Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU men's basketball team announced its 2022-23 roster Friday, which includes 16 student-athletes, 11 of which are in their first year with the Colonials this season.
FOUR SEASONS
Despite 11 newcomers for RMU for the 2022-23 campaign, the Colonials return four starters, highlighted by graduate student
Kahliel Spear. One of just two student-athletes to start each of RMU's 32 games last year, Spear paced the Colonials in scoring (14.7 ppg), rebounding (7.7 rpg) and blocks (35) while leading the Horizon League in field goal percentage at 55.1 percent (188-for-341). For those efforts, Spear was
named to the 2022 All-Horizon League Third Team. Off the court, Spear also became the first RMU basketball student-athlete, in either gender, to be named to the
CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team, earning second team plaudits.
THE RETURN OF …
Also returning for the Colonials in 2022-23 as starters are guards
Enoch Cheeks and
Michael Green III and forward
Matt Mayers. Cheeks joined Spear in starting each of RMU's 32 tilts last year, averaging 9.2 points and 5.4 rebounds while leading RMU in steals (37) and ranking second in blocks (27). Green III appeared in 29 games, starting 24, and supplied averages of 10.4 points and 2.3 rebounds while ranking 11th in #HLMBB in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.52) and 13th in assists per game (3.34). Mayers, meanwhile, converted 63.3 percent (76-for-120) of his attempts from the floor in averaging 6.0 points per contest while grabbing an average of 4.4 rebounds per game.
WELCOME TO THE MO
Of the 11 newcomers for RMU in 2022-23, four are transfers from another NCAA Division I institution, a pair will play their first season of collegiate basketball after spending last season at a prep school, one comes from the junior college ranks, one is a true freshman and three are preferred walk ons. To get a closer look at each of the new student-athletes for the Colonials, click on the respective link below …
| No. |
Name |
Pos. |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Hometown / High School |
Previous School |
| 1 |
TJ Wainwright |
G |
6'3" |
180 |
Los Angeles, Calif. / Westchester Senior |
Monteverde Academy |
| 11 |
Stephaun Walker |
F |
6'7" |
205 |
Washington, D.C. / Calvin Coolidge |
|
| 12 |
Jackson Last |
G |
6'5" |
195 |
Hurricane, Utah / Hurricane |
Salt Lake C.C. |
| 20 |
Nathan Frascone |
G/F |
6'6" |
200 |
Massillon, Ohio / Tuslaw |
|
| 22 |
Kevin Martina |
F |
6'8" |
210 |
Geneva, Switzerland / Fribourg Olympic |
Sam Houston State |
| 23 |
Chris Ford |
G |
6'5" |
200 |
Huntersville, N.C. / North Mecklenburg |
Davidson |
| 24 |
Tanner O'Grady |
G |
6'0" |
175 |
Pittsburgh, Pa. / Upper St. Clair |
|
| 31 |
Cyril Arvanitis |
G/F |
6'3" |
185 |
Elberon, N.J. / Red Bank Catholic |
|
| 32 |
Josh Corbin |
G |
6'3" |
190 |
Gahanna, Ohio / Gahanna Lincoln |
Winthrop |
| 42 |
Ben Krystkowiak |
G |
6'4" |
175 |
San Diego, Calif. / Olympus (Utah) |
IMG Academy |
| 50 |
Trey James |
F |
6'9" |
235 |
Inez, Ky. / Martin County |
Iona |
GEOCACHING
For the second consecutive year, the RMU roster is a melting pot. The 16 student-athletes that make up the 2022-23 roster hail from 10 different states as well as the District of Columbia. In addition,
Kevin Martina, a transfer from Sam Houston State, hails from Switzerland. Included among the states represented for the Colonials in 2022-23 are California (Krystkowiak, Wainwright), Kentucky (James), New Jersey (Arvanitis, Jeffries), New York (Green III, Mayers), North Carolina (Ford), Ohio (Corbin, Frascone), Pennsylvania (O'Grady), Rhode Island (Cheeks), Texas (Spear) and Utah (Last). The lone true freshman on the roster,
Stephaun Walker, is a native of Washington, D.C.
CHAMPIONSHIP CREDENTIALS
Freshman
TJ Wainwright, who spent the 2021-22 season in prep school, helped guide Monteverde Academy to an overall record of 30-5 (.857) and the Florida Sun Basketball Conference (FSBC) prep national championship. He averaged 15.7 points and shot nearly 50 percent from the field for the Eagles in earning 2022 All-FSBC All-State Second Team honors.
FAMILY TIES
Also from the prep ranks is freshman
Ben Krystkowiak, who is the son of Larry Krystkowiak. The elder Krystokowiak still serves as the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in program history for the University of Montana, scoring 2,017 points and grabbing 1,105 rebounds from 1982 to 1986. He is also the only student-athlete to be named Big Sky Conference MVP three times (1984, 1985, 1986).
Ben Krystkowiak averaged 14.3 points and 4.2 assists per game in 2021-22, helping guide IMG Academy in Florida to an overall record of 23-5 (.821).
SHOOTER
Junior guard
Josh Corbin joins the Colonials after spending the last three seasons at Winthrop. Entering the 2022-23 campaign, Corbin, a native of Gahanna, Ohio, has knocked down 81 three-pointers at the NCAA Division I level. As a redshirt freshman during the 2020-21 season, Corbin led the Eagles with 47 triples and converted at a 40.5 percent (47-for-116) clip. RMU's active leading three-point shooter is Green III, who owns 96 career triples after knocking down 35 in his first season with the Colonials.
LENGTH
In an effort to bolster the post, RMU welcomes forwards
Trey James (6'9"), Martina (6'7") and Walker (6'7") to assist Spear and Mayers on the inside. James owns the Kentucky state records for career (737), single-season (258) and single-game (17) for blocks during his prep career, and adding him to the abilities of Spear and Cheeks gives RMU rim protectors. Spear, in four seasons at the NCAA Division I level that spans 96 games, owns 88 career rejections, including 58 (1.16 per contest) in two seasons with the Colonials.
LAST, BUT NOT LEAST, THE SHOT DOCTOR
Sophomore guard
Jackson Last is a transfer from Salt Lake Community College, which finished the 2021-22 season with an overall mark of 35-2 (.946) in claiming the Region 18 Tournament championship. The Bruins advanced to the NJCAA Division I national championship game, falling to Northwest Florida State. Last stuffed the stat sheet, producing averages of 9.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per contest, including a career-high 32 points in the season opener for the Bruins. In that contest Last knocked down nine of his 12 attempts from the field, including a 7-for-9 performance from beyond the arc, while finishing true on each of his seven attempts at the free-throw line.
RMU BASKETBALL SEASON TICKETS
Season tickets for
RMU basketball for the 2022-23 season can be purchased by calling the RMU Ticket Office at (412) 397-4949 or
using this link. Season tickets can be purchased for courtside, the Eat'n Park Club, center court premium, side court, baseline and upper sideline.
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