Despite improvement this season, Robert Morris aiming higher in Horizon League

Robert Morris coach Andy Toole is not known as a man content with moral victories or incremental improvement.

When the Colonials were members of the Northeast Conference, Toole had them competing at a high level, with Robert Morris capturing two NEC regular season titles and two league tournament championships between 2010-20.

But Robert Morris’ NEC days are now in the past. In 2020, the Colonials joined the Horizon League and, in three seasons since, haven’t recreated the level of success seen in their former conference.

“We’re a Horizon League institution, and it’s time for us to start competing for titles under the Horizon League,” Robert Morris athletic director Chris King said. “… Andy Toole is an extremely competitive individual. He wants to compete for a championship every year, period.”

Toole would agree. And to be sure, this past season featured notable improvement.

After finishing last in the Horizon League in 2021 and 10th in 2022, the Colonials doubled their total (16) and league (10) wins this season from the year prior, good for a sixth-place tie in the 11-team conference.

“I think there was some really great progress,” Toole said. “There were some really positive things that we can take from the year. I think there’s also a lot of things we know we need to improve upon — opportunities lost potentially by maybe not being smarter or better in a few areas.”

On the note of opportunities lost, the Colonials’ season-ending defeat against Cleveland State in the Horizon League Tournament quarterfinals comes to mind.

As the tournament’s No. 6 seed, Robert Morris hosted and won a game for the first time Feb. 28 before traveling to Cleveland to face the Vikings in the next round.

The Colonials led by seven with 1 minute, 48 seconds to play, only to be held scoreless for the rest of regulation and lose in overtime.

During the regular season, the Colonials ran hot and cold, with losing streaks of four games and three games twice, while also winning three in a row from Jan. 21-29 and four straight from Feb. 12-21.

So as Toole alluded to, on the surface, the Colonials took a significant step in the right direction toward being more competitive in the Horizon League.

But a closer look reveals plenty of reasons for disappointment that prevented Robert Morris from finishing on a stronger note.

With the campaign now in the rearview mirror, Toole turns his attention squarely to spring roster management, which will be critical if Robert Morris plans to continue improving.

The Colonials must replace star forward Kahliel Spear, who led the team in points and rebounds per game the past two years.

In addition to Spear’s graduation, transfer portal attrition has impacted players Toole expected to return for this upcoming campaign.

Depth pieces Tristan Jeffries and Matt Mayers entered their names in mid-March, followed by key guards Michael Green III and Enoch Cheeks.

Green played an important reserve role for Robert Morris, averaging nine points and 26.3 minutes. Losing Cheeks, who will be a senior this fall, hurts the most.

The 6-foot-3 guard from Providence. R.I., scored 15.4 points per game, second to only Spear. On March 31, he committed to Dayton.

“It’s the day and age where everybody’s on a year-to-year contract,” Toole said. “You’re trying to figure out who will return, what areas of improvement you need to get through recruiting, what areas you need to improve through development.”

Toole can count on the services of returning starters Jackson Last, Stephaun Walker and Josh Corbin. Soon-to-be sophomore guard T.J. Wainwright also showed flashes last year in his first taste of college hoops.

Robert Morris does not have any true freshmen committed for this upcoming season, so Toole’s most likely avenue for adding reinforcements is the transfer portal.

Pending anymore unforeseen departures via the portal, Toole can begin to use it to his benefit, with five available scholarships to offer.

“We have some great things to sell here,” Toole said. “We have a great facility, we have a great city of Pittsburgh, we have a history of success as a basketball program. We have a great staff, great guys in our locker room. I think there’s a lot of things we can sell to recruits.

“We have work to do to go out and find guys within our program that can shoulder some of that load, as well add some pieces to the program that can continue to help us improve. That’s really the focus.”