Photo courtesy of wcupagoldenrams.com.
This Friday, the West Chester University men’s basketball team begins their 2021-2022 campaign with a matchup against Elizabeth City State University. They are participating in the weekend-long PSAC Challenge tournament at Kutztown University to kick off the new season. It will be the team’s first time taking the court since March 2020 when they were defeated in the second round of the PSAC tournament.
The team is faced with very high expectations coming into the season. They were ranked at number three in the PSAC East preseason poll behind Shippensburg and East Stroudsburg, the latter of which defeated them in the PSAC tournament quarterfinals two years ago.
The Golden Rams have a few returning players including Josh Samec, Matt Dade and Kyle McGee, who will all look to build upon their promising 2020 campaigns. Semec is the leading returning scorer for the team, averaging 9.4 points per game and shooting 47% from the field.
A strength of this team for years has been their offensive ability. They finished the 2020 season first in the league in points per game with an average of 84.8 and with many players returning this season, they will look to continue their success on the offensive end.
West Chester has a lot of youth on their roster, boasting a total of 10 freshmen. With so much of the team having little to no college basketball experience, the upperclassmen, including the aforementioned names above, will play a key role in taking the team’s talent to the next level. Not only will they have the responsibility of improving their individual play, they will also act as mentors and contribute to the development of the newcomers on the team.
Damien Blair returns as head coach of West Chester University for his 13th campaign. He has had a very successful run at the helm, winning 224 games and leading the team to four NCAA tournament appearances since 2014. During his 12 years as head coach, the team has clinched a winning season in all but one season (2016). He has coached many players who went on to win All-PSAC honors and has been a strong influence on the team since his arrival in 2008. He will gain a familiar face on his staff this season, as Ben Kay will rejoin the team as an assistant coach. Kay was previously on Blair’s staff from 2015-2017, and has spent the last several years at Rider University as the Director of Basketball Operations.
The Golden Rams resume play following their opening weekend tournament on Sunday, Nov. 21 on the road against Wilmington University. Their first game in front of a home crowd this season will be two nights later on Nov. 23 against Chestnut Hill College. This season they have a tough schedule facing familiar conference opponents such as Shippensburg, East Stroudsburg, Millersville and Kutztown, all of whom round out the top five of the preseason polls. Non-conference opponents include Holy Family, Penn State Brandywine, Pittsburgh University at Jonestown and Lincoln University.
For more information on the basketball team and how to get tickets to upcoming matchups, visit the West Chester Golden Rams athletics website, or the ticket office located at the ground level of Sykes Student Union.
Erick Klambara is a third-year Media & Culture major with a minor in Journalism. EK924666@wcupa.edu