Baron Excited for Challenge at Canisius

The Canisius College Golden Griffins have a new men's basketball coach. Jim Baron was introduced Tuesday afternoon inside the Koessler Athletic Center in front of many students, faculty, alumni, fans, and media.

Baron thanked the Griffs for giving him another chance to coach. He has coached at St. Bonaventure, St. Francis, and most recently Rhode Island to go along with many stints as an assistant. Baron is a proven winner and has shown that everywhere he goes. Canisius will be looking for him to make their struggling program into a winner as well.

"I'm looking forward to reconnecting with the great high school coaches that are in the area," said Baron. "I think the MAAC conference is a solid conference, with great balance and has excellent programs with terrific coaches... When I come into programs, those young men become our young men. I'm really looking forward to the challenges, but also to the support, and the individuals."

Towards the end of his conference, Baron showed his familiarity with the area by noting that he is excited to get chicken wings from the anchor bar and to eat at Chef's.

Forward Chris Manhertz, heading into his junior year told me that Baron "just gave us an overview of his coaching style and what he expects of us as student-athletes."

Losing head coach Tom Parrotta was a blow to most players on the team as they had developed relationships with him over his six year stint at Canisius. Manhertz said, "it was unfortunate at the time... but we can't worry about what we can't control."

The team itself will have to recover from a very disappointing 5-25 (1-17) finish last year. "I think we were somewhat sub-par defensively in my opinion and that's one thing we need to tighten up this year," said Manhertz. He told me that he is working on becoming a more complete player. Manhertz averaged 7.9 rebounds per game last year. He also had 99 offensive boards. "I'm just trying to be as versatile as possible. I'm just working on my ball handling and perimeter skills, and jump shot."

The buzz around the team last year was the three transfer students waiting in the wings having to sit out the entire season due to NCAA transfer rules. 6 foot 10 inch forwards Freddy Asprilla from Kansas State and Jordan Heath from NAIA II Roberts Wesleyan are going to add a major force down low for the Griffs. "With Freddy, Jordan, and Issac coming in we are going to have a very complete team," junior guard Gabby Belardo told me. "They are going to have a big impact."

Belardo of course was a preseason first team all MAAC last season after transferring from South Florida but didn't have the season he would have liked. He was nagged all season by a back injury which forced him to miss some time and play hurt for most of the season. I asked Belardo about his back and he told me "it feels a lot better. I have been doing my workouts good, its a work in progress."

This hire is something that will hopefully provide a spark for the program that it hasn't seen since the 1996, the last time the Griffs were atop the MAAC. Baron will have a tough task in front of him but re-building a basketball program doesn't happen overnight.