Six things you need to know about the 2024-25 Men’s Basketball team

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The RIT men's basketball team tips off the 2024-25 season at home against Fitchburg State in the Harold J. Brodie Classic, Friday. Here are six things you need to know about the Tigers.
 
About Last Season
After finishing the season with a 14-13 overall record, the Tigers earned the four-seed in the Liberty League Tournament. RIT got past Union, 74-71, in the quarterfinals before falling to Hobart in the semifinals.

Fifth-year guard, Matt Caggiano was named to the USBWA Rochester Area Division II-III First Team after leading the program with 12.3 points per game. 
 
Welcome Coach Parker
For the first time since the1983-84 season, RIT will have a new head coach leading the program. Dominic Parker, a Raleigh, N.C. native, brings a championship resume to Rochester following over 10 years as an assistant coach at the NCAA Division I, II, III and NJCAA levels, including a run to the NCAA Division III Tournament Quarterfinals last winter at Christopher Newport (Va.). Parker is the 15th head coach of RIT men's basketball.
 
Meet the Vets
The Tigers return the top five scorers from last season, including Caggiano. The guard primarily came off the bench to average 12.3 points per game, shooting 49.6 percent from the field.  
 
Chase Dickens and Brock Bowen return after leading the Tigers in three-point shooting. Bowen shot 41.1 percent beyond the arc as Dickens shot 40.2 percent.
 
Senior forward Josiah Turner returns after averaging a team-high 7.1 rebounds per game last season. Turner also led the team with seven double-doubles.
 
Other returners include graduate students Mark Osime, Ronnie Toole, Brandon Weiss, Kenny Wilburn, senior Jackson Otis, sophomores Mihail Bossev, Brody Brown, Zac Ditzel, Luke Granto, and Nolan Smith.
 
 
Meet the Newcomers
RIT welcomes four newcomers to the 2024-25 roster in first-years Marcus Graves, Danny Cohen, Jaron Josephs, and Brighton Langenegger.

 
Milestone Watch         
The Tigers potentially could see both Bowen and Caggiano eclipse 1,000 career points this season.

Bowen has 711 points over three seasons, averaging 9.6 points per game. Last season, the guard averaged 11.4 points per game, scoring 308 points through 27 games.
 
Caggiano comes into the 2024-25 season with 702 points after averaging a career-best 12.3 points per game last season, scoring 295 points in 24 games.
 
Schedule
RIT, picked fifth in the Liberty League Preseason Poll, hosts the Harold J. Brodie Classic November 8-9. The Tigers will host Fitchburg State at 8:00 p.m. after Utica plays Lehman at 6:00 p.m. On the following day, the consolation game is scheduled for 1:30 p.m with the winners of Friday's games tipping-off at 3:30 p.m.
 
The Tigers visit Rochester (Nov. 12) before participating in the annual Mark's Pizzeria Crosstown Shootout which will be hosted at Rochester. RIT will face both Nazareth (Nov. 21) and St. John Fisher (Nov. 23). The team will visit Brockport (Dec. 3) before opening their conference schedule at home against Bard (Dec. 6) and Union (Dec. 7). RIT will wrap up the non-conference portion of their schedule at Geneseo (Jan. 3).
 
The Tigers visit Hobart (Jan. 10) and RPI (Jan. 11) before hosting Ithaca (Jan. 14). The team will again hit the road with games at Skidmore (Jan. 17) and Vassar (Jan. 18). RIT will host Clarkson (Jan. 24), St. Lawrence (Jan 25), RPI (Jan. 31), and Hobart (Feb. 1).
 
RIT will host two more games in February with Vassar (Feb. 14) and Skidmore (Feb. 15). The rest of the month is rounded out with road games at St. Lawrence (Feb. 7), at Clarkson (Feb. 8), at Ithaca (Feb. 11), at Union (Feb. 21), and at Bard (Feb. 22).