Warning from Fordham coach ahead of games with St. John’s, Seton Hall: ‘The A-10 is stacked this year’

With the 2024-2025 college basketball season kicking off Monday, Fordham men’s basketball coach Keith Urgo has a message for teams facing the Rams and other Atlantic 10 programs this year.

“You’re going to have four or five (Atlantic 10) teams beating Power 5 teams in the non-conference,” Urgo told NJ Advance Media by phone on Sunday. “The A-10 is stacked this year.”

Fordham, picked 14th in the 15-team A-10, will have two immediate chances to eliminate Big East foes when it visits St. John’s Monday night at Carnesecca Arena before facing Seton Hall in the cozy confines of Walsh Gym Saturday afternoon. Rick Pitino’s team was picked fifth in the Big East, while Shaheen Holloway’s Pirates were chosen 10th.

Urgo said the St. John’s game was originally scheduled for Madison Square Garden, but “Richard (Pitino) is coming to town with New Mexico (Nov. 17) so we got bumped and coach (Rick Pitino) is great enough to still keep playing us.” He said the Seton Hall game was originally scheduled for Prudential Center but was moved to Walsh after “something got mixed up” with the date.

“They’re great early tests for us and we’re eager to prepare for the A-10, which I think will be as high as it can be at this point,” Urgo said of scheduling two Big East opponents to kick off to stand. the season.

Urgo listed several other opportunities for A-10 schools to take on the top programs in the non-conference. VCU, picked to win the A-10, meets Seton Hall on Nov. 21 in the Charleston Classic. Dayton, the second pick, is ranked preseason No. 9 in North Carolina and opens the Maui Invitational on Nov. 25. “Don’t be surprised if they win that one,” Urgo said. St. Joe’s, picked third in the A-10, faces fellow “Big 5″ member Villanova and Texas Tech in the non-conference.

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“Over the past two years, the A-10s have had the second most transfers in the country of any league,” Urgo said. “Transfers haven’t left (the A-10) this year. Not only did they stay, we brought a lot of them with us.”

VCU returns 65 percent of its scoring in the league, compared to last season’s 24-14 team, which finished in fourth place with an 11-7 mark.

Dayton, led by Preseason All-Conference selections Nate Santos and Chic Alexanderfinished 25-8 overall last year. The Flyers added Alexander, the former St. John’s and Butler guard, along with former Ohio State forward Zed Key.

St. Joe’s is led by first-team preseason selection Erik Reynolds II and second-team selection Xzayvier Brown. Urgo called them “arguably the best backcourt in the country,” which could come as news to those in North Carolina, Duke, Arkansas and elsewhere.

As for the Rams, Urgo brought in former Notre Dame forward Matt Zona and former UNLV guard Jackie Johnson III. Zona was a scholastic standout at Bergen Catholic, where he teamed with current Fordham sophomore guard Will Richardson for two years.

“We have one of the oldest teams in America,” Urgo said. “I have two sixth-year boys, a fifth-year boy, two other seniors, three juniors who are all in their 20s.”

As for St. John’s, that was right Rutgers last month in a preseason charity exhibition behind a combined 49 points from Zuby Ejiofor (27 points, 13 reobunds) and RJ Luis (22 points), Urgo knows the Red Storm will be a tough test.

“St. John’s got a lot of depth and a lot of athleticism,” the coach said. “We have to keep them off the offensive glass; they do a great job hitting the offensive glass, as they did against Rutgers and Towson in both of their exhibition games. And for us, of course, it’s being physical and taking care of the basketball. We need to make sure they don’t get into transition and get easy transitions so the crowd can get into it.”

When it comes to Seton Hall, Urgo said he won’t turn his attention to the new Pirates, with eight transfers and two freshmen, see you later this week.

“Seton Hall, you just know they’re going to be incredibly tough, nasty and physical because of Shaheen, so they’re going to play us harder than anyone else all year long, and that’s the way we play. ”, said Urgo.

“Again, if we take care of the basketball and are physical on the glass, we can pretty much compete with anyone we play.”

Fordham will get two early chances to take down Big East foes, and Urgo says the A-10 as a whole will throw some upsets in the coming weeks.

“A lot of the A-10 have a lot of opportunities to make some noise in the non-conference this year,” he said, “and I think you’ll see some of that.”

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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter covering Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his website at ZAGSBLOG.com.