For well over a decade the Terriers of St. Francis have based their success on the European talent imported to Brooklyn Heights (at Princeton the fans have been known to mockingly chant "Ser-bi-a!" at every Terrier posession). So it seemed only natural that when Igor Samardzja signed on as head coach in 2009 he would dive even deeper in to that recruiting pool. The Terriers have announced four incoming recruits in the past month. See if you can spot the trend:
- Matthew Varela (Sonora/La Habra, CA)
- Jacob Barashick (Bishop Moore Catholic/Orlando, FL)
- Liam Veazey (Bryan Adams/Dallas, TX)
- Andrew “Cole” Hamre (Lake Nona/Orlando, FL)
Samardzja acknowledged: "...for the first time since I have been with the team, we were able to bring in more players from within the United States as opposed to turning to traditional resources in Europe like we have done in past."
But will it help?
Critics have often said that the Terriers have underachieved with all their European talent. Will an influx of Yankee players improve their lot in 2012 and beyond?