Philadelphia, Pa. - The Holy Family University men's basketball team will have a new look to it as it prepares to open the 2011-12 season on Tuesday.  The Tigers open the campaign on the road against Clarion University with a 7:30 tip-off for the regular season opener.
 
The 2011-12 edition of Holy Family men's basketball will take on a new regime as first year head coach R.C. Kehoe takes over the program.  Kehoe was named the program's fifth head coach on April 8, 2011 after spending the previous five years as an assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level with the University of Delaware.  A Philadelphia native, Kehoe brings nearly a decade of collegiate coaching experience with him to Holy Family.
 
“I'm very excited and honored to take over a program that is committed to winning,” said Kehoe.  “We're a young team with capable parts that can produce the winning Holy Family University deserves.”
 
Kehoe inherits a Holy Family team that went 6-21 overall last season and finished sixth in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) South Division with a 4-13 conference record. 
 
Kehoe and his staff that includes, Donnie Carr, Tom Kehoe, Ryan Haigh and Adam Dickman, will welcome back eight players from last season including three starters.  The team will also welcome four newcomers. 
 
The Tigers return three of its top four scorers from a season ago that averaged double-figures in scoring, including sophomore Alberto Munoz (Morrisville, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons) who finished 19^th in the conference averaging 12.3 points per game during his freshman season.  Munoz was also among the conference's top three-point shooters as he knocked down 59 threes with a .369 percentage (59-160).
 
Sophomore Rashaad Sneed (Durham, N.C./Hillside Heat Academy) returns after seeing significant playing time during his freshman year.  Sneed started 25 games and averaged 10.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.  He also dished out 26 assists and tallied 27 steals. 
 
The team also has sophomores Nate Hodge (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills) and Ben Savidge (Reading, Pa./Exeter) returning after appearing in 20-plus games last season.  Hodge averaged 5.9 points and 1.9 rebounds per game to go along with 29 assists and 29 steals.  Savidge produced 2.5 points per game and totaled 11 assists and six steals in 208 minutes of action.  He also shot .447 percent from the field (17-38) and .476 percent from beyond the arc (10-21). 
 
“All of our sophomores got a tremendous amount of experience with the minutes they were forced to play last season,” said Kehoe on his returning players.  “Our juniors and seniors are a group dedicated to trying and that wants to be shown the way to win and win big at this level.”
 
Senior Sam Mushman (Hackettstown, N.J./Pope John XXIII) appeared in all 27 games and started eight last year.  He averaged 7.6 points and 4.0 rebounds per game and tallied 15 assists, 20 blocks and ten steals.  Mushman shot .538 from the field (78-145) and was 45-of-60 from the free throw line (.750).  He scored in double-figures nine times during his junior season including a five game stretch.
 
Other seniors on this year's squad include Ben Badeen (Newport, Maine/Maine Central Institute), who saw limited minutes in eight games last year, and Rickie Crews (Deptford, N.J./Deptford), who returns after missing all of last season due to injury. 
 
The lone junior returning from last year's team is Khiry Hankins (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day School) who appeared in 14 games after missing most of the first half of the season due to injury.  When Hankins returned to the lineup he gave the Tigers another outside threat as he knocked down 26 threes (26-88) in 14 games.  Hankins averaged 10.4 points and 2.0 rebounds per game to go along with 15 assists and 11 steals.
 
Holy Family welcomes two junior transfers in Angel Ayala (Allentown, Pa./William Allen) and Maurice Hargrove (Philadelphia, Pa./Martin Luther King), along with freshman Richard Council (New York, N.Y./Rice) and Eric Fleming (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan).
 
“The two juniors [Ayala & Hargrove] bring instant credibility that they both played at junior community college,” said Kehoe on his junior transfers.  “Each of them address a major concern of mine when I took over the program.  Maurice gives us a true point guard and Angel brings toughness and versatility at the wing/forward spot.”
 
Kehoe continues, “[Richard] Council also comes from a successful program [Rice High School] and is a young man ready to play right away.  [Eric] Fleming gives us a high level scorer and coming from a very detailed oriented program [Archbishop Ryan] gives us a guy who understands how to play and score on the offensive end.”
 
With a mixture of talent up and down the lineup, Holy Family features a wealth of depth this year.
 
“One of our biggest strengths is the depth of being able to play nine-ten guys that all have the ability to help us win every night,” said Kehoe.  “Although every night we may not play nine-ten guys, it is nice to have that luxury.”  
 
Holy Family was picked to finish sixth this year in the South Division when the CACC announced its preseason men's basketball Coaches' Poll.  Despite the predictions of the conference, don't expect the Tigers to give in to the polls.
 
“We expect this group to make a 180 on the defensive end of the floor,” said Kehoe.  “My view of the struggles from last season all lie on issues defending night in and night out.”
 
Last season, the Tigers finished 12^th among 13 teams in scoring defense in the conference.  Holy Family allowed opponents to score 79.3 points per game along with a .470 shooting percentage.
 
Kehoe continues, “Our goal is to finish in the top two in the South Division of the CACC and also play .500 against non-conference opponents.  I don't believe in putting a number on wins and losses, but if we consistently stay away from what loses games and understand what loses games we'll be on the winning side more often than not.”
 
Holy Family will face a challenging schedule, especially early on.  The Tigers will be on the road for the first six of its seven games this year, including four straight away to open the season.  Holy Family's first home game is against West Chester University on Nov. 29. 
 
“We have a very challenging schedule and will be on the road against teams with such great tradition,” said Kehoe.  “We have a daunting task ahead of us with our first four games on the road.  The CACC is intriguing to me with 9-of-15 all-conference selections from last year graduated or moved on.  This gives us the opportunity to move up in the conference.  We're talented enough to make the jump.”
 
Holy Family's first test in the CACC will come on the road against Goldey-Beacom College on Dec. 3.  The Tigers will also face conference opponents in Chestnut Hill College  (Dec. 6) on the road and host Felician College (Dec. 10) before the calendar year switches to 2012.  Holy Family will host Lincoln University (Dec. 13) and New York Tech (Dec. 17) before closing out the month of December at the East Region Classic.  The Tigers will face Stonehill College (Dec. 29) and Assumption College (Dec. 30) in a pair of non-conference contests at Philadelphia University.
 
Come the New Year, Holy Family will face conference opponents the rest of the way including a four game stretch at home (Jan. 10-21).  The Tigers will also have a three-game road trip to end the month of February before closing out the regular season at home against cross-town rival Philadelphia (Feb. 21).  This year's conference championship is set to begin on Feb. 25 with the quarterfinals and will conclude on March 2 and 3 with the semifinals and championship final hosted by Caldwell College.
 
Holy Family will look to move up the conference standings this year.  The team may still be young, but has the talent and dedication to complete its goal of finishing within the top two in the South Division and regain the winning tradition of Holy Family basketball.
 
“I want this group to understand the passion and focus you need to bring everyday to be successful on and off the court,” said Kehoe.  “Passion is contagious and I want this group to pass it on to future recruits and winning at Holy Family University.”