Nov. 8, 2007

NEWARK, NJ - NJIT basketball season begins on Saturday, November 10, at 2 pm when the Highlander men host Manhattan in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.

Saturday's game is a rematch of last year's season opener, when NJIT ushered in the Division I era with an upset 56-55 win at Manhattan.

The Highlander women get underway a day later, visiting St. Francis in Brooklyn, NY, in a 2 pm game on Sunday, November 11.

Ticket prices for all on-campus basketball games in the Fleisher Athletic Center are: $10 for adults; $5 for faculty/staff, non-NJIT students and children; and, admission is free for NJIT students with valid ID.

Here is a preseason look at the 2007-08 Highlanders:

With over 20 years as a college head coach, Jim Casciano has seen too much to make a lot of bold predictions about his team as it prepares for its second season of Division I competition. He knows it will take time to get where he wants his team to go.

"When you go through rebuilding, you have to start at some point," he said. "Because we do it the traditional way (recruiting and developing high school seniors) we're at that point in terms of being a Division I program.

"I think we're a better team. We're more versatile. We can run more and shoot better and we can play nine players a game without a big drop off when we go to the bench."

Still, he is cautious. "You can't say we've turned the corner until we actually do," said Casciano. "This is more like the beginning of turning the corner.

"The freshmen are learning quickly and the team has bonded on and off the court. They come to play every day and they demand a lot of themselves and they demand a lot of each other."

Casciano turned around three different downtrodden college programs before coming to NJIT. "I've seen this before," said the coach. "You can see the pieces of the puzzle starting to make sense."

Entering 2006-07, no Highlanders had ever played in a Division I game. This year, NJIT returns five players, including three starters, who played in the Division I debut.

The Highlanders will integrate the returnees with as many six freshmen. Indeed, NJIT will feature one of the youngest backcourts in the country. Every pure guard but one, senior Courcy Magnus, is playing college basketball for the first time.

Some of the youth at guard is balanced by the fact that the freshmen are part of the second class recruited strictly for Division I competition. "We've improved the backcourt in terms of depth, shooting, basketball IQ and toughness," said Casciano. "But there's no substitute for experience."

NJIT's first season of Division I competition began as if it had sprung from Casciano's most optimistic dreams.

The season opened at Manhattan, the defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season champion. Trailing by 14 early in the second half, the Highlanders rallied to turn the game into a nail-biter over the last 12 minutes. NJIT went ahead for good, 56-55, on senior Clayton Barker's driving layup with 31 seconds left.

Following up the eyebrow-raising season opener, the Highlanders made the area basketball community take notice with a 63-52 win over Rider in NJIT's first home game.

NJIT awakened from the dream in the next game at Columbia and the Highlanders did not win again until January. But the season never became a nightmare, as NJIT remained competitive in most of the remaining contests.

Most of this year's proven talent resides in the frontcourt, where all three starters return. Kraig Peters, the top returning scorer (11 ppg), is on the wing, while the top rebounder, Nesho Milosevic is back on the inside after averaging a team-best 7 rpg and scoring 8.3 ppg. Dan Stonkus (41 blocked shots, 5.8 rpg, 5 ppg) is back in the middle.

Peters combines a strong work ethic with legitimate Division I skills, which points to further improvement. Having produced 18 double-figure scoring games a year ago, he aims to bump that consistency to a higher level, upping his scoring average.

Milosevic, from the Eastern European Republic of Montenegro, first came to the United States in 2005 and played a season of junior college ball at Sierra College in California.

He made a smashing debut for the Highlanders, coming off the bench for 12 points and 11 rebounds in the upset of Manhattan. He went on to post 10 double-figure scoring games and seven double-figure rebounding games. "He can be a consistent double-double for us," said Casciano

Stonkus, at 6-9, 245, matched up with just about every post player NJIT faced in his freshman season. Having redshirted his first year in college, Stonkus has improved steadily. "We're definitely a different team for the better when he's in," said Casciano. "If he stays on the floor and becomes more assertive on offense, he's another player who can give us double-doubles."

NJIT rotated Milosevic, Stonkus and then-senior Marc Milbourne Swan in the two interior spots a year ago. Milbourne Swan is gone, but the Highlanders have two more options this season in freshman Paulius Skema and junior Kyle Edwards.

A former age group national player in Lithuania, Skema came to the United States last year and attended prep school, where he received substantial mid-major Division I recruiting interest. He averaged 16 points and 9 rebounds for Veritas Christian, which faced top prep teams.

Edwards, out all last year due to injury, is 6-6, 225, with fluid athletic ability. "Kyle could make a difference," said Casciano. "He runs like a perimeter player and he can play inside or out. We didn't have that type of player last year."

Seniors Brett Johnson and Courcy Magnus are back. Johnson, a good defender, is a small forward. Magnus, who has been both a starter and reserve at guard, can make shots from the perimeter.

The rest of the active roster is made up of freshman guards. Tyler Epps, Justin Garris, Brendon Lyn and Jheryl Wilson are competing for starting roles and all are likely to be in the regular playing rotation.

Lyn, Wilson and Epps are all involved at the point, while Epps and Wilson could slide over to the two guard spot, joining Garris.

Lyn, a pure point guard brings speed, quickness and court sense that has raised the team's energy level. Wilson was a combo guard at nearby St. Benedict's Prep, which ranked fifth nationally and second in the East in USA Today's final polls during his senior year.

Like Lyn, Wilson has the toughness that comes with having grown up in a basketball scene where there is no room for the word "casual". Lyn cut his teeth in Mt. Vernon, NY, which borders the Bronx. Wilson came up in an area that is home to perennial national high school powers St. Benedict's, St. Anthony's of Jersey City and St. Patrick's of Elizabeth, all of whom produce multiple major Division I prospects every year.

Epps, too, comes from a great tradition, having starred at North Mecklenburg High near Charlotte, NC. North Meck had five alumni active in Division I ball in 2006-07. Epps is a good shooter to go with his strength, quickness and high basketball IQ.

Garris, a gifted athlete, likely has his best basketball ahead. At 6-3, he can fill a role similar to the one being played by Highlander senior Kraig Peters.

Walk-on Rey Jefferson, who had a fine high school career, is also on hand. Another walk-on, Anthony Collier is expected to redshirt.

Johnathan Dixon, in his third year at NJIT, is an injury-related question mark. He was hurt during his freshman season, missed all of 2006-07 and has not practiced this preseason.

"Our expectations for the season are higher (than 2006-07), but tempered," said Casciano. "The schedule is probably tougher, but we still want to win more games."

The increased demands will be clear in game two, when the Highlanders fly to Seattle to take on Washington in the opening round of the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off tournament on November 13.

"Playing in the NIT is definitely an honor," said Casciano. "It's going to be a special experience playing a perennial top 30 team on its home court. But that's a tall order for any team."

Not much later (December 6), the Highlanders will host the first of their four games in the new Prudential Center, the downtown Newark home of the NHL New Jersey Devils. The Highlanders will entertain Army, Rutgers, Cornell and Texas-Pan American at "The Rock" in December and January home games.

On January 5, NJIT will visit one of college basketball's most famed sites, the Palestra, for a game in Philadelphia against Penn.

With so many new things--the NIT Season Tip-Off, hosting games in the Prudential Center and playing in the historic Palestra--the Highlanders are set for a second Division I season as compelling as the first. "Our team and coaches are looking forward to every one of these experiences," said the coach.