Signature Wins: The youth on the Haverford College men's basketball team was one of the storylines to follow during the 2015-16 season. With key injuries to upperclassmen throughout the season, the freshman class showed huge potential. The future possibilities were on full display during the Fords' season sweep of Washington College. Both of those contests featured four different freshmen in the starting lineup.
In the home contest between these two Centennial Conference foes, Haverford's freshmen scored 64 of the team's 79 points during the 79-69 conference clash in early February. Two freshmen, Kahlil Garnes and Joe Scibelli finished as team's leading scorers for the entire season.
Garnes and Scibelli tallied nearly 40 percent of the team's offensive output for the season, while the freshman class - which constituted seven of the team's 14 players - contributed just over 55 percent of the total offense. Garnes led all Centennial Conference freshmen with 12.2 points per game, while Scibelli was named the Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year.
Season Notes: Joe Scibelli became the first player in program history to be named the Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year … Scibelli ranked second among all players in the Centennial Conference with 7.8 rebounds per game … He also ranked third among freshmen in the conference with 11.5 points per game … Scibelli finished the season with five double-doubles and averaged 13.2 points per game in the final 19 games of the season … Scibelli set the school record for defensive rebounds in a single season with 151 boards on the defensive end … Kahlil Garnes led the conference in scoring among freshmen with a team-best 12.2 points per game … Garnes had 15 games in which he scored at least 10 points and six games in which he eclipsed the 20 point mark.
Postseason Awards:
- Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year: Joe Scibelli
- Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll: Jeremy Evans, Matt Sherman, Henry Stevens, Justin Winkler
- Centennial Conference All-Sportsmanship Team: Jeremy Evans
Looking Ahead:
In addition to the talented freshman class, who will return with a year of experience under their belts, Haverford will also look for the return of Matt Sherman. Sherman, who will be entering his senior season with the Fords, was an honorable mention All-Centennial Conference performer as a sophomore. He started the first 10 games of this season and was averaging a team-best 13.2 points per game before suffering his injury. He returned for the final two games of the regular season and came off the bench in both of those contests. Sherman, who has scored 704 career points despite missing over half this season, can become the 16th player in program history to score 1,000 career points with a return to form next year.