X-Men Basketball    l    Blue & White X-Press Booster Club    l   Join!

2000-2001 Season Preview

The defending National Champion StFX X-Men return a strong nucleus from last year's team that defeated Brandon 61-60 in the CIAU championship game by outscoring the Bobcats 10-0 in the final five minutes. That was the school's second National Championship in the last eight years, having won the title in 1993. The X-Men have also won three AUAA crowns over that period.

The Blue & White won all five tournaments they participated in and set school records with 28 victories and only 4 defeats vs. CIAU competition.

Duplicating the "storybook" season will be a tough act to follow, but the X-Men have re-loaded with an outstanding recruiting year in addition to eight returnees from 1999-2000.

First-team All-Canadian Fred Perry(6'5"), was the MVP of the AUAA, playoff MVP and third leading scorer in the nation (20.8ppg). Point guard Randy Nohr (6') was the MVP of the CIAU's, scoring the last two hoops in the Championship game, and saw action with Canada's Olympic team this past summer. Nohr averaged 15 ppg, 6.7 assists and 3.1 steals. Both Perry and Nohr are 5th year seniors.

Fourth year senior Dennie Oliver (6'6") was MVP of the three tournaments and the third leading rebounder in Canada (10.8 rpg) while scoring at a 16.2 ppg clip. He had a monster 20 rebound game vs Lethbridge in the National semi-final. Also stepping up in the Lethbridge game was another 4th year senior, Jordan Croucher (6'2"), who did an outstanding defensive job on CIAU Player of the Year Danny Balderson, holding him to 4-26 from the floor. Croucher also averaged 13.3 ppg while nailing a team high 79 treys.

Up front, fifth year workhorse Krzysztof Stach (6'7") returns as the team's best post defender while junior Jason Kerswill (6'8") brings size and a feathery shooting touch. Both averaged 5 points and 4 rebounds per game last season.

Returning in the backcourt is 5'9" lightning-quick soph E.L. Adams II. E.L. led the X-Men in three pt percentage (44%) and free-throw percentage (83%) while averaging 5.2 ppg. More importantly, he disrupts the game defensively with his quicksilver pressure. In the CIAU final he drew four charges and forced several crucial turnovers down the stretch.

Back-up guard Jonathan Daniel (6'1") enters his sophomore year ready to make an impact with his athletic, hard-nosed defensive play and improved ability to hit the three.

Leading the way among the newcomers is 6'5" transfer James Maksymiw, a teammate of Nohr's both in high school and at Langara College where they won back to back Provincial (HS) and National (CCAA) titles. "Max" averaged 21.0 ppg and 9.7 rpg last year and was selected as a CCAA All-Canadian. He is in his final year of eligibility.

The four freshmen recruited by Head Coach Steve Konchalski will ensure the future of the program while providing the team with outstanding depth this season. From the province of Ontario comes Alex Stephen III, a graduate of R.H. King HS in Toronto. Alex is an athletic forward with a sweet shooting touch up to 18'. Point guard Dion Williams (6') from Provincial runner-up St. Patrick's HS in Ottawa is a penetrating guard whose ability to find the open man as well as his glue-like defense make his future bright. Dion won back to back Gold Medals at the Junior Nationals the last two summer playing for team Ontario.

Hailing from Nova Scotia are two fundamentally sound players both of whom can shoot the ball well from three-point range. John Bustin (6'2") from Horton High School in Wolfville showed his outstanding scoring prowess this summer while representing Nova Scotia at the Junior National Men's Championship's where he led the National tournament in scoring with a 22.4 ppg average. Mike Budreski, a hard-nosed 6'1" guard from Queen Elizabeth HS in Halifax, who played an extra year of high school ball in Toronto at Silverthorne Collegiate last year, is a smart, physical player with deep shooting range. He was MVP of the prestigious Coal Bowl Tournament last season.

Veteran Coach Steve Konchalski will challenge this veteran team (6 seniors) early with a trips to the Naismith Classic at Waterloo and a three game tour of the Eastern U.S. The field at the Naismith includes two probable top-five teams (Western & Ryerson) while University of New Hampshire, Holy Cross and Harvard University will provide the Division I competition.

With the retirement of long time assistant (7yrs) Ron MacDonald, Coach K has filled out his staff with two former X-Men standout point guards, Augy Jones and Jeff Piers, along with student assistant Vince Marra.