By Jason Eisenberg

It is the first week of November, which in the world of sports means college basketball season is upon us.

For Manhattan Jaspers head coach Barry Rohrssen, this means that an offseason filled with months of planning and recruiting can now be seen through the rearview mirror and all focus has turned toward a new year on the court.

“I am always very excited whenever another basketball season is about to begin,” said Coach Rohrssen. “We are coming off a year where the team had the most wins overall and the highest finish in the MAAC Conference since they hired me, so things are moving in the right direction and now I am looking for even more progress and improvement during my fourth year with the program.”

Despite the graduation of two senior starters and the departure of standout sophomore Chris Smith, who transferred to Louisville, the Jaspers will have their most deep and experienced lineup in years. The team will rely heavily on the leadership and scoring ability of senior forward Darryl Crawford, who emerged around midseason last year and went on to lead the Jaspers in points, with an average of nearly 15 per game.

“I really like to emphasize a team approach but there is no doubt that we will likely look for Darryl to make the biggest impact,” said Coach Rohrssen. “He is certainly our most complete player and he can score, pass and rebound the basketball.”

Crawford will not be expected to do it alone. The Jaspers have four seniors on the roster this season, double the number on last year’s squad. Rohrssen will look for a better performance from talented, yet streaky, guard Antoine Pearson, as well as from returning starting forward Andrew Gabriel and fellow senior Brandon Adams. In addition, the coach is hoping that junior guard Rico Pickett, a multi-skilled transfer from Miami-Dade Community College, will step right into a starting role and provide his explosive scoring and playmaking ability at the Division I level.