Season Preview: Towson

Location: Towson, MDtu-logo

NCDA Region: East Coast

2013-14 Record: 9-8

National Tournament Finish: Lost to UMD in the first round

2014-15 Captains: President – Sean Smith, Chris Thomas – C, Joe Tobin – A, and Jon Shaw – A

Returning Varsity Players: 14

Players to Watch: Chris Thomas, Joe Tobin, Todd Givens Jr. and Nick Coates

Overview: Towson enters their fourth year as a member of the NCDA with a bit of optimism.  On one hand, the Tigers lost to rival UMD in the first round of the NCDA tournament after having a slight edge on the Terrapins for the most part during the regular season.  This led many to believe they may have regressed throughout the season.  On another hand, one can notice the huge strides the Tigers made in 2013-14 as they claimed a winning record for the first time in program history.

There is no truth in the assumption that TU declined based on their Nationals loss to UMD.  The defeat at the hands of UMD is more attributed to Maryland’s improvements throughout the 2013-14 season, than it is to Towson “losing momentum” as the year went on.

Sean Smith will be a leader for Towson in 2014-15. The Tigers finished 9-8 in 2013-14, their first winning season as a member of the NCDA.
Sean Smith will be a leader for Towson in 2014-15. The Tigers finished 9-8 in 2013-14, their first winning season as a member of the NCDA.

2014-15 has brought some changes to the Towson Dodgeball team.  Sean Smith (President), along with captains Chris Thomas, Joe Tobin, and Jon Shaw, will look to aid Towson in taking the next step as a program.

First off, Sean Smith will be an instrumental part of this squad once again, he has a strong throw, to go along with the knowledgeable leadership that he brings to the team.  Every successful team has a player like Sean leading the way.

Chris Thomas has been a consistent player for TU in the past, and has proven to be one of the toughest outs on their team.

Lastly, Jon Shaw, one of the top all-around players in the league in my humble opinion.  The Towson offense will likely revolve around the skills of this veteran player.  Overall, one can see why this team is poised for a successful season with the leaders that they have.

It has been said in the past, but let me reiterate that Towson has historically been a top heavy team, meaning the top 5 or 6 players for the Tigers have carried them in seasons past.  The early season turnout for TU gives me the idea that this won’t be the case in 2014-15.

Towson has a fairly talented rookie class joining the team this fall.  Don’t be surprised if these young players end up helping the squad reach new heights in the future.

The first tournament for TU will come this weekend (Sept. 28th), at James Madison University.  Towson may encounter a few bumps in the road early on due to the learning curve that will be experienced by the team’s rookies.

The 2014-15 season will certainly be an interesting one for Towson.  This team has the potential to make a deep run at Nationals, it will depend on how much they can develop their young players to help complement their existing talent pool.

TU

Author: Kevin Bailey

Current NCDA Chief of Content. Former Captain for Grand Valley State University (#4).

9 thoughts on “Season Preview: Towson”

  1. Great article Kevin, and everyone needs to be on the watch for Joe Tobin, still THE most underrated player in this league

    1. I just realized I forgot to write about him when I went over every captain/assistant for you guys. Sorry Joe, don’t hit me too hard if we play yall this year!

  2. This team will be pretty interesting this year. Chris Thomas will be the main X-Factor for Towson this year, he’s very consistent on the court. Tobin’s a beast, but when Thomas is on, the whole team is following suit.

    1. There’s a reason he got voted in as our head guy at the start of the year. Chris has been playing a long, long time. I thought I had a good amount of knowledge on how to play until he and I talked about the game for a while and his knowledge keeps blowing me away

  3. Great write-up!

    Towson is looking forward to this season. We have some great young talent and solid returning talent. Growing as a competitive team and building leaders for the future is one of the main goals this year. I think we have a great shot at building a better record this year and advancing further at nationals.

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