Every Pittsburgh sports fan will admit one unfortunate truth these days: The entire local sports scene is at low tide.
The Penguins are about to miss the playoffs for a third straight year. The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game in eight seasons. And the only thing the Pirates can boast since 1992 is one wild-card game win.
Then there is Pitt’s recent decline back to its usual mid-tier malaise in basketball and football over the past few seasons.
Thankfully, there is the Robert Morris men’s basketball team.
Last March, it was Duquesne that provided a city-wide spark with a surprising run to the NCAA Tournament. In 2025, it’s the Colonials who have the best shot at keeping March Madness dreams alive.
Coach Andy Toole’s team won the Horizon League regular season crown with a 15-5 record (23-8 overall). They begin conference tournament play as the No. 1 seed with a home game against Wright State at 8 p.m. Thursday. A tournament championship would give RMU an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament later this month.
Leading scorer Kam Woods says Pittsburgh is starting to take notice.
“On campus, you can tell people are definitely recognizing,” Woods said. “When we first got here, though, we would go downtown. People would ask us who we play for. We’d say Robert Morris, and people would automatically act like we were sorry. We didn’t have any respect yet. This season has really been about getting Robert Morris that respect in Pittsburgh.”
The Colonials only managed a 24-52 conference record in their four previous seasons since joining the Horizon League. But this year, Toole — who was just named Horizon League Coach of the Year on Monday — says RMU’s dedication to defense is what has made the difference.
“Last year, we couldn’t guard. Our defensive numbers were really poor. That’s the biggest difference,” Toole said during Tuesday’s “Breakfast with Benz” podcast. “Our defensive efficiency has improved dramatically. Our ability to rebound and protect the rim, those were things we looked at in the offseason and tried to target in recruiting.”
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To underscore Toole’s point, the Colonials have the second-best scoring defense in the conference this year at 70.3 points per game. They are also in the top five in opponent field goal percentage (43.6%), opponent 3-point percentage (33.7%) and defensive rebounds per game (22.5).
“Defense has always been something that Coach Toole has been harping on over the course of the year,” Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year Amarion Dickerson said. “This year, he recruited some pretty key guys that are able to defend at a pretty high level. He said that’s what we were missing last year. He just filled in those holes.”
Dickerson and Woods are part of an interesting cross-section of players who have come together quickly to become the Horizon’s regular season champion.
Dickerson is a junior college transfer from Mineral Area College. Woods came from N.C. State out of the ACC. Conference Player of the Year Alvaro Folgueiras is in his second year on campus as an international recruit out of Spain (by way of DME Academy in Florida).
Also, Josh Omojafo moved up from the D-II ranks at Gannon, and five other players on the roster transferred to Moon Township from other schools.
“They are a really fun group to coach and watch. They are guys that play with great energy and spirit. That is a contagious element to a team. It’s been great to see these guys come together in a short amount of time,” Toole said.
For as good of a story as the Colonials have been, though, the reality is that the Horizon is a one-bid league. Any misstep shy of winning the conference crown will eliminate them from NCAA contention.
That said, Woods believes the way his club forged its path to 15 conference wins will help the postseason cause.
“We feel like we are ready for any battle that comes. We beat everybody in the league this year,” Woods said. “Especially if we split, we know how it feels to lose against those teams. And we know what it takes to win. So those splits definitely help us. And the ones we swept, just keep our foot on their neck. Give them no life.”
Wright State and RMU split their two regular season games this year. So, hopefully, Woods is right. We could use the good vibes around here, and Robert Morris has been a rare source of optimism.
We need a little something to get us through until Opening Day at PNC Pa….
Um, I mean, until training camp begins at Saint Vinc….
Hmm. Remind me, what year are we getting the NFL draft?
Listen: Tim Benz and Andy Toole discuss RMU’s rise to the top spot of the Horizon League
