Can Towson pull a George Mason?

“If you are going to have a good year you need a full compliment of your kids. You want your kids to get better and grow as a team,” Kennedy said.

“This is my first actual [season] that we have seven or eight guys we recruited,” Kennedy added. “They are going to learn my basketball system that I want them to play.”

Towson has not released its schedule, but Kennedy said that the Tigers will face such powers as Kansas, Villanova and Pittsburgh. “We are playing a very difficult schedule, but I think we are going to be a very formidable opponent,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy landed some local recruits for next season, pointing out that Colonial Athletic Association rival George Mason made it to the Final Four with a team of Marylanders.

Fresh from Walbrook Academy, Rodney Spruill will join junior college standouts Curtis “C.C.” Williams and Tommy Breaux (a 2003 graduate of Randallstown) as Towson newcomers.

“[Williams] is one of the top junior college point guards in the country. We got him late,” Kennedy said.

Williams, from Clinton, N.C., is from Brunswick Community College in North Carolina, andBreaux returns to Maryland after a year at Brinn Junior College in Texas. Breaux will play in the post for the Tigers basketball team and will also be a wide receiver in football.

Kennedy, off the court, will be looking for an assistant coach after Rob Norris? departure to take a job as an assistant at Canisius College in New York.

Kennedy said the Tigers will have Gary Neal back. Neal, from Aberdeen, sat out for a year after his transfer from La Salle. He left La Salle after being acquitted of rape charges. Neal joined the team eight games into the season and missed the final four games with an injury, but still finished as the top CAA scorer.

Dennard Abraham, Velmar Coleman, Tim Crossin and Jonathan Pease are other returning players. “We might be a little shy up front, but my best teams have all been three-guard offense oriented,” Kennedy said.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

Here is a look at new incoming Towson players:

» Curtis “C.C.” Williams, 6-1, point guard: Williams scored 1,106 points in his two years with Brunswick Community College, averaging 17.2 points per game and 4.6 assists per game.

» Tommy Breaux, 6-9, forward: Breaux averaged 10.6 points per game at Brinn Junior College and also 13.4 rebounds per game.

» Rodney Spruill, 6-4, guard: Spruill took his points per game average from 16.9 as a junior to 22 as a high school senior, while also averaging 13 rebounds, four assists and three blocks per game.