2008 Lasalle Explorers Preview

October 24, 2008

Remember the days of Tom Gola and the 1954 National Champion La Salle Explorers?  How about players like Ken Durrett, Michael Brooks and Lionel Simmons?

It seems like forever since La Salle was a competitive team in the national landscape of college basketball.  In fact, the Explorers program has not won a conference title since 1992 when they won the post-season Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament.

Good players such as Donnie Carr, Rasual Butler and Steven Smith have been a part of the program since La Salle’s last championship team, but it has not been enough to put together a good post-season run.

Current La Salle head coach John Giannini, who is heading into his fifth season, is looking to get La Salle back on the national map.  However, Coach Giannini will need to win in the 2008-2009 season without last year’s leading scorer, Darnell Harris.  In his senior season, Harris averaged 16.6 points-per-game and was also second on the team in assists with an average of two per game.

The good news for Giannini and the Explorers is that every other player on last season’s roster, except Harris and guard Sherman Diaz, will be back for the 2008-2009 season.  The Explorers also add the very explosive Vernon Goodridge to bolster their frontcourt.  Goodridge is a 6’9” power forward who transferred in from Mississippi State and Coach Giannini is glad to have him aboard.

“Vernon is physically gifted in terms of size, strength and athleticism,” said Coach Giannini about his new big-time player.  “I would rank him with some of the best players I have seen in the Atlantic 10.  He hasn’t had the opportunity to play yet.  He only played two years of high school and didn’t get much time at Mississippi State.  We need to be a little patient but he will have a significant impact on our team.”

“We basically traded (Darnell) Harris for the big body of Goodridge,” Giannini said about his 2008-2009 roster.  “Our style of play may change a little bit but I think it’ll be good for our team.”

Junior guard Rodney Green had a solid sophomore season with averaging 13.4 points-per-game and 3.2 assists-per-game, good for second and first on the team, respectively.  At 6’5”, Green is normally a shooting guard but made the transition to point guard last season.  This season, with Harris graduated, Green will be looked upon to score more this season and also run the team as the court general.

In addition to Green, the two top front court players from last season are back for the 2008-2009 campaign.  Sophomore forward Jerrell Williams is looking to follow-up a spectacular freshman season in which he averaged 9.1 points-per-game and 6.4 rebounds-per-game.  Junior forward Yves Mekongo Mbala is coming off a solid sophomore season where he averaged 8.3 points-per-game and six boards-per-game, making for a solid La Salle Explorer front court.  When you add Goodridge to Williams and Mekongo Mbala, La Salle has a very talented front court that will not only be around for this season, but for next season as well.

“In all other years, most of the guys have been young,” Coach Giannini said about his past season as the La Salle head coach.  “This is the first time we are not relying on first-year players and it’s the first time all of our players are our own recruits.  This program has become more stable and we know what direction we are heading in.”

Even though Coach Giannini won’t have to rely on first-year players this year, it doesn’t hurt to have talented recruits ready to step in next season or the year after.  Adding to an already deep frontcourt, 6’8” freshman forward Devon White joins the Explorers this season.  White, a graduate of Strawberry Mansion High School in Philadelphia, averaged 11.6 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots in his senior season.  Last year in the District XII semifinal game, White had 11 points, but pulled down 23 rebounds and rejected 15 shots.

“Devon was clearly an outstanding high school player this last year,” Giannini said about his prized recruit.  “However I think he will continue to progress and be a really outstanding college player.  We look for him to get stronger and improve his offensive skills.”

So while many La Salle fans are wishing for the days of Gola, Durrett, Brooks and Simmons to return, there is some reason for optimism about the current team and the direction in which the program is heading.

Despite the addition of Goodridge and the return of most of the players from last season, the La Salle Explorers were picked to finish tenth out of 14 teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference coaches’ pre-season poll.  But if Goodridge can get into the swing of things and Green can continue to improve and be the go-to-guy on this team, don’t be surprised to see the Explorers in the middle of the pack in the A-10 at season’s end.