Fordham Will Join Rest of Conference at Atlantic 10 Media Day

Fordham will get an off-court glimpse of its competition next Tuesday when the Atlantic 10 Conference holds its media day at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The head coaches of all 14 teams will be present. Seven coaches will be available to the media in the morning, with seven more taking part in the afternoon session.

Fordham head coach Tom Pecora will be in the afternoon group. Entering his fifth season at Rose Hill, Pecora told Bleacher Report that the conference continues to get better.

"This is not the Atlantic 10 that Fordham joined 20 years ago," he said. "It's much different. ... This league made history last year putting six teams in the NCAA tournament. It's as good a league as Fordham has ever played in. With that said, I think it's going to be a real high level of college basketball [this year]. I'm excited about coaching in it."

A look at Fordham's A-10 schedule reveals what will surely be another grueling campaign. Fordham will play 18 games against league opponents and will open with VCU, Rhode Island and Dayton, three of the projected top teams in the conference.

"On paper, when you look at teams and names and where people think teams are going to finish, it's tougher earlier than late," Pecora said about Fordham's schedule. "But if you're playing your best basketball and you're on a real great stretch early and you can go get some of those games, then it's a good way for it to be set up.

"You're going to go out, you're going to compete and you're going to hopefully be able to take care of business and win some games in-conference."

This might be the year that Fordham has a chance. Two decades of trying to build a winner in a conference that's only gotten better has produced its fair share of trying times. But there's hope, as Pecora and his staff have been able to lure what looks to be A-10 talent to the Bronx.

Fordham won't be the only team to enter the season with freshmen who are expected to have an impact. Throughout the conference, programs continue to recruit at a high level. Now it's a matter of how quickly and how well players adjust to the college game.

"It's easy to create hype," Pecora said. "It's tough to live up to it. You have to see how these young guys play when the lights come on."

Pecora did get an early look at his Rams when they traveled to Canada in August. Fordham went 4-0 on the trip, one that Pecora called "very positive for us." He told Bleacher Report that the team has a much different look and feel to it, particularly on offense.

"I saw the ball move more," he said. "I thought that was a good thing.

"There are more options, and in turn the ball moves more freely. By being able to play Christian [Sengfelder] and Eric [Paschall] at that fourth perimeter spot, and their skill set, it allows the offense to be a little more seamless, a little more efficient and more balanced.

"You're not always looking to one or two guys to score. I think there were times last year where it was really Branden [Frazier] or Jon [Severe]. If they didn't get a good look at it we were going to struggle to score. Now I think there's greater balance. It's not about locking up one or two guys. It's about worrying about a number of guys on the floor scoring."

Quotations in this article were obtained firsthand.

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