2022 Hercules Tires MAAC Basketball Championships Program

2021–22 RIDER MEN’S & WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

MEN’S ROSTER

WOMEN’S ROSTER No. Name Cl.

QUICK FACTS LOCATION LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ NICKNAME BRONCS COLORS CRANBERRY, WHITE, GRAY YEAR FOUNDED 1865 PRESIDENT DR. GREG DELL’OMO ATHLETIC DIRECTOR DON HARNUM HOME ARENA ALUMNI GYMNASIUM (1650)

No.

Name

Cl.

Pos.

Ht.

Wt.

Hometown

Pos.

Ht.

Hometown

0 2 3 5

Sedrick Altman

Jr. Jr.

G 6-2 180 Rialto, CA

0 3 5

Lauren Saa

R-So. G/F 5-11 Dudley, United Kingdom

Allen Powell

G 6-2 165 Philadelphia, PA

Amanda Mobley Maya Hyacienth

Sr.

G 5-7 Coopersburg, PA

PLAYER TO WATCH Lenaejha Evans has been one of theMAACs biggest surprises in 2021–22. After helping Kansas City Community Collegewin the 2019 NJCAA Division II National Championship and spending a year at Pensacola State College, Evans joined the Broncs for her junior season in 2020–21. Evans primarily came off the bench last season, averaging 5.5 points and 3.2 rebounds. Evansmade her way into the starting lineup just four games into the 2021–22 season andmade an immediate impact, currently leading the Broncs in scoringwhile shooting over 50%from the field. In a road win at Niagara on January 15, Evans scored a career- high 30 points, becoming just the 14 th different player in programhistory to reach that mark. NOTABLE ALUMNI Stella Johnson rewrote the Rider record book in her four years at the school. She became Rider’s all-time leading scorer with 2,167 points and was the first-ever All-American in program history. Johnson also became Rider’s first-ever Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Player of the Year in women’s basketball. Johnson was picked a Senior CLASS Award Second- Team All-American. She earned MAAC Player of the Year in 2019 and 2020, becoming the sixth player all-time to achieve the feat in back-to-back years. Johnson finished 2019–20 as the leading scorer in Division I at 24.8 points per game. She set a new MAAC Championship single-game record, scoring 37 points in the Broncs’ Quarter final win over Niagara. Following her prodigious Rider career, Johnson was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, made her WNBA debut with the Chicago Sky and played for the Washington Mystics for the past two seasons. She is currently playing overseas in Poland.

Corey McKeithan

So.

G 5-10 165 Windsor, CT

Jr.

G 5-10 Nottingham, United Kingdom

Mervin James

Jr.

F F F

6-7 215 St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

10 13 14 15 20 23 24 31 32 33 44 55

Molly Lynch

So. So. So. Sr. Sr. So. Jr.

G 5-9 Sea Girt, NJ

10 11 12 13 14 15 20 35 55 24 25 35

Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson

Gr.

6-8 210 Delta State, Nigeria

Raphaela Toussaint

F F F

6-0 Kingston, Ontario

Tyrel Bladen

Sr.

6-10 230 Coatesville, PA

Sofie Bruintjes Anna Ekerstedt Lenaejha Evans

6-4 Zwolle, The Netherlands

Jordan Smalls

So. So.

G 6-7 185 Jonesboro, GA G 6-4 205 Cheltenham, PA

6-2 Varberg, Sweden

Jaelen McGlone

G 5-8 Conway, SC

Dimencio Vaughn

Gr.

F

6-5 215 New York, NY

Teresa Wolak

F

5-11 Bridgewater, NJ

Jeremiah Pope

Sr.

G 6-4 180 Clinton, NC

Makayla Firebaugh

G 5-10 Winchester, VA

R.J. Weise

So. So. Sr. Fr. Fr. Fr.

G 6-0 185 Allentown, NJ

Emily Strunk

Fr. Fr. Jr. Jr. Jr.

F

6-2 Stroudsburg, PA

Nehemiah Benson Dwight Murray, Jr. Lawrence Foreman

F

6-7 215 Streetsboro, OH

Madison Johnson Sophia DeMauro Victoria Toomey Jessika Schiffer

G 5-10 West Orange, NJ G 5-9 Staten Island, NY

G 6-0 180 Austell, GA

C 6-2 Dunmore, PA

F

6-9 235 Kingston, Jamaica

G 5-9 Iserlohn, Germany

Corey McKeithan

G 5-10 165 Windsor, CT

PLAYER TO WATCH Dwight Murray, Jr. is a dynamic playmaker who can affect the game in a number of ways. The Broncs’ leader last season in points, rebounds, assists and steals, the 2020–21 All-MAAC Second Team honoree and 2021–22 Preseason All-MAAC First Team selection was named MAAC Player of the Week on Jan. 10 after contributing 14 points, a career-high 11 assists and six rebounds in a road win at Marist. In his Rider career, he’s flirted with a triple-double six times in his first 40 games, posting a double-double with at least six in the would-be third category for the feat. He scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds on Nov. 17 at Bucknell. NOTABLE ALUMNI A reserve basketball player for three seasons at Rider, Richard “Digger” Phelps later served as a graduate assistant for the 1963–64 teamwhich snapped NYU’s 23-year home court winning streak and was credited with the scouting report for that upset. He served as an assistant under Dick Harter at Penn and coached Fordham to a 26-3 record in 1970–71 (3 rd in NCAA East Regional). Phelps went on to Notre Dame and posted a 393-197 record (419-200 overall) over 20 seasons in South Bend, including 13 campaigns with 20 or more wins. Fifteen of his teams earned NCAA tournament berths. He was the winningest coach in Notre Dame history until Jan. 3, 2018, when Mike Brey earned his 394 th victory. Phelps coached the Irish to seven victories over teams ranked No. 1 at the time.

Nehemiah Benson

F

6-7 215 Streetsboro, OH

Head Coach: Lynn Milligan (Rider, ’92) – 15 th Season Associate Head Coach: Pam Durkin (Rider, ’97) – 15 th Season Assistant Coaches: MyNeshia McKenzie (Rider, ’14) – First Season, Steven Harney (Dickinson, ’09) – Fourth Season

Head Coach: Kevin Baggett (Saint Joseph’s, ’89) – 10 th Season Associate Head Coach: Dino Presley (Kutztown, ’93) – Eighth Season Assistant Coaches: Geoff Arnold (Saint Joseph’s, ’86) – Third Season, Kim Waiters (Robert Morris, ’11) – First Season

Director of Basketball Operations: Michael Carr (Indiana, ’19) – First Season Director of Player Development: Roy Blumenthal (West Chester, ’83) – Third Season

HEAD COACH LYNN DONOVAN-MILLIGAN Lynn Donovan-Milligan ’92, ’94 is in her 15 th season as the head women’s basketball coach at Rider University. The two-time MAAC Coach of the Year (2017, 2020) has guided one of her student-athletes to All-MAAC honors 18 times, including five First Team selections, eight Second Team honorees and five Third Team picks, along with nine All-Rookie Team selections. On three occasions, one of her players earned MAAC Player of the Year (Stella Johnson – 2019, 2020, Robin Perkins – 2017), while she’s also mentored student- athletes to Rookie of the Year (Makayla Firebaugh – 2021), Defensive Player of the Year (Amari Johnson – 2020), and Sixth Player of the Year (Ali Heller – 2011) recognition. Milligan led the Broncs to the MAAC semifinals for a fifth-straight season in 2020–21. Entering as the seventh-seed, Rider defeated 10 th – seeded Monmouth and second-seeded Quinnipiac in Atlantic City. Milligan saw vast improvement as the season wore on, with the Broncs winning six of their final ten games.

HEAD COACH KEVIN BAGGETT Two-time MAAC Coach of the Year Kevin Baggett is in his 10 th season as the Rider Head Coach in 2021–22. He currently ranks third all-time in wins at the school. ‘Baggs’ is a two-time MAAC Coach of the Year (2015 and 2018) and has been a finalist for three different National Coach of the Year Awards - the Ben Jobe Award, the Joe B. Hall Award and the Hugh Durham Award. Baggett has led his players to 21 All-MAAC honors and two MAAC Sixth Player of the Year awards. The total increases to 31 in his time at Rider, including six seasons as an assistant coach. His 19 wins in 2012–13 were the most by a Rider rookie head coach since Bob Greenwood led Rider to a 20-win season in 1962–63. The only other Rider basketball coach to compile 19 wins in his rookie campaign was the legendary Clair Bee in 1928–29. Rider has made five National Postseason Tournament appearances under Baggett, including an NIT appearance in 2017–18, CBI bids in 2012–13 and 2014–15, and a CIT berth in 2013–14.

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76 J I M W H E L A N BO A RDWA L K H A L L | AT L A N T I C C I T Y

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