The balls bouncing and rims rattling that have started to pierce your ears on Saturday afternoons and weeknights? The whistles and squeaking you hear from Goldfarb Gymnasium? That means basketball is back at Hopkins, and this year, there are lofty expectations for the men's basketball team. Led by senior captains and retuning all-Centennial Conference players TJ Valerio, Dan Nawrocki and Matt Griffin, the Blue Jays have steamrolled their way to a 6-0 start early in the season, picking up the title of "best D-III team in Maryland" along the way.
In these tone-setting early season contests, the Blue Jays have steamrolled the competition. The Jays picked up two wins in the Blue Jay Invitational to win their own tournament, then proceeded to win three straight in the Pride of Maryland tournament, including a championship victory over Salisbury. In their first Centennial Conference game against Swarthmore, the Blue Jays easily handled the Garnet 73-57.
They have been led offensively by their two big men, Street & Smith pre-season All-American Griffin and the physically dominating Nawrocki. Early on, its been clear that the team's main objective is to feed the big men inside, and as the season continues and wins pile up, their hunger inside will only get stronger.
"Early on, our key has been our inside-out game," Valerio said. "We set the tone early with our big men playing physically inside, because, from our point of view, there is no other team that can match up with our frontcourt."
Outside of their frontcourt contributions (Griffin entered Tuesday night's contest against Swarthmore averaging 16.8 ppg and 6 rpg, while Nawrocki averaged 15.8 and 10.8), the key for the Blue Jays has been their ability to hit the outside shot. This is where Valerio comes in. A sharpshooter from the outside, Valerio has hit almost 50 percent of his three-pointers this season. When joined by fellow marksman sophomore Phil Beggans on the wing, the two are a great duo to join.
