Courtesy of Monmouth UniversityTravis Taylor leads Monmouth with 10.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

When the basketball talk is about Monmouth University forward Travis Taylor and the development of his "inside game," the important thing to know is that three years ago he did not have one.

That is not to say the 6-8 Taylor could not play inside. What it means is that he never played inside -- as in inside a gym -- before he arrived at Union High as a junior.

"I always played basketball outside in the park, but I wasn't comfortable with my game inside," Taylor said. "I played every day, but it's a lot different playing in a park than in a gym."

That was obvious the first day he showed up for practice at Union High after his family moved into town from Irvington. His first two years of high school, Taylor had attended St. James Prep in Newark, which did not have a basketball team.

The Star-Ledger's Brendan Prunty scouts out the rest of New Jersey men's college basketball teams and their prospects for the 2008-09 season.

Read on for previews of Fairleigh Dickinson, Monmouth, NJIT, Princeton, Rider and St. Peter's.

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerCarli Lloyd, a Rutgers grad and gold medalist on the U.S. Olympic soccer team.

After all, Jerseyans have been a big part of the women's and men's national teams the past two decades, regulars in Olympics and World Cups.

The NCAA Tournament? That's a different story for Garden State teams.

TEAM OF NOTE

RIDER
The Broncs have won seven straight, including three consecutive shutouts, and are tied with Lock Haven at the top of the Northeast Conference field hockey standings. Goalie Lyndsie Johnson has not allowed a goal in the last 269:52 for Rider (10-4, 4-0 NEC).

NJAC FOOTBALL

As Eric Hamilton enters his 32nd season as head football coach at the College of New Jersey, he still feels a strong connection to the first.

That is because a member of that first team is the father of three returning players this season.

Hamilton, who has 188 career victories, was just 23 years old when Rik Misiura played linebacker for him in 1977. Last season Austin, Chase and Dean Misiura helped CNJ share the New Jersey Athletic Conference title with Cortland State.