Senior Gary Palladino will begin the year as the go to guy for Hartford once again.  Palladino is a solid shooter but is no match for the athletes of this conference on the wing defensively.  Hartford need his scoring from the perimeter but McCullough made him aware that he will be challenged for playing time as this program moves forward.  Palladino does not seem to mind as he like many of his teammates, he also plays on the Hartford baseball team.  Palladino is a star and hit .339 this year so as good as he was at basketball it may not be his future.  Jamie er Gary Palladino is a legend in Hartford and not just for that cool as heck surname.  But if he ends up leading Hartford in scoring once again (as he has for the last two years) something went wrong in Hartford. 

Junior Peter (Who you going to call) Egan is a solid player underneath as he loves to board but and can score a little too.  He is limited offensively especially since the move in with the Big Boys of the American East.  Egan is a huge crowd favorite with his Bill Walton look and easy-going hippie attitude but he is undersized at six five for the post.  He can play though and he and point guard Chuck Harding have a great rapport coming from the same High School and carrying it over to their year in Hartford when Hartford were Division Two and these two were stars.  Hartford are not in Kansas anymore and as their record showed last year, the transition has been almost as difficult as it was for Dorothy when she landed on that Witch. 

Junior Wayne Augustine and Senior Ken Gwozdz platoon next to Egan up front and are solid if unspectacular.  Gwozdz comes into the year as the starter next to the Ghostbuster but like Palladino is better at baseball.  This power hitting first baseman can hit the long ball on the diamond but is better suited for the short game on the court.  He is good enough for D-2 for sure but D-1 might be a bit out of his zip code.  Augustine is similar and loves to bang in the paint but is much more suited to being a solid contributor off the bench.  Fellow juniors Bill Brown and Paul Dasilva and sophomore Marvin Powell are also in the mix for minutes up front after playing mainly on the JV last year.  None of these guys are going to remind you of the next coming of Larry Bird but will give McCullough some options. 

Seniors Thomas Driscoll and Stan Pioerski will battle with juniors Tom Meade and Ed Hill for the small forward minutes.  This four-headed monster split time last year and had some ups and lots of downs.  The offense is fine but like many on this returning roster the defense is just not up to snuff.  Help is coming but will it arrive soon enough to help this year? 

As for the back court, that leaves something to be desired.  The aforementioned Junior Harding is a decent point guard but is overmatched playing against the cat quick players of this conference. He is a gamer though and a good leader and McCullough kept him starting for most of the season last year because of his relationship with teammates.   Fellow Junior Mark Noon split time at point with Harding but is more of a scorer than passer.  Noon did get the majority of minutes down the stretch but neither one of these guys are athletic enough to guard the quick point guards in this league.  Noon is a very cerebral player and can shoot but he definitely is not the type of athlete you want playing the point at this level.  For now though this will be the starting backcourt for McCullough. Fellow junior Ron Berger is a defense minded-guard who brings little offensively but got some minutes last year mainly out of necessity.  McCullough has walked this program from D-2 to D-1 and has handed over the reins of the JV squad to his successor in young John Gallagher.  Gallagher kept most of his players down on the farm for nourishment but some will compete for minutes on the perimeter.  Included are sophomores to be John Tuozo, Robert Tanguay, and Ulysses Garcia. These guys played well on the JV but D-1 is way different but these kids are a step-up talent wise in Hartford.  Hartford were overmatched at guard throughout the year and need to find somebody who can guard the Rich Rinaldi’s of the world.   

 Hartford have jumped into the fire of D-1 basketball and are limited athletically.    A disappointing first season in the AMEC got worse when Hartford lost in the first round to eighth seed New Hampshire.  Coach Gordon McCullough knows what he has to do to make this team better and he has recruited some fine underclassmen.  But it is a long road to Tipperary and Hartford journey has just begun.