The Mount Ida College men's basketball team will look to senior leadership, improved athleticism, and bench depth in hopes of their first ever Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) title this coming 2008-09 season. While the Mustangs head into their second full year as members of the GNAC look for head coach Rico Cabral and his squad to be ready to compete and bring an exciting, up-tempo style to the floor every game night.
The Mustangs return several key contributors from last year's campaign including five seniors and two juniors. 6-8 senior Otis Thompson (Gardner, MA/Gardner) will man the middle once again for his team and will be joined by fellow senior, 6-3 forward Matt Bennett (Rochester, NH/Spaulding), upfront for a solid rebounding tandem under the boards. Thompson and Bennett formed a potent duo last season with Bennett joining at the halfway point giving the Mustangs a jolt underneath with his size and strength.
Mount Ida will look to three upperclassmen to man the wings in senior's Michael Dunham (Salem, NH/Salem) and Gino Dipietro (Westbrook, ME/Westbrook), and junior Bruce Cary (Standish, ME/Bonny Eagle). Expect the experience and talent of these three players to shine in 2008-09.
Junior Darren Martinez (Mattapan, MA/Brookline) returns to the point guard slot after a solid debut last year that saw much improvement as the season went on. Expect contributions from returning players such as senior Steve Dorsey (Hopedale, MA/Hopedale) and sophomore's Teddy Louis (Malden, MA/Malden) and Brian Hapgood (Braintree, MA/Braintree) as all three have proven to be valuable to the squad in their roles and continue to grow as players.
The Mustangs are very excited to have their core of players back and are equally excited about new additions to this year's team that could prove to be the difference in the season. The coaching staff feels that this incoming class has everything you could as for and more, they look forward to seeing them perform.
Junior transfer Dave Santos (Mattapan, MA/Ben Franklin Institute) should make an immediate impact to the backcourt along with a triple threat of freshman in Isiah Benjamin (Windsor, CT/Masters School), Joseph Cabral (Walpole, MA/Walpole), and Johrone Bunch (Meriden, CT/F.T. Maloney).
The Mustangs have added depth upfront as well in the form of two talented freshmen, Travis Hillery (Tyngsboro, MA/Central Catholic) and Jeffrey McNair (Brockton, MA/Brockton). Both players have impressed the staff throughout the pre-season and seem poised for big freshman campaigns.
Freshman James Wenz (Bayport, NY/Bayport-Blue Point) and Dominic Tenn (Middletown, CT/Middletown) have joined the squad for their first season as Mustangs and both have shown potential to be solid contributors throughout the year.
Men's basketball is eager to enter their second season of GNAC competition and are also excited about playing in their first ever contest against a division I program when they travel to Stony Brook University on December 7, 2008.