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Winning a national championship is never an easy nor is it a predictable task. In a national tournament that requires winning five games in six days, getting only one day’s rest, coming out on top is as much about talent and chemistry as it is about a simple war of attrition. And yet, minus Seluynn Palmer, the lone graduated senior from last year’s team that advanced to the NAIA Final Four, the Rams will toss their name into the hat as contenders for the country’s most coveted title. They will do so and enter this season with a proverbial “X” on their back. The Rams will be the target of every team they play and every team will bring a championship level of intensity when they tip off against the men who wear the white and maroon. While the Rams will have to perform in a nightly pressure cooker, it is sixth year head coach Joe Niland who expects something more from his team. “There’s a certain way I view the game of basketball,” Coach Niland said. “It boils down to the great Grantland Rice quote, ‘It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.’ If we do that, I’ll be happy. That’s doesn’t always mean a championship. It means they’re giving their maximum effort under the guidelines we ask them to play within.” Entering his twelfth season of coaching, even Coach Niland himself admits, “I think this group, should they do that, has a chance to win a championship.” And so it begins as the Rams will report for conditioning in September with one unified and clear goal…WIN THE NAIA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. THE FOUR HORSEMEN Having played together for four years, the team is built around a core of four players that include 3rd team All-American Tramaine Perry, NAIA All-Tournament and GCAC Tournament MVP Gimel Lewis, GCAC All-Tournament Gabriel Feagin and 2003 All-Conference selection Larry Burgess. “They’re going to have to stay extremely focused and not get senioritis,” Coach Niland said. “They have to know that this is their last go-around and hopefully by their actions, and leadership, they’ll show the younger guys what work ethic is, what we do, what the system is and bring everyone around to share a common goal.” Averaging 15.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game last season, Perry will once again help lead a Rams team brimming with talent. The 2001 GCAC “Freshman of the Year” has evolved into an All-American and will once again look to put forth the effort needed to play for a national title. “He’s capable of
another All-American season,” Coach Niland said. “I
think however, Tramaine would trade all of that for another conference
championship and national title.” Already near the top of the career scoring and rebounding list, Perry will leave an indelible mark as not just one of the greatest players to wear a Rams jersey but one of the greatest student-athletes to attend Mobile. “Tramaine was one of the foundation guys when I got here, if not the foundation guy,” Coach Niland recalled. “I was looking for an individual that fit into the mold of kids I was accustomed to coaching. I believe character is very important. Mark Price was the assistant back then, and he did a lot of work to help get Tramaine here. He also did a lot of background work to make sure he was a proper fit. Tramaine really helped build the foundation along with Seluynn Palmer and Larry Burgess.” Averaging 13.5 points a game in his first two seasons, Burgess played more of a supportive role last season in averaging 8.3 points per game. When needed however, Burgess would take his game up another level much as he did in a 22-point performance in the final regular conference road game against SUNO. “His offensive ability is uncanny,” Coach Niland said. “The only thing that holds Larry Burgess back from being an All-American is Larry Burgess. He could explode for an unbelievable season if he wants to.” Gimel Lewis will once again look to kick his game up another notch. An impressive notion considering that the once raw, 6-foot-10 Arima, Trinidad native averaged 12.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per contest in 2003-04, up from 5.2 points and 5.2 rebounds his freshman year. “He is probably one of the most improved players I’ve ever coached,” Coach Niland noted. “I’ve coached a lot of All-American players. At Tampa we had two or three, at Florida Southern we had two our three, at Spring Hill we had two or three but he’s really the first guy here to have a chance to be an All-American at the post position. He has come light years. It’s amazing. If he continues to improve, he’s going to set some records here that are going to be hard to break.” Those records are none other than sending opponents shots in alternate directions. Having set the single season record for blocked shots with 53 in his freshman season, Lewis annihilated his own record last year with 90. Another banner season will see the talented center not only put the record for career blocked shots out of reach for many years to come but also make the cut for the NAIA All-American team. Finally, there is the court General, Gabe Feagin, whose ability to penetrate defenses is overshadowed by his offensive passing ability and defensive capacity to shutdown everyone, including NBA-scouted players at the national tournament. “He’s one of our top perimeter defenders,” Coach Niland said. “That was one of my concerns in losing Seluynn, because he was always able to do that. Gabe is going to get the assignment to defend the point guard or defend the other team’s best wing player. He always wants to step up to the table and he’s a very confident kid.” Being thrown to the fire in his freshman year, what has emerged three years later is a point guard who is averaging just under 10 points per contest while dishing out 174 assists and averaging 4.2 rebounds per game in his junior year. “Gabe has had to shoulder a lot of weight at the point guard position,” Coach Niland said. “When you’re the point guard, you’re the quarterback, and so you automatically have an interesting rapport with the coach. You have to take most of the blame for what goes on and catch most of the coach’s wrath. Gabe has handled that pretty well. He really had a great year last year and I expect him to do even better this year.” RAVE & BOLD The daily drama that surrounded Ravi Amunugama successfully getting an appointment with the Swiss embassy provided more than its fair share of excitement around the quiet Rams athletics office during the late summer months of 2003. What culminated was the often exciting play of the stoutly built 6-foot-1 shooting guard from Nyon, Switzerland. “Ravi is another guy who can be a real key guy,” Coach Niland said. “He’s probably the best perimeter shooter on the team. He’s a very good explosive athlete. I expect a lot out of Ravi next year. I think he’s going to be a key surprise guy for us.” Amunugama’s 6th man counterpart was the high flying and in Mobile’s greatest comeback to date, nail in the coffin play of Chris Bolden. “This is going to be a good year for Chris to step up,” Coach Niland said. “He brings great energy, GREAT energy to the floor. When we played Lee University last year in Colorado, we had guys sick and we were down to seven guys. Chris came out and played like he was the best player in the country.” In that December 28 match-up in Grand Junction, Colorado, Bolden led the team, scoring 19 points to go along with eight steals and four rebounds. Zip ahead nearly three months later to March 26; Bolden sealed the greatest comeback in Rams history as he calmly drained two free throws with 20 seconds remaining to upset the second-seeded Cougars of Azusa Pacific University. The tandem of Amunugama and Bolden is symptomatic of the depth that the 2004-05 Rams squad possesses, and yet it is just the tip of the iceberg. POST RELIEF Four post players return to provide depth in the paint and relief to starting center Gimel Lewis. Mike Timmons, Albert Sullivan and Randy Jordan return for their third season with the Rams while super sophomore Jacob Loucks returns for his second. “I view Loucks much in the same way I viewed Tramaine Perry when Tramaine came in,” Coach Niland said. “Loucks is a real solid character guy who can be a leader. His effort needs to be better, play with more intensity and more hustle all of the time.” Averaging 4.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per contest, Loucks is poised to break out for a stellar season and give confidence to the coach that he can carry the torch of a proud tradition into the future. Known for his ability to pull the ball through his legs and dunk, Loucks is a chameleon that can post up at the four spot or swing wide and play the two or three. “He’s a good offensive player,” continued Coach Niland, “because he’s a good passer.” Timmons enters his junior season still looking for his niche and yet Coach Niland’s top choice for certain defensive assignments. Against the beefed up defending national champions, Concordia University, Timmons was given the tough assignment of defending their Goliath post players. “Come national tournament time, I’m going to need Mike to step into some tough defensive assignments,” Coach Niland said. “And I fully expect him to come through.” “Mike needs to understand that he’s one of those guys whose role is different now than it was when he was in high school,” Niland continued. “He has to be a defender, a rebounder, a hustle guy, pass guy, understand the system and move without the ball. A lot of what he’ll get is going to come off of that and playing in the system as well as understanding the system.” Another guy who Niland looks to defensively dominate the key is Albert Sullivan. And like Timmons, a lot of what he brings to the national tournament bound team is the various intangibles that often come without a statistical category title. After averaging 5.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in his 2002-03 debut for the Rams, Sullivan has shown flashes of ability to contribute more, which Niland will look for in 2004-05. “Albert is another guy who I expect to step up this year,” Coach Niland said. “He has a lot of ability. This is his senior year and he’s another guy who needs to defend, rebound, throw the right passes and take charges. All of which he does well. Only he needs to be more consistent.” A possibility to red-shirt in order to develop what is still very raw and untapped athletic ability, Randy Jordan rounds out the cast of returning post players. “He is one of the top ten athletes I have ever coached,” Coach Niland said. “He needs to understand the game more.” Possessing the ability to fly in for an alley-oop dunk or take his defender outside and spread the floor Jordan is a perplexing force to be reckoned with. A track star in high school, Jordan also runs the floor as well as anyone. “While at the national tournament I told him specifically to watch Zack Moss play,” Coach Niland recalled. “He doesn’t shoot jump shots. He just gets every rebound ten feet and in and puts the ball back into the basket. Randy is a better athlete than Zack Moss and it probably isn’t even close. But Randy wants to be the Jack of all trades and master of none. In sports it’s better to be a master of a few things and then he can be more successful.” THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT It’s anything but hidden optimism when Coach Niland is asked about this year’s incoming freshmen, Steve Pellan, Steven Foxworth, Joseph Ryan and Justin Chapell. “I feel good about the group I'm bringing in,” Coach Niland said. "They’re going to help immediately. Justin Chapell is a real quality individual and a great guard that can pass the ball. He’s going to be a good player and a good fit for the university. Steve Pellan is a guy that can be a very talented player in this league for a long time. Foxworth is a very unique guy that can be a hidden talent and Ryan is going to give us depth at the two or three position.” A native of Nanterre, France Steve Pellan is a graduate of the Institut Namrun de l'Elite Sportique. His playing experience saw him play with ES Nanterre, Rueil AC and Hermine de Nantes. While with Rueil AC he averaged 15 points per game and five assists. “Steve can be an immediate contributor,” Coach Niland said. “He’s a big wing player. He can play inside if we need him to. He was brought in being compared to Tony Younger, former All-American player for Spring Hill, and after watching him play with our guys, I feel that he can develop into that type of player.” A graduate of Pine Ridge High School in Deltona, Florida Steven Foxworth garnered county All-Star and area Honorable Mention honors for averaging 10 points, four blocked shots, eight rebounds and one steal per game. “Steve is going to be young and inexperienced,” Coach Niland said. “But he’s pretty skilled and he has a good feel for the game. He’s going to have to learn to adjust to the physicality of the game. He’s going to have get into the weight room, like all of the young guys, and put some weight on. Steve has a chance however, to be a contributor down the road.” A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana Justin Chappell averaged 17 points, eight assists and six rebound per game while at Tara High School. He was an All-District and All-Metro selection his senior season of high school. “He’s a 6-foot-5 point guard that's going to have to adjust to the intensity of the college level,” Coach Niland said. “But he’s another guy that foundation-wise, maybe not this year, but certainly in the future, is going to be really important for us to keep going.” A transfer from University of South Alabama, Joseph Ryan averaged
10.4 points per game his senior season playing at Davidson High School.
He was a member of the 2000-01 and 2001-02 Mobile County All Academic
Basketball Team. He was also named to the 2001-02 Mobile All-County
basketball team and 2001-02 Mobile Register Sweet Sixteen Honorable
Mention. Off comes Nicholls State University and the University of Louisiana Lafayette (Division I schools) but replacing them on the schedule this season is Rice University (Division I - Western Athletic Conference). “Of course NCAA Division I Rice is going to be a handful,” Coach Niland said. “That’s going to be an interesting game. They’re going to be more talented than they were last year." While the Rams will play a slightly softer non-conference schedule in preparation for conference play during January and February, Jim Sanderson’s Faulkner University Eagles remains an annual fixture. “We have Faulkner twice,” Coach Niland said. “Jim Sanderson’s teams are always tough. If you can go out and compete with Faulkner regardless of how young they are, they’re going to bring a very competitive game and a conference style match-up.” Trevecca Nazarene University out of the Trans-South conference and Berry College out of Rome, Georgia will also present a formidable force to be reckoned with. “We also have Trevecca Nazarene at the Spring Hill tournament,” Coach Niland said. “Sam Harris’ teams are always very strong. They usually have transfers and big guys.” THE BEST IN ALL THE LAND “I think our conference, top to bottom, is better than any other in the country,” Coach Niland said. “We might not have high-profile programs like Azusa Pacific or Concordia does, or a high-profile conference like Oklahoma Christian, Oklahoma City or Oklahoma Baptist does, but there are no weak sisters in ours.” Quick to recognize the overwhelming strength of New Orleans schools Xavier University, Dillard University and SUNO, Coach Niland commented, “All of the New Orleans schools are tough.” With Xavier returning most of their players, and SUNO having their big guns back, including GCAC Player of the Year Roberto Ferreira, both 2004 national tournament qualifiers will once again be early favorites to win the conference title. However, traditional powerhouse Spring Hill College, an athletic Tougaloo team and LSU-Shreveport, who returns for its sophomore season in the league, will also present considerable obstacles en route to repeating as conference champion. “LSU-Shreveport coming into the league last season did very well,” Coach Niland said. “If they get a couple big guys to go along with their quick guards they’re going to probably be the top team in the league. The league is just unbelievable. We have our work cut out for us and there are no easy teams.” DOC NILAND’S PROGNOSIS It didn’t take long for the Mobile icon to want to get back into the gym working with his team. After all, a Final Four appearance was a new taste to the veteran coach’s palette. “It didn’t take me long,” Coach Niland said, “but of course I got involved with my daughter Kaitlyn’s AAU girls team.” “So I was back coaching quickly, just in a different capacity. I’m always ready to work and develop players, so maybe it was two weeks before I was chomping at the bit to get back on the court with our guys.” And how quickly were the guys ready to get back to the sometimes tortuous Niland grind? “These guys finally realized what Coach Coates and I had been preaching all along,” Coach Niland said. “They had a good run and they feel that if they tighten up some things they could do it. But again, they won’t get a free pass. They’re going to have to start back at the bottom of the mountain and climb it again.” “But our goals haven’t changed,” Niland concluded. “We want to be a first-class program, come out and compete every time. We want to vie for a conference championship and a national title. Most importantly, we want to graduate our players.” This is the last hurrah for several players including All-American Tramaine Perry, GCAC tournament MVP Gimel Lewis, All-Tournament selection Gabe Feagin, All-Conference selection Larry Burgess and Albert Sullivan, all of whom will graduate next May. “Hopefully the opportunity that my players had here at the University of Mobile gives them the tools to be ‘world changers’, as Dr. Foley is quick to point out,” Niland said. “Hopefully while they’ve been here, I’ve been able to change their world, now it’s their job to go out and leave a positive mark on this world that we live in.” 2003-04 Men's Basketball Outlook Head Coach: Joe
Niland/ 442-2288/ jnmobile@hotmail.com |
