Josh Rivera is a 6’ 6”, 215 pound rising senior forward transferring from the A-10’s Fordham Rams (12-21, 3-15, a victory over Seton Hall).
Rivera’s stats were solid at Fordham. Coming off the bench (he started 3 of 31 games last season), Rivera averaged 10.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 21 minutes a game. He shoots 44% from the floor, 31% from behind the arc, and an unacceptable 53% from the foul line. He is a slasher/driver type player who doesn’t shoot particularly well. He has had some big games – 19 points against URI, 17 against Dayton – and some poor games – 6 points against George Mason in 30 minutes, 5 against George Washington. In the fiasco that was Seton Hall’s loss to Fordham last season, Rivera score seven points, all in the first half, on three for nine shooting.
The situation at Fordham last season was complicated. At the end of last season, the Rams were put on probation for improper recruiting incentives – such as free Giants and Jets tickets, or paying a photographer to take pictures of recruits in Times Square – which amounted to about $11,000 in improper benefits. It is hard, in the NIL era, to be outraged over giving a kid and his parents four tickets to see the Yankees, but the fine for Fordham is 2% of the basketball budget – which is 2% that can’t be spent on NIL. Keith Urgo was fired at the end of the season, probably more for losing than cheating. All of this leaves Rivera looking for a new stable environment to play in.
Rivera’s reviews are somewhat tepid. He was not highly recruited out of high school and spent his freshman season at Lafayette of the Patriot Conference. One A-10 coach said of Rivera, “He’s solid. Big body and physical. I would think he’d be a 6-10 minute a game guy on a good team, the 9th or 10th man.” That’s really not a rave. Coach Holloway in his interview with Adam Zagoria, said of Rivera, “Every year I watched him, he got better, from his first year at Lafayette to being at Fordham, he’s athletic, he’s hungry, plus he showed me he wants to be here. And when guys show me that they really want to be here, those are the guys I really want to take a chance on.” Coach Holloway seems sold on Rivera as a person, but not necessarily as a basketball player.
Rivera is a local kid – he grew up in Edison before playing his freshman season at Lafayette. He is also a good kid – the profile of him in LatinoSports (his ancestry is Puerto Rico) is a little over the top, but Rivera appears to be a solid individual. He has stated that he wants to play in Jersey where his family and friends can see him, and that he has followed Seton Hall basketball since he was young. He appears to want to play for The Hall, and is willing to accept whatever role Coach Holloway wants to give him.
The problem is that the Pirates have three other players – Budd Clark, TJ Simpkins, and Elijah Fisher – who are slashers that get most of their points at the rim. All three are rated higher by Evan Miya (the only statistician that I have found that will rate 2500 individual players) than Rivera. Given that at least one big man needs to be in the game for 40 minutes, and that the team needs three point shooting, there may not be a lot of minutes for Rivera.
Not every new transfer is going to be a star, or even a starter. Rivera’s ability to contribute will become apparent over the first months of the season. Rivera can do a lot of things decently – he can play inside, and rebound as well as get to the basket. He has to become a better free throw shooter – he has made 144 foul shots and missed 144 foul shots over his career.
Evey team needs a spark plug – a guy who wants to be there, who buys in, and who can push the other players. This might be Rivera’s role on the 2025-26 Pirates.
Rivera’s stats were solid at Fordham. Coming off the bench (he started 3 of 31 games last season), Rivera averaged 10.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 21 minutes a game. He shoots 44% from the floor, 31% from behind the arc, and an unacceptable 53% from the foul line. He is a slasher/driver type player who doesn’t shoot particularly well. He has had some big games – 19 points against URI, 17 against Dayton – and some poor games – 6 points against George Mason in 30 minutes, 5 against George Washington. In the fiasco that was Seton Hall’s loss to Fordham last season, Rivera score seven points, all in the first half, on three for nine shooting.
The situation at Fordham last season was complicated. At the end of last season, the Rams were put on probation for improper recruiting incentives – such as free Giants and Jets tickets, or paying a photographer to take pictures of recruits in Times Square – which amounted to about $11,000 in improper benefits. It is hard, in the NIL era, to be outraged over giving a kid and his parents four tickets to see the Yankees, but the fine for Fordham is 2% of the basketball budget – which is 2% that can’t be spent on NIL. Keith Urgo was fired at the end of the season, probably more for losing than cheating. All of this leaves Rivera looking for a new stable environment to play in.
Rivera’s reviews are somewhat tepid. He was not highly recruited out of high school and spent his freshman season at Lafayette of the Patriot Conference. One A-10 coach said of Rivera, “He’s solid. Big body and physical. I would think he’d be a 6-10 minute a game guy on a good team, the 9th or 10th man.” That’s really not a rave. Coach Holloway in his interview with Adam Zagoria, said of Rivera, “Every year I watched him, he got better, from his first year at Lafayette to being at Fordham, he’s athletic, he’s hungry, plus he showed me he wants to be here. And when guys show me that they really want to be here, those are the guys I really want to take a chance on.” Coach Holloway seems sold on Rivera as a person, but not necessarily as a basketball player.
Rivera is a local kid – he grew up in Edison before playing his freshman season at Lafayette. He is also a good kid – the profile of him in LatinoSports (his ancestry is Puerto Rico) is a little over the top, but Rivera appears to be a solid individual. He has stated that he wants to play in Jersey where his family and friends can see him, and that he has followed Seton Hall basketball since he was young. He appears to want to play for The Hall, and is willing to accept whatever role Coach Holloway wants to give him.
The problem is that the Pirates have three other players – Budd Clark, TJ Simpkins, and Elijah Fisher – who are slashers that get most of their points at the rim. All three are rated higher by Evan Miya (the only statistician that I have found that will rate 2500 individual players) than Rivera. Given that at least one big man needs to be in the game for 40 minutes, and that the team needs three point shooting, there may not be a lot of minutes for Rivera.
Not every new transfer is going to be a star, or even a starter. Rivera’s ability to contribute will become apparent over the first months of the season. Rivera can do a lot of things decently – he can play inside, and rebound as well as get to the basket. He has to become a better free throw shooter – he has made 144 foul shots and missed 144 foul shots over his career.
Evey team needs a spark plug – a guy who wants to be there, who buys in, and who can push the other players. This might be Rivera’s role on the 2025-26 Pirates.
