The only “homeless” basketball team, which lost a record 51-straight games several years back and has been shunned by conferences in the northeast, will spend much time in Florida boasting the potential best player and team in an ASun conference that has pulled off big NCAA conference upsets.
Fox Sports and other outlets reported the move last Thursday.
The improving New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) basketball team upset a ranked Michigan team (see photo) and beat Yale and Cleveland State in a 21-12 season that ended with a College Insider Tournament semifinal. The big season came just six years after the Highlanders ended a 51-game losing streak.
They could become the latest ASun champion to pull a March Madness upset after Mercer stunned Duke (2014) and Florida Gulf Coast shocked Georgetown and San Diego State (2013). NJIT meanwhile has been the only Division 1 team without a conference since playing a long way from New Jersey in the Great West Conference until it disbanded. They will now play four road games in Florida against Florida Gulf Coast, North Florida, Jacksonville, and Stetson as part of ASun play.
The Highlanders boast two of the top three ASun players based on projections at www.valueaddbasketball.com, with Winfield Willis and Tim Coleman both worth almost four points a game over replacement players. The top-20 projected players in the ASun follow, and fans can correct any mistakes they see by clicking on the projections of all 4000+ players here:
| Nat’l | Asun top players | Team | Ht | Yr | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 388 | Willis, Winfield 11 | NJ Inst of Technology | 6’0 | 4 Sr | 3.98 |
| 397 | Davenport, Chris 35 | North Florida | 6’8 | 3 Jr | 3.94 |
| 441 | Coleman, Tim 2 | NJ Inst of Technology | 6’5 | 3 Jr | 3.73 |
| 500 | Billups, Jalen 21 | Northern Kentucky | 6’6 | 4 Sr | 3.46 |
| 525 | Daniels, Demarcus 32 | North Florida | 6’7 | 4 Sr | 3.34 |
| 615 | Moore, Dallas 14 | North Florida | 6’1 | 3 Jr | 3.04 |
| 658 | Rivera, Angel 15 | Stetson | 5’8 | 2 So | 2.95 |
| 696 | Williams, Josh 2 | Lipscomb | 6’5 | 3 Jr | 2.83 |
| 834 | Mackey, Trent 11 | North Florida | 6’3 | 4 Sr | 2.51 |
| 870 | Beech, Beau 2 | North Florida | 6’8 | 4 Sr | 2.44 |
| 951 | Lynn, Damon 5 | NJ Inst of Technology | 5’11 | 3 Jr | 2.27 |
| 992 | Alexander, Dondre | Lipscomb | 6’4 | 3 Jr | 2.20 |
| 1062 | Ukawuba, Rob 25 | NJ Inst of Technology | 6’3 | 3 Jr | 2.10 |
| 1109 | Stephens, ShunQuez 15 | South Carolina UpSt. | 6’5 | 4 Sr | 2.01 |
| 1209 | Tucker, Rayjon | Florida Gulf Coast | 6’5 | 1 Fr | 1.88 |
| 1239 | Howard, Ky 0 | NJ Inst of Technology | 6’4 | 4 Sr | 1.84 |
| 1236 | DeBose, Julian 3 | Florida Gulf Coast | 6’4 | 4 Sr | 1.84 |
| 1235 | Terrell, Christian 35 | Florida Gulf Coast | 6’4 | 2 So | 1.84 |
| 1262 | Clayton, Antwon 25 | Jacksonville | 6’6 | 2 So | 1.80 |
| 1407 | Johnson, Todd 23 | Northern Kentucky | 5’9 | 4 Sr | 1.59 |
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