Merrimack

A Busy Off-Season for Merrimack College Basketball

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There has been a lot of attention given to the Northeast Conference of late, most of that has to do with the play of Fairleigh Dickinson University in the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament. But what should not be forgotten is the fact that the Knights were not the conference tournament winners. That distinction belongs to the Merrimack College Warriors who beat FDU on their home court to walk away with their first league tournament title since joining the conference. Since the Warriors could not play in the field of 68 because their reclassification does not end until July 1, 2023, the Knights were awarded the spot.

But that has not stopped Merrimack College from picking up some postseason hardware to add to its trophy case. Senior forward Jordan Minor and head coach Joe Gallo have received awards for the work they did this past season in helping the Warriors win not only the regular season title but the post-season one as well. Minor is a 6-8 forward who was a force inside for Merrimack all season long. He was named the Co-Conference Player of the Year and the Defensive Player of the Year. He led the team in scoring averaging 17.4 points a game. He finished second in the conference scoring race as well. He averaged 9.4 rebounds a night, which led the league. He also was the leader in offensive rebounding and blocked shots. He was somewhat of a double-double machine for the Warriors as he ended the year with 15 of them. His senior year got him noticed by both the United States Basketball Writers Association which named him to their District I team as well as by the National Association of Basketball Coaches which named Minor to their District 15 team. It is the first time for Minor on either squad. He was named to the second team of the NABC after the 2021-22 year. Minor has one year of college basketball left to use and recently he has decided to put himself into the transfer portal and use that year at another school as a graduate student. He will be missed at Merrimack.

For the second time in three years, head coach Joe Gallo has been named the NABC District 15 Coach of the Year. He led the Warriors to their second regular season title and their first conference trophy during the four years Merrimack has transitioned from a Division 2 school to Division 1. Merrimack finished the season with an 18-16 overall record. They won 12 league games and finished the season on an 11-game winning streak. While it is true that this team started off slowly, they finished up very strong. The reason for that is the young players who got plenty of playing time earlier in the season and made mistakes. They got better when league play arrived.

On the recruiting front, Merrimack has picked up a 6-7 power forward by the name of Christian Foy from North Mecklenburg High School in Huntersville, NC. The team just clinched the Queen City 3A/4A conference championship. Foy averaged 12 points a game, which included six double-doubles. He scored in double figures in 20 of 32 games played.

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