City of Basketball Love

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of CoBL's 2015-16 College Season Preview, which will run from October 2-November 13, the first day of games. For the complete rundown, click here)

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LANCASTER — Franklin & Marshall may be listed among some of the nation’s top Division III men’s basketball teams heading into the 2015-16 season, but long-time Diplomats head coach Glenn Robinson isn’t ready to anoint his club just yet.

“The expectations are a little lofty, but we’ve been there before,” the soon-to-be 71-year-old Robinson said late last week while sitting in the foyer just outside the Dips’ Mayser Center playpen. “They’re just that, they’re expectations. We have to be careful not to try to live up to someone else’s expectations.

“We have to do what we expect,” continued Robinson, who guided F&M to a 20-6 mark a season ago, “and realize that sometimes you have to be a little patient.”

Yet even though F&M returns four starters and 12 veterans, patience is a remarkably critical dynamic for the perennial Centennial Conference hammer — particularly since Robinson’s Dips have been practicing only since Oct. 21.

So, just call the southeastern Pennsylvania native cautiously optimistic.

Since Robinson has been parked at the end of the F&M bench for the past 44 campaigns — don’t forget the three years he spent as an assistant coach before he ascended to the head-coaching role — he’s entitled to take whatever approach he wants as his Dips prepare for yet another challenging season.

Factor in the 890 victories Robinson has tucked away during his sparkling tenure — 93 of those triumphs arrived during postseason play — and one doesn’t need any sort of reminder that he’s been through this process more than a few times.

Nonetheless, landing at No. 19 in one preseason poll (D3hoops.com), at No. 9 in another (Sporting News) and at No. 7 in yet another (DIII News) means plenty of folks believe Robinson’s Dips are capable of having a mighty big year.

Just don’t ask Robinson to do any of the quantifying as he continues to prepare his veteran club for its Nov. 14 date at home against backyard foe Elizabethtown.

“My objective’s the same for every team and that is to play to our potential,” Robinson said. “The kids all know that. I don’t put a number on it, never have and don’t intend to start now. It’s all dependent upon so many things.

“If you can stay injury free, that’s huge,” Robinson added. “It also depends on the competition. Last year, we were pretty good but our league had three teams in the top 25 teams in the country. So you could play great and still not win.”

“Obviously it’s very humbling up to a point, but in another sense it kind of means nothing until the actual games start,” said sophomore guard Brandon Federici.

“So now when the actual games start we’re not going to be trying to prove that, but just play the way we know how to play and I think our playing style and record will speak for itself when it comes.”

And while F&M already has reaped a sizable amount of preseason acclaim collectively, Federici has been tagged a preseason All-American by several of those same publications that have the Dips in their early rankings.

All the 6-4 guard did last season was average 19.3 points — Federici led all freshmen in scoring, regardless of division — 3.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per outing while starting all 26 games and exceeding all sorts of expectations.

“We knew he was a good player and we certainly wanted him, but we had no idea that he was gonna have that kind of success that quickly,” Robinson admitted. “That’s just unusual. So I think you’d be crazy if you planned on that. You certainly always hope it happens. We’ve been fortunate. We’ve actually had quite a few freshmen have great freshman years.”

A first-team all-Centennial Conference selection, Federici collared several Rookie of the Year awards after scoring in double figures in 24 of 26 games, bagging 20 points or more on 11 occasions and going for 30 or more three times.

“At no point did I ever think I would achieve what I ended up achieving, but I guess it all started in practice and I just did what I knew how to do to the best of my ability and it just worked out for me,” Federici said.

“But it started in Costa Rica when we played in early October. I got like my first start in my first game ever and I did really well that whole trip and I guess from there it’s history, but honestly it was a complete shock to me. When the whole thing was happening, I wasn’t in shock then and I was just trying to ride the wave.”

“So, as far as all the accolades I received, I was just in complete shock from my expectations from the beginning of the year,” Federici added. “Now that year is over and now I guess I just have to prove myself again and live up those expectations. “

“The big thing is he scores. He just is a scorer,” Robinson remarked. “If you don’t play him, he’ll go for 30. It’s that simple. If you don’t have a good player guard him or do something, he’s gonna get 30 points. He may anyway. He had a game last year when he scored 30 and he didn’t make a single [3-pointer]. Everyone knows he’s a 3-point shooter, but he scored 30 points without a 3.

“So he can score a lot of other ways,” Robinson continued. “He’s an excellent free-throw shooter, so you can’t grab him or foul him. What we like about him is he does everything else. He’s a very good passer. He’s a very good penetrator. And he’s really an intelligent defensive player. … He does way, way more than just shoot 3s.”

Also back for the Dips is senior big man Cedric Moune, a 6-7, 225-pounder who hails from Cameroon yet finished high school in suburban Baltimore.

Moune nearly averaged a double-double last season (12.0 points, 9.7 rebounds) — he banked seven double-doubles and led the Centennial in rebounding — landing a second-team all-Centennial Conference nod.

“[Moune’s] just a good player,” Robinson explained. “He’s long. I wouldn’t call him a leaper, but for a kid his size he jumps well [and he has] very good timing. He’s a tremendous defensive rebounder and a good offensive rebounder.”

“We’re definitely relishing his last year here, because after he leaves it’s going to be a lot different,” Federici admitted. “Even our style of play is probably going to change. And as far as impact on our team, both offensively and defensively, I think he’s by far the most impactful player.”

Sophomore guard Matt Tate (5.9 ppg) and junior guard Hunter Eggers (4.0 ppg) are F&M’s other returning starters. While the 6-0 Tate started all 26 contests, the 6-2 Eggers, a transfer from D-I Rice, eventually moved into the starting lineup.

Other veterans returning from last season include guards Jared Wright (5.7 ppg) and Daniel Osley (0.6 ppg), forwards Lionel Owona (1.7 ppg) and Kevin Beins (0.6 ppg), swingmen Shawn Hines (1.6 ppg) and Nicholas Stern (0.3 ppg), and center Lior Levy (0.6 ppg). Only Hines is a senior.

“Right now, we’re two weeks away from our first game and at this point last year we weren’t even close to where we are now,” Federici said. “So, I think we’re already light years ahead of last year and that’s already a good sign.”

F&M’s roster also will feature 6-0 senior guard Terrel Phelps, who in 2013-14 averaged 9.2 ppg as a junior while starting 17 games and making 26 appearances. Phelps did not play last season, opting instead to take the year off.

A trio of freshmen — 6-3 guard Win Miller, 6-3 guard Kyle Borden and 6-6 forward Jordan Phelps — also could work their way into a deep rotation.

All of the Dips will be trying to fend off Dickinson, Johns Hopkins and the rest of a Centennial Conference pool that typically is extremely competitive.

And that fierce level of competition is another reason why Robinson continues to abide by the same preseason expectations as he always has.

Regardless of whether his Dips are loaded — and even when they are not.

“We literally have to play like 110 percent every single game and that might still not be enough,” Federici admitted. “You have Hopkins and the Dickinsons that graduated a lot of seniors, but they still have a good core and good coaches. And then you have the Gettysburgs and the McDaniels that have all their players back — and we had a little trouble with both of them.

“There are a lot of problems that pose themselves and we eventually have to figure them out, but it’s definitely a battle.”

“You have to play to your potential,” Robinson said. “You just have to do the best you can each game and see how it shakes out.”