Fordham Basketball: Impact of losing senior guard Antonio Daye Jr.
Fordham basketball is off to one of its hottest starts since joining the Atlantic 10 Conference, however, they might be facing yet another challenge with the departure of Antonio Daye Jr.
In his first season with Fordham, Antonio Daye Jr. was averaging 16.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and shooting 45.6 percent. Daye had been a valuable asset for first-year head coach Kyle Neptune’s Rams, scoring the game-winning shot against Duquesne on Wednesday night.
On Thursday night, Fordham Athletics published a press release announcing that the Florida International transfer will be withdrawing from the program and the University due to personal reasons.
Last season at FIU, Daye played in 22 games and led the Panthers in minutes with 31.7 minutes and 17.1 points per game. He also averaged 4.7 assists and 2.4 steals per game. He scored a season-high 28 points against Jacksonville State.
With Daye being the Rams’ leading scorer, who will be the next man up for Fordham as they continue Atlantic 10 play?
That is the question that remains but, I believe it will be Darius Quisenberry. The senior guard is averaging 16.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, and shooting 38.1 percent. The Youngstown State transfer posted 16 points in the Rams’ 72-71 victory over Duquesne.
Last season with the Penguins, Quisenberry averaged 14.9 points per game. Although he missed ten games due to an injury, he returned to action scoring 20 points in back-to-back games. He also became the 11th player in Youngstown State history to reach 300 career assists.
A couple of other guards that will see their usage increase is Kyle Rose and Josh Colon. Rose has averaged just under 7.0 ppg as a starter, while Colon was the team’s 6th man, before Daye’s departure moved him into the starting lineup. While neither has a history of being a consistent double-digit scorer, both guards are upperclassmen that have the experience to be able to play a different role midway through the season.
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It will be interesting to see how coach Kyle Neptune utilizes his starters and depth off the bench to replace Daye’s minutes through the rest of conference play.