July 28, 2010
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By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - At Whitney Young High School in Chicago, junior guard A.J. Rompza (Chicago, Ill.) was part of an up-tempo offense. The Dolphins were not shy about shooting the ball, and as a result, Rompza put up some impressive offensive statistics.
As a senior in 2007-08, he averaged 18.0 points. The previous campaign, Rompza scored 19.9 points per contest.
After arriving at UCF, Rompza's main job with the Knights was to distribute the basketball. As a freshman, he averaged 5.2 assists, good for third in Conference USA and 32nd nationally. His unselfish play was a big reason that Jermaine Taylor was third in the country in scoring at 26.2 points per game. Rompza averaged 4.3 points as a rookie, and then without Taylor, upped that to 8.6 points in 2009-10.
New head coach Donnie Jones plans to implement an up-tempo offense for the Knights. As the head coach at Marshall, Jones watched the Thundering Herd average 79.9 points this past season, a mark that ranked ninth nationally.
Rompza has worked hard to improve his shooting since arriving on campus. Will he have more opportunities to showcase his shooting touch in Jones' offensive system? That is still unknown, but Rompza is not too concerned. His main goal is his team's success.
"With the new offense, coach has ball screens, so you need to be ready to shoot," Rompza said. "If not, I can look for my teammates. I am really looking forward to (playing in the offense). But when it comes down to winning, I will take that over anything."