After missing the playoffs in the 2023–24 campaign, the Ithaca College men’s basketball team looks to return to its winning ways with a mix of youth and upperclassmen leaders, as it battles through early season injuries.
Last season was the first since the 2016–17 campaign that saw the South Hill squad miss out on postseason action. However, head coach Waleed Farid said there is optimism among his squad that it will bounce back.
“One of the benefits that came out of last year was a lot of our freshmen got thrown into the fire right away,” Farid said. “Did they have their rough times? They did, but I think they’ve come out of that in a good spot.”
Two of the now-sophomores that Farid is talking about are guard Evan Cabral and forward Alex Penders. Last season, Cabral was the starting point guard for the Bombers and put up an impressive 8.5 points per game on 46% shooting. He said his team was not satisfied with the results last season and are ready to bounce back strong.
“Everybody’s just been brought in, and we’re just growing, building chemistry,” Cabral said. “Just focusing on attention to detail, just the little things that matter will translate to bigger things in the game.”
Penders provided a spark off the bench last season with his efficient scoring: his 49% field goal percentage and his 37% shooting on 3-point shots both ranked second on the team.
Last season, the Bombers got off to a strong 4-1 start in Liberty League competition. However, the team struggled down the stretch, losing five of their last six games, with four of those defeats being by five points or less. Additionally, the Bombers average margin of defeat in the 13 games they lost was around 8.5 points. Penders said he believes winning those tight games will be an emphasis this season.
“I think that those experiences going into being a year more mature, a year more to grow, that’s really going to help us in the long run of this upcoming season where in those games we will have the tools to be able to pull those games out,” Penders said.
Unfortunately, Penders sustained a mid-ankle sprain in practice a couple of weeks ago and will be sidelined for the start of the season. Penders recovers alongside his other injured teammates, including sophomore guards Jose Padilla and Yoav Regev, sophomore center David Luberoff and senior guard Bryce Bleibtrey. Penders said none are expected to be season ending and he and his teammates trust the healthy players to win early games.
“We’re rallying behind the guys that we trust, [they] are gonna step up and make plays for us,” Penders said.
Penders was thrust into action as a first-year student last season due to upperclassmen injuries. He said his teammates helped prepare him last year when he had to step up.
Historically, Farid-led teams are known for their run-and-gun playstyle, allowing the guards to run the floor and make plays early in the shot clock. This will once again be the case this year with Cabral and senior guard Logan Wendell in the backcourt. Wendell led the Bombers in scoring last season with 18 points per game and became the 30th player in program history to eclipse the 1,000 career points mark.
However, heading into this season, Farid wants his team to put an added emphasis on the defensive end to compliment their high-flying offense.
“Improvement defensively would have helped us in some of those games,” Farid said. “I think we’re really focused on the defensive side in terms of making sure we’re not skipping steps and trying to be as detail oriented as we can.”
The Bombers will be getting reinforcements on that end of the floor this season as they added sophomore transfer David Luberoff to play center. Luberoff played at Division ll Adelphi University last season where he averaged six points per game, four rebounds a game along with 15 blocks, which would have led the Bombers last season. Luberoff is another Bomber who is currently injured, but is expected to be an impact player upon his return to action.
Guards Aidan Holmes and Bleibtrey join Wendell as the three seniors on the roster, with Wendell and Holmes being the team captains. Their roles as leaders will be pronounced this season on a roster that features 10 underclassmen.
“Their voice means weight with our team,” Cabral said. “When they speak, everyone listens, pays attention and respects them.”
Despite the underclassmen, the Bombers do not consider themselves to have a lack of experience.
“As much as you may say that we’re young, I think that even in our youth we’re experienced because a lot of these guys have been in game situations before,” Penders said.
The South Hill squad has four first-year players. Farid said they are looking strong early and competing well in practices. He said forward/guard Chris Leysath is a first-year student to look out for on the court, who will make an immediate impact.
“Chris Leysath is a big body, super athletic, he’s probably one we’re going to see on the floor a little bit earlier … based on his size and the need for size in our lineup,” Farid said. “He’s someone who’s just scratching the surface with his potential and his talent.”
The Bombers open up the season with some tough out-of-conference competition. They will travel to the Big Apple to compete in the NYU Tip-Off Classic against Rowan University and Babson College from Nov. 9–10. Farid said he believes the tough out-of-conference schedule will have his team battle tested for Liberty League play.
“We’re going to get beat up, we’re gonna battle, we’re gonna fight, we’re gonna scrap and if we can steal some games; awesome, if we can get better playing those games, even better,” Farid said.
In the meantime, the Bombers will continue to work hard every day in practice as they look to stack positive days on their way to achieving their goal of returning to the playoffs and the Liberty League Championship.
“We’re always striving to be a gold standard program,” Penders said. “What we want to do is win the Liberty League. …That goal hasn’t changed from last year.”
Farid said he is excited for the rest of the Ithaca community to see how hard his team worked in the offseason. He said he believes that his squad will be able to execute the little plays this season, and as a coach, that is all he can ask for.
“Knowing that we were as prepared as we could be for that game, we played as hard as we could in that game and we were the best teammates we could be. …I think that puts us ahead of a lot of other teams,” Farid said.
