EAST HARTFORD – The Goodwin College Navigators basketball team was ranked 12th in the nation in a preseason coaches poll by the National Club Basketball Association (NCBBA).
“I’m watching the team in practice and can’t help but notice that this group of students is so much faster than those of seasons past,” said Eric Emet, Goodwin’s Director of Athletics and Recreation.
This season’s returning players include Shane Mebane, Andre “the Colonel” Sanders, Andre Luke, Stefon Hall, Chuck Watson, and Mike Hemingway. New to the program are Patrick Houlihan, Tyrique Nichols, brothers Joaquin and Freddy Figueroa, DeAndre Hamblin, Christian Galindez, and Joey Rivera.
“We’re a bit smaller than last year’s squad, after graduating our center, Lorenzo Hogan, but we’re a very athletic team,” Emet said. “Shane and Andre will pick up all the defensive slack from the size we lost.”
Raheim Lowery, in his fifth year with the program, coaches the Navigators, and is assisted by Professor Phil Fox, who also serves as an academic coach/tutor for the students. Both coaches are helping to grow the team from a small club at the career-focused college to a successful, winning roster that can compete on the national level. The team is comprised of Goodwin students, including players from the ESL program and SNAP program.
“It should be a great season,” Emet said.
The Goodwin College Club basketball team plays in the New England Conference, with Harvard, Skidmore, Sacred Heart, University of Vermont, Assumption College, and UMass Lowell. The team practices and plays out of the Connecticut River Academy gymnasium, located on the north end of the Riverside Campus. The season starts in October and runs through March, with the culmination being the annual Staff v Student game. The team plays in three major tournaments, at American International College’s Turkey Invitational in November, at Boston University’s Northeast Regional Invitational in January, and at UMass Amherst’s Minuteman Tournament in March.
Learn more about the Navigators or many sports clubs at Goodwin College by calling 1-800-889-3282.
Goodwin University is a nonprofit institution of higher education and is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), formerly known as the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). Goodwin University was founded in 1999, with the goal of serving a diverse student population with career-focused degree programs that lead to strong employment outcomes.