Winter 2013-14
Roar, Lion, Roar
Young Basketball Lions Take the Court
Youth will be served this season on Columbia’s men’s basketball team. With no seniors on the roster, coach Kyle Smith is turning to the players he has brought to Morningside Heights during the past three seasons as he looks to build a title contender.
“This is our third recruiting class, and we finally have our group of guys who fit our style of play,” says Smith, whose team went 12–16 last season and 4–10 in Ivy League play. That record is a bit deceiving, as Columbia beat two teams that reached the NCAA Championships (Harvard and Villanova) and lost eight Ivy games by six points or fewer.
Smith notes that while his team is young, four players have significant experience as starters and seven played at least 10 minutes a game last year. “We may be young,” says Smith, “but these guys have had a taste of success and really want to take this program to a higher level.”
With the graduation of Brian Barbour ’13, the team leader in scoring and assists last season, and Mark Cisco ’13, its rebounding leader, Smith is turning to Grant Mullins ’16 and Cory Osetkowski ’15 as key building blocks.
Mullins averaged 9.7 ppg and shot .374 from three-point range last season, and gained valuable experience this summer playing with the Canadian National Development Team, which compiled a 7–0 record at the Seven Nations Tournament in China against some of the top young talent in the world. Joining Mullins in a deep backcourt are Isaac Cohen ’16, Maodo Lo ’16, Meiko Lyles ’15, Noah Springwater ’15 and Kendall Jackson ’17. Smith began the season using a three-guard starting lineup, with Cohen and Lo joining Mullins for the opening tip.
Osetkowski, 6-11 and 258 lbs., is a deft passer with a good shooting touch who keys the frontcourt, and Smith will look to run the offense through him at center more often to take advantage of his skills. Luke Petrasek ’17, a lean 6-10 forward, completed the starting lineup on opening night. Joining them in the frontcourt are Alex Rosenberg ’15, who competed for the United States in the Maccabiah Games in Israel this past summer, and Zach En’Wezoh ’16, who had an injury-plagued first season. Smith is hopeful that 7-1 center Conor Voss ’17E will see more action as the season progresses.
The Lions began the non-league portion of their season with a strong 73–54 victory over Maryland-Eastern Shore before losing 71–70 to Manhattan in the final second of play and 62–53 at Michigan State, at the time ranked second in the nation. Columbia will open Ivy competition against Cornell at Levien Gym on January 18.