Offseason Review: A Look into the Fordham Rams
In year one of the Mike Magpayo era for the Fordham Rams, they've assembled a sneaky offensively minded roster. Is this enough to right the ship for the Rams?
Coming off their best season since 1991, the Fordham Rams have been in turmoil the last two seasons. The Rams finished 25-8 during the 2022-2023 season, but have finished just 12-20 and 12-21 in the last two seasons. Now faced with a two-year show-clause penalty over some recruiting violations, the Rams are in a new era with a new head coach that has to walk on eggshells at first.
The violations came after spending just $10,736 on recruiting events that violated NCAA rules. Some of the violations included: taking recruits to bowling alleys, providing pictures in New York, etc.
Following the conclusion of the season, Fordham parted ways with Keith Urgo after three seasons and announced that they’d hire UC Riverside’s head coach, Mike Magpayo. Magpayo turned around a struggling UC Riverside that had finished above .500 just twice prior to taking over and in five seasons, the Highlanders finished below .500 just once. If you are interested in learning more about Magpayo, I’d encourage you to check out our “Top 2025 Mid-Major Coaching Hires” where we dove into why Magpayo is one of the strongest hires of the offseason:
Magpayo has wasted no time constructing a roster that on paper looks like it could compete in the Atlantic 10 in year one. Let’s dive into their roster coming into the 2025-2026 season.
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Roster Turnover
Returning Players
The Rams have just two players returning from the roster last season:
Ryan Pettis (Sophomore) - 6’4 Guard
1 point, 1 rebound (7.7 minutes/24 games)
Kingston Price (Sophomore) - 6’2 Guard
DNP
Magpayo is essentially going to be starting his first year at Fordham with an entirely new team. With the remainder of last year’s squad either running out of eligibility or transferring out following the coaching change.
Among the two returning, the jury is still out of the production that Magpayo will be looking to get next season. Kingston Price was well regarded coming out of high school. He played at Severn School in the Baltimore area where he averaged 17.5 points and four rebounds per game, while being named a McDonald’s All-American Game nominee. He held offers from Northern Illinois, Presbyterian, and NJIT.
Ryan Pettis did see some playing time last season, most of the time in non-crucial minutes. He shot 23.1% overall on 26 field goal attempts and 13.3% from deep on 15 attempts. He did get to the line 14 times, knocking down nine of his shots. Coming out of high school, Pettis held several non-power conference offers from Long Beach State, Pacific, Louisiana Tech, UC Davis, Sacramento State, and UC Riverside.
Roster Additions
The Rams have added the following players:
Dejour Reaves (Iona) - Senior
17.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 2.1 steals
Marcus Greene (Hawaii) - Senior
7.3 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists
Louis Lesmond (Harvard) - Senior
7.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists
Zarique Nutter (Georgia State) - Senior
14.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists
Jace Howard (Michigan) - Senior
0.8 points, 1.2 rebounds
Christian Henry (Eastern Michigan) - Senior
14.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.3 steals
Demitri Gardner (Augusta - DII) - Senior
23.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists
Rikus Shulte (UC Riverside) - Junior
3.8 points, 3.3 rebounds
Akira Jacobs (Hawaii) - Junior
6.9 points, 2.6 rebounds
Jack Whitbourn (UC Riverside) - Sophomore
3.3 points, 4.4 rebounds
Abass Bodija (UC Riverside) - Freshman
DNP
Roor Akhuar - Freshman
There is a lot to like about the roster that Magpayo and his staff have pieced together. Let’s look at their guards first.
Dejour Reaves was a star at Iona last season. Standing at 6’0, it is factual to state that he’ll be in the team’s starting line up next season. He finished with ten 20+ point games, including a 30 point performance against Indiana State. He wasn’t a primary ball handler for the Gaels, despite his 6’0 stature. However, he out-rebounds for his size. He averaged 5.5 rebounds and had two double-doubles throughout the season.
Christian Henry had a strong first season in division one. He shot 43.6% overall and 37% from deep while averaging 14.7 points and leading the Eagles with 3.4 assists per game. At 6’3, he’ll most likely operate as the Rams’ primary ball handler at point. Henry had seven 20+ point performances and had some monster performances as a playmaker, including a nine assist game against Northern Illinois. Turnovers are a bit of a problem, but that’s something that he can improve on.
Marcus Greene will provide a meaningful complimentary guard role for the Rams. He averaged 7.3 points on 39.4% shooting overall. He also shot 30.2% from beyond the arc on 3.1 attempts per game. In the season prior at Houston Christian, he averaged 15.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, three assists, and one steal per game while shooting 42.7% from deep on 5.1 attempts per game. The potential is there for a bounce back season if he can meet in the middle between his prior two seasons.
Similarly to Green, Lesmond will be another nice complimentary player in this team’s rotation. At 6’6, he’ll hit in a wing position as he has proven to be a three point threat over the years. He’s spent that past four seasons at Harvard where his best season came as a junior. He averaged 9.8 points, three rebounds, and one assist per game while shooting 37.9% from deep on 6.3 attempts per game.
Zarique Nutter is a bucket getter, simple as that. The 6’7 forward will shine for the Rams when placed alongside Henry and Reaves. Nutter shot 49.5% overall and 33.3% from deep on 27 attempts. Nutter is primarily a force in the paint where he shot 51.1% on 280 attempts. His shot is a bit unique, but he has a strong mid-range to compliment his slashing ability. Rams fans are going to get some fun dunks here as well. I’m a huge fan of his potential to breakout in the A-10.
Demitri Gardner is an intriguing pickup here for Magpayo. He was a prolific star at Augusta last season where he shot 51.1% overall and 36.4% from deep. He’s just as good from the line as well where he shot 81.4% from the line on 167 attempts. In the portal, he was getting looked at by South Carolina, Ole Miss, McNeese, Chattanooga, and more. This is a huge pickup to slide into the rotation with Nutter, Reaves, and Henry.
Looking at the forward and center position, Fordham had to dig a little deeper. Akira Jacobs, Rikus Schulte, and Jack Whitbourn all three have experience in limited roles. Jacobs appeared in 30 games last season for Hawaii and started in eight while averaging 41.1% shooting overall and 30.6% shooting from deep. At 6’10, he’ll most likely be the Rams’ best option to provide some height in their lineups. My fear is, Jacobs has yet to show that he can be a disrupter on defense. He averaged just 0.2 blocks and 0.1 steals per game last season.
Schulte is following his head coach over from UC Riverside where he averaged 3.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game on 54.9% shooting overall. At 6’9, he’ll be a part of the rotation to provide some height. He showed some flashes last season and there is no doubt he’s a strong rebounder. He finished with three eight rebound games.
Whitbourn is also coming over from UC Riverside after a decent freshman campaign where he averaged 3.3 points and 4.4 rebounds. He shot 47.1% overall and 33.3% from deep on 12 attempts.
Lastly, Jace Howard is transferring in from Michigan after appearing in just five games last season. He’s spent five years at Michigan, appearing in 70 games and averaging 1.4 points. It’s hard to tell what his role will be on this team, but his veteran presence will be valuable nonetheless.
Rounding out the additions, are freshmen Roor Akhuar and Abass Bodija. Bodija was on UC Riverside last season, but did not play, while Akhuar is a true incoming fresman. Bodija has some nice size at 6’10 and Akhuar is a 6’7 forward. Neither player held offers from other schools, so the jury is going to be out on them as well.
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Expectations
I believe that Fordham has one of the top incoming transfer classes in the A-10 coming into next season. With Dejour Reaves, Christian Henry, Zarique Nutter, and Demitri Gardner the Rams have the potential to get the ship righted and start to build some momentum with their new head coach.
My number one concern for the Rams is their height. They have just four players above 6’7 and none of those players have a ton of experience playing at a high level in key roles. There is a good chance that they are going to get ate alive in the paint, especially while playing in a tough conference like the A-10. I foresee a lot of high scoring performances, while also giving up a lot of points in the paint.
However, where they lack in defense, they are obviously going to make up in offense. This might be one of the sneakiest backcourts in college basketball. With Reaves, Henry, Nutter, Gardner, Greene, and Lesmond, they have six players that can all knock down some tough shots. Henry can run point while Reaves serves as the secondary ball handler. In the second rotation, Greene has experience handling the ball, so he can help direct traffic while Henry rests. A starting five could look like this:
Christian Henry
Dejour Reaves
Zarique Nutter
Akira Jacobs
Jack Whitbourn
Then coming off the bench, you’d have Demitri Gardner, Marcus Greene, and Louis Lesmond to provide a strong offensive second unit. You could even swap Gardner into the starting line, move Whitbourn or Jacobs to the bench and start small. Regardless, there are going to be times that you’ll have to run small…a lot, but that could play well into their advantage to keep the pace flowing. You could imagine a similar play style to the Indiana Pacers where it’s all gas and no breaks. If you don’t have the size, then just wear down your opponent because many teams don’t have the offensive depth in the backcourt that the Rams do.
While their full schedule isn’t out yet, only one game has been announced. The Rams will take on Iona for the first time since 2006. Since this is the only game announced thus far, we are going to avoid doing any type of record prediction at the time.
Take a step back and looking at the roster on paper, this team is going to be competitive. We shouldn’t see another three or five conference win season for the Rams. However, with the holes in the defense I think it limits their potential. Their offense is going to allow them to win games alone, so I’m looking for at a minimum .500 season to call it a successful year one for Magpayo. This rebuild isn’t going to take long, Fordham could have something brewing in the A-10.