By Paul Gotham
Jon Severe opened the season with a 28-point performance as the Fordham Rams defeated St. Francis (Pa.), 87-67. The Fordham freshman connected on 9 of 15 shots from the floor including 7 of 10 behind the arc.
Four nights later, Severe netted 19 in an 89-74 loss at then No. 9 Syracuse.
Since then the Brooklyn, NY native has scored double figures in nine games including 30-point performances in a win at Manhattan (79-75) and a loss at Monmouth (87-78).
His 20.5 points a game leads the Atlantic 10 and is tops among all freshmen in the country.
New York State’s Mr. Basketball from the Christ the King has proven he can do it on the game court. His next challenge will be to embrace the need to prepare off the game court and on the practice court.
“He’s obviously got an incredible amount of raw talent,” said Fordham head coach Tom Pecora during the weekly A10 conference call. “But it’s the little things that a freshman needs to learn, the intensity in practice every day, how to prepare yourself not just physically but mentally for practice.”
Severe drew the attention of St. John’s and Siena a pair of double-digit losses for the Rams where the freshman shot a combined 6 of 40. As Fordham opens conference play, Pecora knows his leading scorer can expect similar attention every night for the rest of the season.
“He’s now going through that transition of understanding and dealing with the fact that he’s the focal point of other teams’ scouting reports,“ Pecora added. “With the first few games people were probably sitting back and saying ‘well he’s a freshman we’ll see what he can do.’ Now that he’s put up numbers in some games, he becomes more of a focal point. That means you have to prepare more, and you got to work harder to get your shots. He’s done a better job with that each day at practice, and that’s important for him.”
Fordham (7-6) opens the A10 slate at Duquesne (7-5). Dukes head coach Jim Ferry needs no introduction to Severe and backcourt mate Branden Frazier.
“They are really difficult to guard,” Ferry commented. “They spread the floor…They play confidently. They play aggressively. You have to come in and be locked in and hopefully contain those guys. I don’t think you’re really going to be able to stop those guys. No one has been able to do so.”
Sixteen games lie ahead with a date in Brooklyn at the end. Sixteen games for Jon Severe to continue and develop.
Pecora knows what his freshman faces.
“Like all freshmen they just got to stay mentally tough and not give into the fatigue that hits late January or early February when from a physical standpoint the high school season is over.”
Leave a Reply