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Teams: Men's Basketball: Team
Overview
Tufts University features one of the strongest men's basketball
traditions in New England. Including the 1949-50 team that won 20
games while opposing the likes of UConn and Boston College, through
the successful tenure of Coach Tom Penders in the early 1970s, to
current coach Bob Sheldon's teams that have made three NCAA
Tournament appearances, Tufts has a well-established reputation as
one of the top programs in the region.
The all-time leader in victories at Tufts with 299, Sheldon guided
the team to a school record for wins with a 23-7 finish in 2005-06.
Now in his 21st season with the Jumbos, he is one win shy of 300 for
his career. Two members of Sheldon's recruiting class who graduated
last year Jake Weitzen and Ryan O'Keefe finished their Jumbo
careers as 1,000-point scorers. Weitzen is seventh on the team's
all-time scoring list with 1,440 points. Current senior Jon Pierce led the New
England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) in scoring as a
junior last season with 21.5 points per game.
The 2005-06 Jumbos recorded one of the best seasons in the team's
104-year history by advancing to the NCAA Tournament "Sweet
Sixteen." Their NCAA Tournament run included a clutch road victory
at Cortland State and an overtime loss to Amherst in the round of
16. Sheldon was voted as D3Hoops.com's Northeast Region Coach of the
Year.
Sheldon's 1994-95 team electrified the campus, winning 20 games and
earning the program's first NCAA berth. In 1996-97, Tufts won its
final seven games to clinch their second NCAA Tournament berth. The
1999-2000 team captured the Eastern College Athletic Conference
Championship and won 21 games. A 1977 graduate of St. Lawrence
University, Sheldon has participated in nine NCAA Tournaments as a
player and coach.
Members of the NESCAC,
Tufts plays in the nation's most competitive small college
conference academically and athletically. Four conference teams
played in the NCAA Division III Tournament last season. Conference
member Amherst College was the 2007 NCAA national champion. The
Jumbos played in the NESCAC Tournament championship game in 2006 and
have reached the conference tournament semi-finals in three recent
seasons.
The NESCAC is a group of highly selective liberal arts colleges and
universities that share an academics-first philosophy for
intercollegiate athletics. Basketball players at Tufts have
consistently received recognition for their academic efforts.
Current senior Aaron Gallant earned All-NESCAC Academic Team honors
last season. Co-captain David Shepherd earned ESPN The Magazine
Northeast Region All-Academic Team honors in 2007.
In addition to highly competitive NESCAC games against 2008 NCAA
teams from Amherst, Bowdoin, Middlebury and Trinity, the Jumbos also
play one of the country's most challenging non-conference schedules.
The team regularly travels to play out-of-region competition,
including last season's Wilkes-Barre Challenge in Pennsylvania. Last
year's schedule also included non-conference games against NCAA
qualifiers Brandeis, King's and UMass Dartmouth. Out of nearly 400
NCAA Division III teams, Tufts ranked 30th in strength of schedule.
Playing their home games at historic Cousens Gymnasium, men's
basketball action is one of the most popular attractions on campus.
With its arched roof and bench seating, Cousens was built in 1932
and is one of New England's oldest and most charming sites for
indoor sports. During the summer 2005 it was featured in the NCAA
News as a "One of a Kind" facility.
Sheldon and his staff have recruited some of the top players in the
nation to Tufts. Chris McMahon was a First Team All-American and
Third Team Academic All-American in 1995. Pat Skerry's 634 career
assists from 1988-92 is 16th best all-time. Chad Onofrio's career
free throw percentage of 86.8 from 1992-96 is 17th among the
all-time leaders in Division III. Andrew Kaklamanos and Reggie
Stovell both graduated in 2005 and played professionally in Europe.
Pierce was tied for the 26th in the country last year with his 21.5
scoring average.
The Jumbos look for a fresh start in 2008-09 following the
graduation of six seniors. A 6'5", 240-pound forward, Pierce leads
the group of returnees. He shot .523 (195/373) from the field,
including .413 from three-point territory (43/104) last season.
Gallant, who started all 24 games a year ago, is one of the league's
top defenders and was a very accurate shooter last year (71/127,
.559) while averaging 8.2 points per game. Dave Beyel blossomed as a
sophomore last year (7.5 ppg) and will step into a bigger role this
season. Sophomore Matt Galvin looks to take over the starting role
at point guard
after a strong freshman season, and returning players Reed
Morgan and Sam Mason are expected to play important roles this
season. Juniors Dan Cook, Brian Lowry and Tom Selby will also
contribute.
Located right outside of Boston, Tufts offers a well-rounded
collegiate experience to student-athletes. Within its picturesque
small-college campus, Tufts is a major university with "an
unprecedented diversity of programs, exceptional faculty and staff,
and bright and talented students," according to President Lawrence
S. Bacow. The Athletics Department sponsors a varsity program of 28
sports that is among the most competitive in the NCAA's Division
III. Tufts finished 15th in the 2008 U.S. Sports Academy Directors'
Cup, the award presented annually to the best overall collegiate
athletics programs in the country. The University's proximity to a
world-class city renowned for its academic institutions is also a
major draw.
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