By Nick Bond

Hofstra University’s Men’s Basketball team is working hard to start well. They left in buses and cars early this morning, with a song in their heart and Charleston on their mind.

On their way to the heart of the south, to play a group of favorite sons from Clemson, the Pride can look to their work on Wednesday and the months before to find a way to win.

“They did a great job in the offseason” said Head Coach Tom Pecora at practice midday Wednesday. “In the weight room and conditioning, Dane Johnson got in at 255, doing it the right way, working out, changing eating habits.”

The focus on conditioning and strength in the offseason looks to pay off in the team’s opener against the Tigers.

“They love to play uptempo, go 100 miles an hour,” said Pecora, “We want to play at the speed limit, that’s our game.”

Their game, it seems, will focus around sophomore Charles Jenkins, who comes into the season as the leading returning scorer, a team captain and 2nd Team All-CAA guard. Bolstered in the backcourt by Nathaniel Lester and Greg Johnson, Jenkins will look to be amongst those that replace alum Antoine Agudio and his prodigious scoring prowess.

“I prefer a more balanced team”, said Coach Pecora in a separate interview, “No one person is going to replace Antoine, and I don’t want them to.”

Balance seems to have been achieved by Pecora, as the Pride also packs a punch in the front court with the aforementioned Johnson and Greg Washington looking to rotate at center and a well-conditioned group of Mike Davis-Sabb, Arminas Urbutis, Darren Townes and incoming junior college transfer and Hungary native Miklos Szabo look to complete the front court rotation.

And the frontcourt will prove pivotal if the Pride hope to score an upset against ACC Championship tournament finalist Clemson, especially on the boards. “They are a tremendous offensive rebounding team”, said Coach Pecora, “Our goal is to hold opponents to 12 offensive rebounds. We feel like we can win if we do that”.

The Pride will be able to test this theory on Friday, as they go head-to-head with the Tigers to determine feline supremacy and more importantly, the winner of an interesting opening matchup in an early season tournament’s inaugural year.

Action for the Pride will continue through the weekend depending on their performance and they open their season at home with a local challenge from Old Westbury on the Monday the 24th at 7PM.