No. 25 – Hofstra

Editor's Note: Hofstra kicks off Athlon's countdown of the Top 25 NCAA basketball teams by coming in at the 25th position. Check back daily as we unveil the rest of the Top 25, two teams at a time.

After being passed over for the NCAA Tournament, Hofstra is out to make sure it’s nowhere near the bubble this time around. The talk around Hempstead is that the Pride may have the best returning backcourt in the country. And while there might be some ACC duos that would take umbrage at that, the fact is that Loren Stokes and Antoine Agudio averaged more points per game (34.6) than any returning guard combo other than Virginia’s Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds (34.7).

	Click here to listen to Athlon's podcast about Hofstra.  Featuring Senior Editor Mitch Light, presented by Icehouse
	Click here to purchase Athlon's 2006/07 College Basketball magazine

Stokes is the lone returner from the CAA’s all-conference first team. A driving, slashing guard, he averaged 17.4 points per game, third-best in the league last year and the highest mark for any returning player.

Agudio was fourth in the league in scoring. The sharpshooter averaged 17.2 points per outing and was second in the CAA in 3-point shooting (42.1 percent).

Add in senior Carlos Rivera, who averaged 11.7 points and handed out a team-high 117 assists, and Hofstra’s backcourt will give anyone matchup fits. The problem? Who will hold down the fort up front?

Last year’s big men, Aurimas Kieza and Adrian Uter, were both seniors. One candidate to replace them is sophomore Chris Gadley, who averaged 2.7 rebounds while playing 10.2 minutes per game as a freshman. Gadley scored only two field goals in the final eight games, though he did grab a season-high eight rebounds in a win over Nebraska in the NIT.

Hofstra also signed a pair of potential impact forwards in Greg Washington and Lithuanian Mantas Leonavicius. Washington, a local product, spent last season at the Winchendon School in Massachusetts. Leonavicius, the fourth Lithuanian to sign with Hofstra, played last season at Statesville Christian High School in North Carolina. “I don’t think there’ll be that huge a drop in the frontcourt,” says Tom Pecora, the CAA’s Coach of the Year in 2005-06. “But it’s no secret we’re a backcourt-dominated team.”

Pecora was a hot offseason commodity, but unlike  other CAA coaches — VCU’s Jeff Capel, Northeastern’s Ron Everhart and UNC Wilmington’s Brad Brownell — the native New Yorker chose to stay put in Long Island. After flirting with the opening at Seton Hall last spring, Pecora signed a new five-year contract that will keep him at Hofstra through the 2010-11 season.

Expectations follow success, but Pecora embraces the challenge of playing as the league favorite. “I’ve been at the other end,” Pecora says. “It wasn’t that long ago we were 8–20 and at the bottom, man. I have no fear of that.”