Men's Basketball
Vermont Tech is rightfully proud of the Men's Basketball program. Coach John Dyer begins his fifth season at the helm. Vermont Tech has a long basketball tradition, dating back nearly eighty years. The Green Knights have qualified for the USCAA Elite Eight in two of the last three years and the Yankee Small College Conference Final Four in three of the last four years.
"I'm very satisfied with the progress our program has made over the past four seasons," says Coach Dyer. "Our players have worked very hard to establish Vermont Tech as a solid and respected small college basketball program. It is a delight to work with such wonderful young men."
This year's squad will be dominated by freshmen. Gone are Vermont Tech's "twin towers" and USCAA All-Americans Click Agnew (6'8") and Jake Clough (6'7"). Also lost to graduation are forwards Jan-michael Sgantas, Ed Berry, Brian Trudell and co-captain point guard Jack McDonald. The only returning starter is sharp shooting guard Garrett Crawford, winner last year's "Best Male Athlete" award. Also returning are 6'3" forward Joe Clough and winner of the "Most Improved" award, 6'4" Koffi Selom Egbetto from Togo, West Africa. 6'8" sophomore swing man Jordan White-winner of the "Rookie of the Year" award-will be sidelined until the second semester following knee surgery.
New to this year's roster is a group of five freshmen that have been dubbed on campus as the "Fab Five." The "Fab Five" include 6'4" power forward Julian Miller from Broward County, Florida; 6'4" small forward Travon Groves from Mt. Laurel, New Jersey; 6'6" post player Trent Roleau from Bristol, Vermont; 5'8" guard Justin Wilson from Willingboro, NJ and 5'8" guard John Robinson from Queens, New York. Adding additional punch to this year's freshmen class is the very versatile 6'2" Graham Borden from Merrimack, NH.
Expected to join the team at mid-season is 6'5" shooter Michael Nowlan from Melbourne, Australia; 6'0" guard Kendrick Nesbitt from the Bronx, NY; and returning 5'10" guard Melvin McLemore from Houston, TX.
The basketball team will compete in both the Yankee Small College Conference (USCAA affiliation) and the Sunrise Conference (NAIA affiliation). Non-conference games include Vermont rivals Lyndon State, Johnson State, Castleton State, Green Mountain College and Southern Vermont College. The team is commencing a fund raising program for a planned trip to Brazil in May, 2008 to compete against a slate of college teams in Brazil.
Coach Dyer provided this assessment of the forthcoming season: 'We have some talented freshman on this year's squad. Our schedule is the toughest it's been in recent history-there isn't a single easy game. However, good competition is just what we're after-it only makes you better. I expect this team will be faster than we have been in recent years. We may not be as big as we have been in the past, but our kids will hit the boards aggressively. I expect this team to mature as the season progresses. If we can learn to make our possessions count-to limit our turnovers and take good shots-we can compete with anyone."
If you are interested in playing basketball at Vermont Tech, please contact Coach Dyer (jdyer@vtc.edu).