THE GOOD NEWS
The Big Red returns all but one player, including four starters and a total of six players with two years of eligibility remaining.

THE BAD NEWS
That one departing player, senior forward Jason Hartford, brought size, defense and rebounding to the roster. Those three areas looked like significant shortcomings in the NCAA Tournament loss to Stanford. To take the next step, the Big Red must improve inside.

KEY RETURNEES
Guards Louis Dale and Adam Gore, small forward Ryan Wittman, power forward Alex Tyler and center Jeff Foote.

ROSTER REPORT

--Other Ivy League players scored, but no one proved to be more valuable than Dale, the Ivy League player of the year as a sophomore. Dale finished the regular season leading the Ivy League in assists (5.04 per game) and was sixth in scoring (13.8 per game). He was seventh nationally in free-throw percentage (.906).

--Wittman, the son of Minnesota Timberwolves' coach Randy Wittman, earned first-team all-league honors and finished fourth in the Ivy League with 15.4 points per game and ranked ninth nationally in 3-point percentage at .466.

--Foote, who joined the Big Red at midseason after a mid-year transfer from St. Bonaventure, emerged as a key player for the Big Red because of his size and production. In 21.2 minutes per game off the bench, Foote averaged 8.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots per game.

--Gore was the 2006 Ivy League rookie of the year but missed all but the season opener in 2006-07 because of a season-ending knee injury. He returned to a team led by Dale and Wittman and needed some time to find his way. His production increased over the final month and finished the season averaging 10.1 points per game. Gore will be a senior academically but has two years of athletic eligibility remaining.

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