2018–19 Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball team represented the College of the Holy Cross during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Crusaders, led by fourth-year head coach Bill Carmody, played their home games at the Hart Center in Worcester, Massachusetts as members of the Patriot League. They finished the season 16–17, 6–12 in Patriot League play to finish in last place. They defeated Lafayette in the first round of the Patriot League tournament before losing to Bucknell in the quarterfinals.

2018–19 Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball
Hall of Fame Tip Off Springfield champions
Conference	Patriot League
Record	16–17 (6–12 Patriot)
Head coach	Bill Carmody (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Joe Kennedy Freddie Owens David Metzendorf
Home arena	Hart Center
Seasons ← 2017–18 2019–20 →

2018–19 Patriot League men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Colgate †	13	–	5		.722			24	–	11		.686
Bucknell	13	–	5		.722			21	–	12		.636
Lehigh	12	–	6		.667			20	–	11		.645
American	9	–	9		.500			15	–	15		.500
Navy	8	–	10		.444			12	–	19		.387
Army	8	–	10		.444			13	–	19		.406
Lafayette	7	–	11		.389			10	–	20		.333
Boston University	7	–	11		.389			15	–	18		.455
Loyola (MD)	7	–	11		.389			11	–	21		.344
Holy Cross	6	–	12		.333			16	–	17		.485
† 2019 Patriot League tournament winner

Following the season, head coach Bill Carmody announced his retirement.^[1] On July 3, 2019, the school named Marquette assistant Brett Nelson as Carmody's replacement.^[2]

Previous season

The Crusaders finished the season 12–19, 8–10 in Patriot League play to finish in sixth place. In the Patriot League tournament, they defeated Navy in the quarterfinals before losing to Colgate in the semifinals.

Offseason

2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Marlon Hargis SF	Mays Landing, NJ	St Augustine Preparatory School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Apr 29, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Blake Verbeek PF	Grand Rapids, MI	Calvin Christian High School	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Apr 20, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 19, 2018.

2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2019 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Drew Lowder #48 PG	Ann Arbor, MI	Ann Arbor Pioneer High School	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Sep 8, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 76
Joe Pridgen SF	Byfield, MA	Governor's Academy	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Aug 3, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Ryan Wade SG	Ann Arbor, MI	Skyline High School	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Sep 29, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 19, 2018.

Roster

2018–19 Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Caleb Green 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Proctor Academy Londonderry, NH G 2 Kyle Copeland 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Phillips Exeter Academy Leesburg, VA G 3 Jacob Grandison 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 196 lb (89 kg) So Phillips Exeter Academy Oakland, CA G 4 Austin Butler 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 212 lb (96 kg) So Greater Latrobe HS Letrobe, PA F 5 Connor Niego 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 212 lb (96 kg) So Lyons Township HS Western Springs, IL G 10 Patrick Benzan 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 177 lb (80 kg) Sr Roxbury Latin School Wellesley, MA G 12 Clayton Le Sann 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 184 lb (83 kg) Jr Cheshire Academy Geneva, Switzerland G 13 Marlon Hargis 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 203 lb (92 kg) Fr St. Augustine Prep Mays Landing, NJ G/F 14 Marcellis Perkins 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Deep Creek HS Chesapeake, VA F 15 Matt Faw 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 223 lb (101 kg) So Upper Merion Area HS King of Prussia, PA F 20 Jehyve Floyd 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 226 lb (103 kg) Sr Sayreville War Memorial HS Sayreville, NJ F 21 Chris Lovisolo (W) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Fr Don Bosco Prep Allendale, NJ G 22 Lincoln Yeutter (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 188 lb (85 kg) Fr Bullis Chevy Chase, MD F 24 D.J. Hart (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 232 lb (105 kg) Fr St. Benedict's Prep Newark, NJ G 31 Matt Zignorski 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Pope John XXIII HS Sparta, NJ F 42 Blake Verbeek 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 201 lb (91 kg) Fr Calvin Christian Grand Rapids, MI	Head coach Bill Carmody (Union (NY)) Assistant coach(es) Joe Kennedy (Northwestern) Freddie Owens (Wisconsin) Dave Metzendorf (Ithaca) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: August 23, 2018

Schedule and results

^[3]

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state[4]
Non-conference regular season
Nov 6, 2018* 7:05 pm		Sacred Heart	W 93–81	1–0	Hart Center (1,032) Worcester, MA
Nov 10, 2018* 7:30 pm, BTN Plus		at No. 19 Michigan Hall of Fame Tip Off campus game	L 37–56	1–1	Crisler Center (12,355) Ann Arbor, MI
Nov 13, 2018* 7:00 pm, FS2		at Providence Hall of Fame Tip Off campus game	L 61–70	1–2	Dunkin' Donuts Center (6,042) Providence, RI
Nov 16, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN3		vs. Stony Brook Hall of Fame Tip Off Springfield semifinals	W 84–70	2–2	Mohegan Sun Arena (1,313) Uncasville, CT
Nov 18, 2018* 11:00 am, ESPN3		vs. Siena Hall of Fame Tip Off Springfield championship	W 57–45	3–2	Mohegan Sun Arena (6,825) Uncasville, CT
Nov 20, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Albany	W 69–65	4–2	SEFCU Arena (1,614) Albany, NY
Nov 28, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Harvard	L 62–73	4–3	Lavietes Pavilion (1,283) Cambridge, MA
Dec 1, 2018* 1:05 pm, NESNplus		Fairleigh Dickinson	W 67–49	5–3	Hart Center (1,458) Worcester, MA
Dec 4, 2018* 7:00 pm, NESNplus/Eleven		at Massachusetts	W 82–78	6–3	Mullins Center (2,257) Amherst, MA
Dec 8, 2018* 1:05 pm		vs. Rhode Island Worcester Showcase	L 63–79	6–4	DCU Center (2,312) Worcester, MA
Dec 20, 2018* 2:05 pm		Canisius	W 65–63	7–4	Hart Center (681) Worcester, MA
Dec 22, 2018* 12:05 pm		Siena	W 60–57	8–4	Hart Center (1,346) Worcester, MA
Dec 30, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at Iona	W 78–71	9–4	Hynes Athletic Center (1,986) New Rochelle, NY
Patriot League regular season
Jan 3, 2019 7:00 pm		at Loyola (MD)	W 80–73	10–4 (1–0)	Reitz Arena (409) Baltimore, MD
Jan 6, 2019 1:00 pm		at Navy	L 48–50	10–5 (1–1)	Alumni Hall (1,236) Annapolis, MD
Jan 9, 2019 7:05 pm		Lehigh	L 94–99 OT	10–6 (1–2)	Hart Center (1,045) Worcester, MA
Jan 12, 2019 3:05 pm, Charter TV3		Lafayette	W 77–70	11–6 (2–2)	Hart Center (1,182) Worcester, MA
Jan 14, 2019 7:00 pm, CBSSN		at Bucknell	L 78–93	11–7 (2–3)	Sojka Pavilion (2,514) Lewisburg, PA
Jan 19, 2019 12:05 pm		Loyola (MD)	L 65–67 OT	11–8 (2–4)	Hart Center (958) Worcester, MA
Jan 23, 2019 7:00 pm		at Army	L 57–76	11–9 (2–5)	Christl Arena (480) West Point, NY
Jan 26, 2019 3:05 pm, NESNplus		Navy	W 69–64	12–9 (3–5)	Hart Center (2,821) Worcester, MA
Jan 30, 2019 7:00 pm		at Boston University Turnpike Trophy	L 54–68	12–10 (3–6)	Case Gym (966) Boston, MA
Feb 2, 2019 2:00 pm		at American	L 49–66	12–11 (3–7)	Bender Arena (1,184) Washington, D.C.
Feb 6, 2019 5:05 pm, Charter TV3		Army	W 56–42	13–11 (4–7)	Hart Center  Worcester, MA
Feb 10, 2019 12:00 pm, CBSSN		at Lafayette	L 67–69	13–12 (4–8)	Kirby Sports Center  Easton, PA
Feb 13, 2019 7:35 pm, NESN		Colgate	L 70–74	13–13 (4–9)	Hart Center  Worcester, MA
Feb 16, 2019 12:05 pm, NESNplus		Bucknell	W 72–71	14–13 (5–9)	Hart Center  Worcester, MA
Feb 18, 2019 7:05 pm, CBSSN		Boston University Turnpike Trophy	W 70–60	14–14 (5–10)	Hart Center  Worcester, MA
Feb 24, 2019 12:00 pm		at Lehigh	W 73–71	15–14 (6–10)	Stabler Arena  Bethlehem, PA
Feb 27, 2019 6:00 pm, Stadium		at Colgate	L 59–79	15–15 (6–11)	Cotterell Court (481) Hamilton, NY
Mar 2, 2019 1:05 pm		American	L 66–86	15–16 (6–12)	Hart Center (1,048) Worcester, MA
Patriot League tournament
Mar 5, 2019 7:00 pm	(10)	at (7) Lafayette First round	W 79–74	16–16	Kirby Sports Center (1,004) Easton, PA
Mar 7, 2019 7:00 pm	(10)	at (2) Bucknell Quarterfinals	L 65–77	16–17	Sojka Pavilion (2,107) Lewisburg, PA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

References

1. Coffman, Noah (June 19, 2019). "Former Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody retires". Inside NU. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
2. Toland, Jennifer. "Holy Cross hires Marquette assistant Brett Nelson as men's basketball coach". telegram.com. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
3. "Men's Basketball – Schedule – Holy Cross Crusaders – College of the Holy Cross Official Athletic Site". goholycross.com. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
4. "Holy Cross Crusaders College Basketball - Holy Cross News, Scores, Stats, Rumors & More - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 23, 2018.