa’s total against Pennsylvania for the most scored by a player this season.

But also according to Goodman, UMBC will bring in a transfer of their own 6’2″ guard Travis King, a junior from George Washington. King suffered injuries throughout his career at George Washington, who UMBC lost to 94-51 this season, but averaged 11.3 minutes in 30 games this season, making one starts. He scored 2.8 points per game and shot 39.2% from the floor this season. However, due to his graduation from George Washington this spring, King will be eligible to play right away next fall as graduate students do not need to sit out one year for transfer.

Also, UMBC received a commitment from Matt Conway, a 6’7″ forward from Sarasota, Fla. who is playing post-graduate basketball at St. Thomas More in Connecticut.