By Joe Budzelek
Winning three of their first four games, Manhattan’s auspicious start in their first season under the lead of new head coach John Gallagher took an abrupt stop in the second half of their matchup against UConn with sophomore guard Brett Rumpel tearing his ACL. Starting that game, the Jaspers lost nineteen of their next twenty-one games as Manhattan sorely missed Rumpel’s creativity and production in the halfcourt.
Within that slump, Manhattan’s 89-57 loss at Saint Peter’s was the team’s distinctive nadir that signaled major changes ahead. “I got done with the game, went into the locker room and I literally laughed to my staff,” says Manhattan head coach John Gallagher, “And I said guys, a year from today, we will not have a roster built like this.”
Gallagher adds, “What I mean by that is that now, we’re tough, we can go small, we can go big and we can play it straight. We got to a level at the end of the year where we were competing well, but the stars had to be aligned [for us to win] because Brett [Rumpel] wasn’t there. Now, the stars don’t need to be aligned and we can win games by just being solid.”
With a talented, deep and healthy backcourt paired with a young, but promising frontcourt, expect Manhattan to be the most improved team in the MAAC in Year Two of the Gallagher Era.
In an offseason with widespread roster volatility across the nation, Manhattan is one of the rare teams that returns three of their best guards from last year – Brett Rumpel, Jaden Winston and Shaquil Bender.
In the small sample size of the four games Rumpel was healthy, the Saint Bonaventure transfer averaged twelve points, six rebounds, three assists and five free-throw attempts per game. Known for his creativity and aggressiveness inside the arc more so than his perimeter game, Gallagher also has praised Rumpel’s versatility on defense as his length and toughness helps neutralize the effectiveness of opponents’ high-usage guards.
After finishing last season with the highest opponent A/FGM ratio (61.6%) and three-point shooting efficiency (37%) in conference play, a healthy Rumpel will greatly help Manhattan’s woeful perimeter defense from last season, which will be a major focus this upcoming season.
“If you look at our good teams [at Hartford], we really defended at a high level,” says Gallagher, “In back-to-back years [in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons] we were top-ten nationally at defending the three and that was the number nobody ever talked about. We have that type of makeup now.”
Finishing last season with the fourth-best defensive rating metrics, per EvanMiya.com, Jaden Winston’s two-way development from his freshman to sophomore years could be seismic.
“At the end of the day, he is as good as any point guard I’ve ever coached,” says Gallagher, “The ball’s going to be in his hands and he knows the offense. I coached him extremely hard last year and he didn’t blink. He’s from DeMatha, so he knows how to win.”
As his freshman season progressed, Winston’s two-way impact grew. Over the last fourteen games of the season, Winston averaged 11.5 points, 5.6 assists and 2.4 steals per game. The return of Bender, a fully healthy Rumpel and the new backcourt additions will bring more capable ball handlers on the court and that talent should help minimize Winston’s turnovers. Also, an improvement of his three-point shot will add yet another tool to his game. Between his two-way skills and his leadership potential, Winston can become Manhattan’s next star.
Even though senior guard Shaquil Bender was the Jaspers’ leading scorer last season, shooting inconsistency impacted his effectiveness. Finishing last season with the fourth highest usage rate in the league, but shooting a woeful 41% from inside the arc, Manhattan’s lack of scoring options left Bender to force shots late in the possession. However, Bender’s 34.1 3P% and 80.4 FT% is evidence to his true form and it would come to no surprise if his shooting efficiency improves in tandem with the team’s. “We’ve been working on shooting the three all summer,” says Gallagher, “We can’t shoot 31% from three [like last year].”
Whether Bender will start or come off the bench will be decided on the play of Manhattan’s newest backcourt additions.
A three-star recruit who picked George Mason over four high-major programs, the 5’10 redshirt sophomore Devin Dinkins averaged 17.8 points and 3.4 assists per game for Gonzaga Prep, earning him a Washington Post All-Met First Team selection. Missing all of last season with a back injury, Dinkins averaged eleven minutes-per-game in his freshman season. With Jaden Winston likely leading Manhattan in minutes again this upcoming season, Dinkins’ ticket to playing time will be sharing the floor with Winston but Dinkins will need to make buckets and defend at a consistent level to earn consistent minutes.
Blinn Community College transfer Masiah Gilyard is a 6’3 Brooklyn native who brings high-energy glue guy potential and was one of the best rebounding guards in JUCO. Last season at Blinn, Gilyard averaged 13.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists per game. While only 14% of his field goal attempts have been from three, Gilyard has converted on an impressive 46.7% of his career attempts. The excellent positional rebounding of both Gilyard and Rumpel opens the door to Gallagher rolling out small ball lineups.
The frequency and variation of Manhattan’s small ball lineups will depend on the development and potential that incoming freshmen Alijah Curry and William Sydnor provide to the frontcourt.
Manhattan’s biggest offseason loss was star forward Seydou Traore transferring to Iowa after his breakout freshman season. However, the transfers of both Daniel Rouzan (undecided) and Xinyi Li (LIU) – two of the team’s three least efficient defenders according to EvanMiya.com – allows this year’s group to be even stronger.
Ranked by 247Sports as Manhattan’s first three-star prospect since Zane Waterman a decade ago, Alijah Curry is a 6’9 forward out of the venerable Camden High (NJ) who picked Manhattan over offers from Ole Miss, Missouri, Mississippi State and Memphis, among others.
“Alijah comes to us as a high motor and very skilled and extremely tough power forward that will give us great versatility that will be needed in a conference like the MAAC," said Gallagher in an official team press release. Gallagher adds, “Alijah has some unique qualities, one of them being a special teammate. He really knows how to lift his teammates up and we expect him to do the same for the Jaspers."
A face-up forward, Curry averaged 13.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game at Camden and is expected to play the 4 in more traditional lineups and also the 5 in smaller lineups.
Curry will be joined by fellow incoming freshman William Sydnor, a 6’9 athletic forward from the Patrick School (NJ) with guard skills and elite defensive potential. “He's a prolific scorer who is long and athletic," Gallagher said about Sydnor in an official team press release. "He's one of those guys late in the shot clock who can get his own basket. His length from the defensive side of the floor is really exciting to me. He's a great piece for us to get and an exciting addition in Riverdale.”
If Sydnor can earn immediate playing time, his size, athleticism, length, skills and versatility is a keystone to Manhattan unlocking much bigger lineups with Sydnor effectively playing the 3, especially if he shares the floor with Monmouth transfer Amaan Sandhu or fellow freshman Marko Ljubicic.
The first ever native of India to earn a basketball scholarship at the Division 1 level, the 7’1 265 Sandhu started seven games as a freshman but had trouble earning consistent playing time last season behind a much improved Monmouth roster. Naturally, the seven-footer is a beast under the boards but nearly a quarter of his career field goal attempts have been from three. Considering that Hartford ranked within the top-ten in 3PA/FGA ratio during Gallagher’s first six seasons with the Hawks, expect the Manhattan coaching staff to continue to develop Sandhu’s perimeter game on offense.
Similar to Sandhu, Marko Ljubicic is a big forward who has shown a willingness to shoot it from deep, but needs to work on his accuracy. At 6’9 Ljubicic is surprisingly quick and owns switchability potential on defense.
Speaking of defense, returning senior Wesley Robinson should continue to earn frontcourt minutes after finishing last season with the team’s highest defensive efficiency rating, per EvanMiya.com. The 6’6 210 New Jersey native’s playing time was inconsistent early last season, but Robinson earned double-digits minutes in eight of Manhattan’s last nine games. Robinson’s defensive versatility and team-first style of play should earn him minutes at both the 3 and the 4.
Rounding up the frontcourt is redshirt freshman Allen Myers and true freshman Fraser Roxburgh, an import from Australia. The 6’9 185 Myers is best classified as an athletic wing that can stretch the floor while the 6’7 Roxburgh is a well-built, physical wing that brings three-level scoring potential.
Realistically speaking, ten or eleven Jaspers have the best chance to compete for rotation minutes. The shape of Manhattan’s starting lineups can morph and adjust depending on the matchup, which signals the breadth of talent Coach Gallagher and his staff will foster this upcoming season. After a doormat finish in his first season in the MAAC, the Manhattan Jaspers should be one of the most improved teams in the conference.
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