Fordham basketball players had better get used to the road.
The Rams will play 10 of their 13 non-conference games on the road for the 2012-13 season, the Post has learned. Fordham played seven home games and six road games last season. The Rams were 6-1 at Rose Hill in non-conference play.
“When you win games at home, it becomes harder to schedule games,” Fordham head coach Tom Pecora told The Post. “After we beat St. John’s [in December 2010], Georgia Tech and Harvard, it’s not easy to get people into Rose Hill. Our goal is to make it as tough a place to play as it is in the country.”
Fordham, which finished 10-19 (3-13) last season, will open its season on the road against Texas State University in a rematch of a Dec. 22, 2011 game where the Rams beat the Bobcats 81-70 and forward Chris Gaston scored a career-high 35 points.
In addition to the Texas State contest, Fordham will also travel to Atlanta to play Georgia Tech and to Cambridge to play Harvard. The Rams put together their only winning streak of the season [three games] in back-to-back-to-back home wins over Texas State, Georgia Tech and an upset of No. 22 Harvard. All games were played at Rose Hill.
Georgia Tech head coach Brian Gregory said last season that Rose Hill’s atmosphere makes it tough on opposing teams.
“There is a reason why ACC teams do not come and play at Fordham,” Gregory said after the Rams beat his Yellow Jackets 72-66.
The road-heavy schedule could prove to be an issue for a young Rams team that has only one senior on the roster [Gaston].
“When you have a veteran team [playing on the road] is okay, but with a young team it isn’t ideal,” Pecora said. “It will be a learning experience for our guys, they’ll toughen up and learn from it.”
The Rams’ brutal road schedule will include playing in the Preseason NIT, as part of the Pittsbugh pod, and games at both the Barclays Center (Princeton) and Madison Square Garden (St. John’s). The Rams played the Red Storm at the Garden last season and the Atlantic-10 tournament will take place at Barclays in March.
“Very much so, [we’re excited to play at Barclays and MSG],” Pecora said. “We plan on playing and I expect us to play in both venues every year.”
Fordham’s non-conference schedule is rounded out by games against Lehigh (Dec. 4), Connecticut (Dec.21) and Ole Miss (Jan. 4) also road games.
Believe it or not, the Rams will play at Rose Hill. Fordham will welcome Manhattan (Nov. 29), Siena (Dec. 23) and Monmouth (Dec. 31) to The Bronx.