Northeast Conference report

SportsLine.com Report
April 5, 2000

Rising from the wreck of a 9-44 record the prior two seasons, Monmouth, which in preseason would have been considered fortunate to win seven games this season, regained lost respectability.

Led primarily by junior college transfer guard Rahsaan Johnson and a matured coaching effort by young Dave Calloway, the Hawks won 12 and returned to the NEC Tournament, which they had failed to qualify for the prior season. They were eliminated by St. Francis(NY) in the first round.

A glance at 2001

Johnson, who scored an NEC Tournament single-game record 40 points vs. St. Francis (NY), returns but the Hawks need to build around him to climb higher. At one point in a torrid first half vs. the Terriers, during which Johnson shot 8-for-11 from the floor including 5-for-6 from 3-point range, Johnson had outscored the entire St. Francis team 24-20.

The coach

After a shaky first year and a half on the job, Calloway, a former 1,400 point scorer for the Hawks, abandoned last season's attempt to run and gun and returned to the motion, clock-eating offense he had learned under former coach Wayne Szoke. Despite the arrival of Johnson, the product of a former assistant coach, the current staff still needs to prove itself in the recruiting area.

Who'll be back

Johnson leads four returning starters, guard Raheem Carter, center Kevin Owens, and power forward Steve Bridgemohan, as well as sixth man Russell Anderson and several reserves. Aside from Johnson all must upgrade their games for Monmouth to emerge as a legitimate NEC threat. Help could be coming from 6-5 shooting forward Dan Sterbenz, an East Tennessee State transfer, and 6-10 Nick Barnes and 6-8 Phil Boncewski, who will be freshmen in the fall.

Who's gone

Senior forward Quin Hayes, a 3-point shooter, averaged around 10 points per game for most of the season, while senior guard Sean Collins was a non-factor