Fordham Basketball: Amid Roster Overhaul, Don't Forget About the Veterans

In so many ways, college basketball is a young man's game.

Top players leave for the NBA after one or two seasons. Schools are constantly welcoming new recruits—17- and 18-year-old kids—onto campus every fall. And even if a player stays for four years, he's still going to be about 21 or 22 years old when his college career ends.

While Fordham isn't on the same level of some of the nation's top programs who take on a lot of one-and-done phenoms, nor is it its philosophy to do so, the school is experiencing what so many other programs go through on a year-to-year basis.

There are seven freshmen on this year's roster, and all could have an impact. They are Eric Paschall, Nemanja Zarkovic, Christian Sengfelder, Dekeba Battee-Aston, Zaire Thompson, Antwoine Anderson and Manny Suarez. (Anderson and Suarez are redshirt freshmen.)

Right now, it's not absurd to think that at least three, if not more, of those freshmen could start. That's what the Rams were hoping for. After all, they've won 34 games over the last four years. A roster overhaul was in order.

On the one hand, all of the rookies have brought to the program unique talents and personalities that could help finally turn Fordham into a winner.

On the other hand, we only have the offseason workouts and the 4-0 trip to Canada to base our evaluations on, and certainly two games against Big Ten schools, a game against St. John's at Madison Square Garden and a brutal Atlantic 10 schedule will pose huge challenges. But things look good so far.

Perhaps lost in all the hoopla surrounding the new additions is how important it is for the returning five to come back better than they were a year ago.

That means better production (points and rebounds) from junior Ryan Rhoomes, more consistency from junior Mandell Thomas, more scoring from senior Bryan Smith and a better shooting percentage and shot selection from sophomore Jon Severe. It also means that Ryan Canty, who is expected to be out until mid-December following back surgery, will have to play like he did down the stretch last season when he put up some of the best rebounding numbers in the country.

The early returns are good. The veterans have been leaders. They've elevated their games. They've become better players and teammates because of the competition that wasn't there in the past.

Head coach Tom Pecora and his staff have been able to convince young men to come to Rose Hill, even after all the down years. But, just as importantly, they've also been able to keep, challenge and motivate the veteran players who have spent the past few months getting to know their new teammates.

The freshmen have been getting a lot of attention—and rightfully so. Just don't forget about the guys who were already here. This is their team, too.

Charles Costello covers the Fordham Rams for Bleacher Report. A full archive of his articles can be found here. Twitter: @CFCostello