They are 10-1. Their campus is located in a town called Kingston. They reside in the as-yet-to-receive-love-nationally Atlantic 10. As of the time of this post, they are not ranked nationally in either poll. Nevertheless, the Rams from Rhode Island are scorching hot into the month of December and have left their imprint on many an opponent. A quick breakdown of who they are, who they’ve beaten, and what they can do this season after the jump.
Rhode Island’s last trip to The Tournament was in 1999, and the school has only made itself dance-worthy nine times in its existence. Long gone are the days of Lamar Odom and Cuttino Mobley, but this is a year where that drought can end—and it probably should.
The Rams have the ability to play nine different guys effectively, but expect that number to dwindle with conference season around the block and the propensity of mid-major coaches to best players’ lungs as much as possible.
Who’ve they beat? A Syracuse team (that may be middling) that defeated Virginia in Charlottesville—no easy feat—for starters. They also took out another Big East team in Providence. And another in South Florida. Their only loss comes at the expense of a fourth Big East foe (though not really): Boston College.
The Rams are coached by Jim Baron and led by senior forward Will Daniels (18 points, 6 boards/game) and—nepotism alert!—junior guard Jimmy Baron (16 points/game). They average 82/game and are beating teams by a 16 point margin. There were some high expectations for this team entering this season, and they’ve certainly met those expectations, but the Rams have to avoid losing two or three really bad games if they want legitimate at-large consideration.
The most impressive thing about URI this season? How about the fact that they’ve had the guts to play 11 games in less than 28 days and have come out of that gamut with only one loss. The Rams currently sit at 19 in the RPI standings and will have to continue to rack up wins and hope the A-10 plays well out of conference as well if they want to hover above that sacred 40 line.
The big games left on their schedule:
- @ Dayton, Jan. 9.
- Dayton, Feb. 2.
- @ UMass, Feb. 7
- Xavier, Feb. 18
- UMass, Feb. 21.
- Charlotte, March 3.
Good stuff. This team has certainly grown since Jimmy Baron’s freshman year. He stretches the defense with his ability to hit the deep ball (like four feet behind the NBA range) and the supporting cast around him is certainly stellar. Kareim Seighwright has been a beast down low, Lamonte Ulmer has certainly grown while Parfee Bitee played for his home countrys Olympic trial run in the off season where that made him grow. Joe Mbang and Keith Cothron are also players coming into their own right. This team is 22-9 since playing (1) Kansas last season which was the last game of non-conference play, was picked to finish 13th in the A-10 last year and made it to the A-10 championship game, and also just got the 32nd ranked recruting class for next year. Head Coach Jim Baron is certianly making his money as the highest paid state employee in Rhode Island, and is in the middle of his 10 year contract he signed four years ago.
I would also have to say that A-10 as a conference is makng some moves with the conference tournament to be held in Atlantic City every year, a perfect match, and with Dayton defeating Louisville and St. Josephs in the mix with Xavier and GW competition is certainly getting better. But nationally ranked? That would be cool, we’ll see when the polls come out!
Good point on the Atlantic City decision by the A10, I do like the placement of the postseason tournament there and think it will be good for the conference.
Someone clearly loves Rhode Island, by the way.