2023 Hercules Tires MAAC Basketball Championships Digital Program

2022–23 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. So.

Pos.

Ht.

Wt.

Hometown/High School/Previous School

Pos.

Ht.

Hometown/High School/Previous School

0 2 3 5

Adetokunbo Bakare

G 6-2 190 Newark NJ/St. Benedict’s (Indian Hills C.C./NJIT)

2 3 5

ToniRenee Blanford

Jr.

F

6-0 Montclair, NJ/The Patrick School (Union County College)

PLAYER TO WATCH Amanda Mobley has made the most of her 2022-23 graduate season. A traditional pass-first point guard, Mobley has begun to make her way into the Rider record books, ranking third in program history in career assists and is on pace to top the program’s all-time games played list. She has consistently led the MAAC throughout the season, and ranked among the top ten in the nation in assists, while also ranking in the top five on the team in scoring, rebounding, steals, and blocks. 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' Quarterfinal 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. Prior to the game against NJIT, the Rider women’s basketball team honored Johnson by retiring her number. Johnson is the first women’s basketball player, and only the second female student-athlete joining Kelly Hall ‘85 (Field Hockey and Softball), in Rider history to have their number retired.

Allen Powell

Sr.

G 6-2 175 Philadelphia, PA/La Salle College H.S.

Amanda Mobley Maya Hyacienth

Gr.

G 5-7 Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh

Corey McKeithan

Jr.

G 6-2 175 Windsor, CT/Windsor

Sr.

G 5-10 Nottingham, United Kingdom/City of London Academy

Mervin James Drew Kousaie Tyrel Bladen Zahrion Blue

Sr.

F

6-7 215 St. Thomas, USVI/Pebblebrook (North Alabama)

10 12 13 14 15 24 31 32 33 44 55

Molly Lynch Daja Wentz

Jr. Jr. Jr. Jr.

G 5-9 Sea Girt, NJ/Rutgers Prep

10 11 12 13 15 22 23 24 33 35 55

Fr.

G 6-0 174 Kissimmee, FL/Windermere Prep

G 5-6 Bronx, NY/Monsignor Scanlan (Monroe College)

R-Sr.

F

6-10 235 Coatesville, PA/Coatesville

Raphaela Toussaint

F F F

6-0 Kingston, Ontario/Lincoln Prep

Gr. Gr. Sr. Fr. Fr. Fr.

G 6-4 200 Princeton, NJ/Princeton (Lincoln Univ.)

Sofie Bruintjes Anna Ekerstedt

6-5 Zwolle, The Netherlands/CTO Amsterdam

Ajiri Ogemuno-Johnson

F

6-8 210 Delta State, Nigeria/Monsignor Bonner

Sr.

6-2 Varberg, Sweden/Marks Gymnasieskola (Broward College)

Allen Betrand

G 6-5 200 Philadelphia, PA/Roman Catholic (Towson/URI)

Makayla Firebaugh

Jr.

G 5-10 Winchester, VA/James Wood

Jack McFadden Anthony McCall

G 6-4 185 Endwell, NY/Maine-Endwell

Emily Strunk

So. So. Sr. Sr. Sr.

F

6-2 Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg

G/F 6-4 191 Philadelphia, PA/Academy of the New Church

Madison Johnson Sophia DeMauro Victoria Toomey Jessika Schiffer

G 5-10 West Orange, NJ/Union

Kami Young

G 6-2 185 Kennesaw, GA/Pebblebrook

G 5-9 Staten Island, NY/Staten Island Academy

C 6-2 Dunmore, PA/Dunmore

Tariq Ingraham

Jr. Jr.

F F

6-9 255 Philadelphia, PA/Bonner-Prendergast (Wake Forest)

G 5-9 Iserlohn, Germany/Deutschhaus Gymnasium Würzburg (Buffalo)

Nehemiah Benson Dwight Murray, Jr.

6-7 215 Streetsboro, OH/Lutheran East

PLAYER TO WATCH Dwight Murray, Jr. is the engine that makes the Broncs go. He’s scored more than 1,500 points for his collegiate career, including more than 1,000 over the last three seasons at Rider. He’s shown a flair for the dramatic, hitting game-winning shots in the final 10 seconds against league power Iona twice in the last calendar year, including a floater with 7.5 seconds left to knock off the top-seeded Gaels in the 2022 MAAC Quarterfinals. For his performance in the 2022 MAAC Championships, which included averages of 17.3 points, 6.0 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game, he was named to the MAAC All-Championship Team and vaulted from a 2022 All-MAAC snub to a unanimous 2022-23 Preseason All-MAAC First Team selection. NOTABLE ALUMNI Jason Thompson ‘08 began a new chapter of his career as the Broncs’ Director of Player Development this season. The 2008 NBA Lottery Pick completed his 13-year pro-playing career, including the first eight in the NBA with the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors. Thompson was an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America, US Basketball Writers’ Association District II Player of the Year, the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 3 selection, MAAC Player and Defensive Player of the Year at Rider. He compiled 2,040 points and a Rider-record 1,171 rebounds, including a single season-best 412 in 2007-08. His 235 career blocks and 91 rejections in 2007-08 are program records. He was a first-ballot Rider Athletics Hall of Fame inductee and his No. 1 jersey is one of two Rider men’s basketball numbers retired all-time (Darrick Suber, No. 4).

Sr.

G 6-0 180 Austell, GA/Pebblebrook (Incarnate Word)

Head Coach: Lynn Milligan (Rider ’92, 16 th year) Associate Head Coach: Pam Durkin (Rider ’97, 16 th year) Assistant Coaches: MyNeshia McKenzie (Rider ’14, 2 nd year), John Azzinaro (Bucknell ‘17, 1 st year) Director of Basketball Operations: Ky Howard (NJIT ’16, 1 st year)

Head Coach: Kevin Baggett (Saint Joseph’s ’89, 11 th Season) Associate Head Coach: Dino Presley (Kutztown ’93, 8 th Season) Assistant Coaches: Geoff Arnold (Saint Joseph’s ’86, 4 th Season), Kim Waiters (Robert Morris ’11, 2 nd Season) Director of Basketball Operations: Michael Carr (Indiana ’19, 2 nd Season) Special Assistant to the Head Coach: Roy Blumenthal (West Chester ’83, 4 th Season) Director of Player Development: Jason Thompson (Rider ’08, 1 st Season)

HEAD COACH LYNN DONOVAN-MILLIGAN

HEAD COACH KEVIN BAGGETT Two-time MAAC Coach of the Year Kevin Baggett is in his 11 th season as the Rider Head Coach in 2022-23. 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 22 All-MAAC honors and two MAAC Sixth Player of the Year awards. The total increases to 32 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.

Lynn Donovan-Milligan '92, '94 is in her 16 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 19 times, including five First Team selections, eight Second Team honorees and six 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 and the Broncs struggled through injuries in 2021-22, but Rider did win four of its final ten games during the regular season, and had a lead through three quarters against MAAC Champion Fairfield during the regular season’s final week. Lenaejha Evans earned Third-Team All-MAAC honors after leading the Broncs and ranking seventh in the MAAC at 14.0 points per game.

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2023 | HERCULES TIRES MAAC MEN’S & WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS 73