By Hayle Krigel, Special to The Chronicle

A superhero’s job is to save the day, and Charles Jenkins did that time after time for the Hofstra men’s basketball team. Now, Jenkins, the Pride’s all-time leading scorer, has moved on to the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. 

That leaves head coach Mo Cassara’s squad in need of a new hero.

Mike Moore was Jenkins’ sidekick last year, averaging 14.7 points a game, second best on the team.  “Last year, I was the Robin to Batman with Charles Jenkins,” Moore said.

Moore, a senior guard and tri-captain, feels that the hero role can be filled.

“[Jenkins] was a great Batman,” Moore said, “…this year they are looking at me to be Batman finally and I’m looking forward to it.”

But the team can share Moore’s confidence. “[Our team] might be the Fantastic Four,” Moore said, suggesting that a group effort might be needed to replace the Pride’s three-time Haggerty Award Winner as the best player in the Metropolitan area. “We have to see what movie [we will be].”

Cassara agrees that this year will have to be more of a group effort. “I think we need to reinvent ourselves a little bit,” the second-year head coach said, “Score and defend in some different ways.”

“We have to develop our own swagger, our own kind of motto now and I think swagger is a great word. If we can do that, we will have enough talent to be successful.”

Last year’s success will be hard to match, as the Pride won 21 games and finished tied for second in the competitive Colonial Athletic Association.

“At the end of the day, we might end up being better than last year,” junior forward David Imes said.

Imes thinks this year is a chance for former role players to prove what they are capable of.

“Now’s our chance to prove what everyone else can do,” Imes said.

Despite the 22.6 points per game the Pride will be losing due to Jenkins’ graduation, senior forward Nathaniel Lester, Moore and Imes all seem confident that the scoring can be replaced.

“Mike [Moore] averages 15 [points], I’ll put in 15, Dave [Imes] will put in 10,” Lester offers as a solution.

Lester and Moore both said they feel comfortable taking a final shot at the buzzer, as Jenkins achieved notoriety for doing in last season’s contest against William and Mary.

“I’m looking forward to it, I dream about it,” Moore said. “I want to hit that half court shot. Players should thrive on those situations and I’m looking forward to it.”

“I have no problem with taking the last shot and stepping up to the plate,” Lester said.

Cassara believes that with a lot of hard work and a lot of new pieces his team will have a different dynamic from last year, but will still be successful.

“I think Charles taught these guys a lot with sharing the ball,” Cassara said. “Yes, he scored a lot of points, but he was also a very dynamic distributor as well.”

The number of different aspects that Jenkins brought to the team almost overwhelmed Cassara. “I feel like my best friend is not on the team anymore,” he said with a smile. 

Now, as the first season post-Jenkins approaches, the Pride’s veterans are eager to prove they too, can be a hero.

Hofstra will have to fill the void left by Charles Jenkins. (File Photo/The Chronicle)