On February 28, 1940, Fordham played Pittsburgh at Madison Square Garden in the first televised college basketball game in history. The Rams lost — but they were there first, and in a very real sense Fordham has been fighting for its place in the sport’s spotlight ever since. From the Bronx, out of the oldest on-campus gym still in use in America, the Rams carry one of the most distinctive identities in college basketball: all history, all heart, and — for most of the last three decades — all uphill. The 2026–27 season, Mike Magpayo’s second at the helm, is about turning a respectable first year into genuine Atlantic 10 relevance.
The glory years are real, if distant. The 1970–71 Rams, coached by a young Digger Phelps, went 26–3 and reached the Sweet 16 — still the program’s high-water mark in the NCAA Tournament, with a first-round demolition of Furman (105–74) before falling to Villanova. Fordham also danced in 1953, 1954 and 1992, and owns conference titles from the MAAC (1983) and the Patriot League (1991, 1992, 1994) before joining the Atlantic 10 in 1995. That move — up to one of the nation’s best mid-major leagues — has defined the modern era: three decades of mostly finishing near the bottom, with brief, beautiful exceptions.
The most recent exception was 2022–23, when Keith Urgo’s Rams went 25–8 and nearly stole the A-10’s automatic bid, electrifying Rose Hill. The program couldn’t sustain it, and in March 2025 Fordham turned to Mike Magpayo, the former UC Riverside head coach known for player development and defensive organization. His first season was a solid foundation: 17–15 overall, 8–10 in the Atlantic 10 — competitive most nights, with a roster that played hard and a home court that started to matter again.
Year two brings the thing every coach wants and rarely gets: a veteran core. Five players return, led by senior forward Rikus Schulte — the only Ram to start all 32 games last season, averaging 10.7 points and 9.1 rebounds while leading the team on the glass and in blocks. Senior forward Akira Jacobs (7.2 points, 4.8 rebounds) started 30 games; redshirt sophomore forward Abass Bodija (7.3 points, 5.0 rebounds) brings energy and length; sophomore forward Roor Akhuar (6.1 points, 3.5 rebounds) keeps developing; and junior center Jack Whitbourn — 8.4 points and 8.4 rebounds in just 11 games before injuries intervened — could be a genuine difference-maker if he stays healthy.
Magpayo attacked the portal with purpose. Senior guard Lateef Patrick Jr. arrives from Stephen F. Austin as the reigning Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year and a first-team all-conference pick (15.2 points per game) — an immediate backcourt scorer. Junior guard Amir Lindsey comes from UAlbany, where he led the entire America East in scoring at 17.9 points per game as a first-team all-conference selection. Sophomore guard Kelvin Odih transfers in from St. John’s, where the former four-star prospect — ranked 66th nationally in the 2025 class — is betting on a bigger role in the Bronx. Four true freshmen round out a roster blending experience with upside.
The identity Magpayo wants is clear: defend, rebound, and let the guards create. Schulte and Whitbourn give Fordham one of the A-10’s more physical frontcourts; Patrick and Lindsey give it something it hasn’t always had — proven shot-makers who can get their own in late-clock situations. In a league where the conference tournament in Brooklyn decides everything, having closers matters more than seeding.
And then there’s the building. Rose Hill Gymnasium opened in 1925 — a century ago — and remains the nation’s oldest on-campus collegiate basketball arena still in use. Three thousand two hundred seats, low ceiling, history in the walls: when it’s full and loud, “Rose Thrill” is one of the great home-court experiences in the sport. Opponents hate the trip to the Bronx. Fordham needs them to fear it again.
The Atlantic 10 remains a gauntlet — Dayton, VCU, Saint Louis and the rest reload every year — but the middle of this league is winnable, and a veteran Fordham team with real scorers has a path to the top half and a live seed in Brooklyn. The Rams have been waiting since 1992 for another NCAA Tournament. Nobody’s promising March yet. But for the first time in a while, the direction in the Bronx points up.
Magpayo’s résumé fits the job description. At UC Riverside he built competitive Big West teams through development and defensive buy-in — the exact formula a program like Fordham needs, where out-talenting the league isn’t an option and every win has to be earned on the glass and in the half court. His first Fordham team bought in quickly, and the 17-win debut — the program’s best mark in several seasons — suggests the staff’s teaching is landing. Year two is when systems become identity, and with five veterans who already speak the language, the Rams should defend at a level that keeps them in every game.