Other teams have counted them out, but now they’re running up the score. Don’t keep sleeping on William Paterson’s men’s basketball team.
William Paterson’s men’s basketball team, for the first time since 2017, started 4-0. It’s looking like the Pioneers might have a real shot at moving up in the conference. Their current record is 4-2 after recent losses to Fairleigh Dickinson and The College of New Jersey.
On Instagram, @njacsports posted its yearly preseason polls, where William Paterson was ranked No. 10 and predicted to be the worst team in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. The current scores show a very different reality.
The roster this year is almost entirely new, with 10 new players joining the team. Even with the changes, the stats make one thing clear: one returning player is playing a major role in the team’s early success.
No. 13, redshirt sophomore Jack Gobel, has essentially kept the team afloat as everyone else adjusts.
The team is running its plays well. Floating up and down the court, Gobel said, “Trusting my teammates will give me the ball” is what helped him take his game to the next level.
Head coach Brian Chapman seems to be using each player to their strengths. It’s clear Chapman knows exactly who his strongest player is this season, and the box scores back that up. Gobel is not only leading the team in points but also in minutes played.
Some returning players aren’t getting as much time this season, partly because of the influx of new talent, but also because of the impact Gobel is having.
Gobel appears to be the returning player receiving most of the hype — aside from Delani Hyde.
The two entered the season as leaders, both returning players. Hyde, also a sophomore, is the second-highest scorer on the team this season.
Since these major changes and strong performances, crowds have nearly tripled in size, with an average of 324 fans per game.
Those 300-plus fans were jumping and cheering when Gobel made a game-winning shot with two seconds left against Cairn University.
The loud, energized crowd seems to be giving Gobel the extra push he needs as they cheer for him and the men’s basketball team.
The crowd cheers for all players, but their cheers are just a little louder for Gobel.
A question lingers in the back of many minds: Are they cheering for the team, or are they cheering for Gobel?
More and more, it seems the crowd is putting its confidence in the sophomore — a quickly emerging main character. So are we done sleeping on the team, or are we done sleeping on Jack Gobel?
