The FMCC Men's Basketball team is looking forward to beginning their 2022-23 season. The Raiders are coming off an 11-11 record last season and reached the Region 3 Quarterfinal.
FM returns starting point guard, De'Vante Mateo. He averaged 22 points per game last season and shot 54% from the field.
"It has been very nice coming into the season with a clear-cut leader and team Captain in De'Vante. From what he did in the classroom and on the floor for us last year he has my complete trust and respect. He also has the trust and respect of his teammates," said Head Coach Ej Gallup.
Joey Rowback will be a big loss for the Raiders this season who has transferred to play at Oswego. He averaged 24 points and 8 rebounds and was a major threat behind the arc.
"It is no secret that a kid like Joey Rowback is tough to replace. We are proud of him as he's moved on to a great program at Oswego. His production on the floor last year was up there with some of the best in the nation. I don't feel like his numbers will have to be replaced by any one guy coming in, but I feel like we have the right pieces of incoming guys to fill in," stated Gallup.
The 2022 Raiders roster is loaded with new talent. The key newcomers and transfers look to make an immediate impact.
"In the newcomers we have a good mixture of youth and experience as some of them have come from other schools, so they have played college basketball before which is nice, said Gallup. We also have a group of true freshmen that I'm very excited about and feel like they are very talented and have a really high ceiling."
The men's basketball team will begin their season on November 8th when they travel to take on the Vikings of Hudson Valley. FMCC will open at home on Saturday, November 12th when they host Clinton Community College.
"I think our conference and region once again will be very good top to bottom. There are no easy games. Our goal is to take it one game at a time, hopefully growing and improving week to week. We started something last year where local hoop fans came out to our home games, we want to continue that excitement in the community. We got back to regionals last year and won a game to advance, so our goal is to continue to build a strong foundation here at FMCC," stated Gallup.
