Robert Morris fans the past three seasons have seen a lot of Jeremy Chappell, A.J. Jackson and Tony Lee. Heard a lot about the Colonials' top three scorers. Read a bunch about them, too.

However, there are three other relatively unknown players who help account for the team's 25-6 record and its top seed in the Northeast Conference tournament, which the Colonials begin Thursday night at home against Monmouth.

There's sophomore point guard Jimmy Langhurst, who considered leaving the program after last season, in which he played only 39 minutes.

There's sophomore guard Mezie Nwigwe, the de facto sixth man who averaged just 4.2 points per game last season.

And there's junior guard Bateko Francisco, who this time last season wasn't even at Robert Morris.

Langhurst came to Robert Morris after being a four-season starter who scored 2,199 career points in high school in Willard, Ohio. Over those four seasons, he averaged 22.4 points per game.

Last season for the Colonials, he scored 21 points.

"It was a shock to me," Langhurst said.

"I hated it. My family would come over and I wouldn't play. It felt like I wasn't part of the team."

Granted, the Colonials had a standout point guard in senior Derek Coleman. But then-coach Mark Schmidt played Coleman 38 minutes per game. He wore down.

Meanwhile, Langhurst sat.

"There were a lot of Jimmy's tears cried on this shoulder right here," Lee said, touching his left shoulder. "Well, not tears. But I talked to him a lot.

"I knew he should be playing. I knew that if he lost his confidence, it was a wrap for him. He might as well go back home and sit on the couch and find a job because you can't play this game with no confidence.

"I told him that. I told him, 'Get in the gym, work harder, get with Derek. He'll push you and you'll get better.' "

Langhurst did.

This season, he's averaging 9.6 points per game. He's shooting 42.1 percent from 3-point range and 82.6 percent at the free-throw line. What's more, he ranks first in the NEC in assists/turnovers ratio at 1.86.

Wagner coach Mike Deane, who tried to recruit Langhurst, recently observed that first-year coach Mike Rice "re-invented Jimmy Langhurst."

"I don't think coach Rice re-invented Jimmy," Lee said. "I think coach Rice gave Jimmy some confidence and that helped.

"But he didn't re-invent him. Jimmy's not doing anything that he hasn't been doing all his life. It's not like he's dunking now."

Langhurst, who stands 5 feet 11, laughed.

"He's doing the same thing he's always done -- with more confidence," Lee said.

"I'm a totally different person out there on the floor," Langhurst said.

Nwigwe, too, has become more confident this season. He's averaging 5.8 points per game for the season -- 8.6 a game the past eight games -- and shooting 41.7 percent from beyond the arc, up from 28.6 percent last season.

"He's the complete package and physically is a gifted individual," Rice said. "We're starting to see what he's capable of on a nightly basis."

Francisco, who played last season at Fort Scott Junior College in Kansas, averages 8.4 points per game and has become the Colonials' defensive specialist.

"The best defender on our team," Rice said. "It's not even a question. It's not even close. It starts and ends with Bateko Francisco."

NOTES -- The NEC will announce its all-conference teams and individual awards tomorrow afternoon. ... Lee is the only player in NEC history to amass 1,000 points (1,454), 500 rebounds (741), 250 assists (469) and 250 steals (268).