Loyola College in Maryland 2008-09 Season Preview

  Loyola finished off the 2007-08 season with a 65-63 loss to Siena in the semi-finals of the MAAC tournament, which took place in Albany, NY.  Siena went on to win the MAAC Championship.  The Greyhounds enter the 100 th year of basketball at Loyola, ranked fifth by the coaches in the MAAC preseason poll.  Lost from that team are three of the starting five: Gerald Brown, Michael Tuck, and Omari Israel.  Also lost from last year’s team are Hasan Fofana, a transfer from Maryland, and Greg Manning, a fan favorite and sharp shooter—now acting as an assistant coach.  Leaving with last year’s graduating class is the size that helped last year’s team set a school record of 19 wins.  Even with the loss of big producers from last year, the future looks bright for the Greyhounds.  Key players returning from last year include Brian Rudolph, who was named MAAC Co-Rookie of the year last year and is a preseason Second Team ... (link)