The Statesman 11-16-20

EXPECTATIONS HIGH IN STONY BROOK DESPITE RAPID TURNOVER FOR MEN’S BASKETBALL The plan was to ride a roster full of seniors to glory in what would have been the Stony Brook men’s basketball team’s best chance at reaching the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament since 2016. Vermont’s 2-time America East Player of the Year, Anthony Lamb, was finally out of the way, and the Seawolves would return the star senior trio of guards Elijah Olaniyi, Makale Foreman and forward Andrew Garcia for their final seasons. That vision was uprooted out of the blue.

In May, all three of them transferred to Power Five programs; Olaniyi to Miami, Foreman to California and Garcia to Georgia. Garcia was the first to leave the program, triggering a chain reaction that resulted in Olaniyi and Foreman’s decisions.

“I don’t want to say I expected it, because the first one was surprising,” head coach Geno Ford said in an interview with The Statesman. “But certainly, after Drew [Garcia] left, the chances of Elijah and Makale leaving went to as close as 100%. Those three guys were really close and kind of a clique … not a negative thing … because they were in lockstep on and off the floor.”

Combined with the earlier transfers of Miles Latimer to Bucknell and Jeff Otchere to the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, likely due to playing time concerns, Stony Brook needed to replace its entire primary starting five from last season. Of the 14 players on this year’s Seawolves roster, only six of them played minutes last season, and two of those six earned less than 20 minutes of total action on the court.

The last-minute defections forced Ford to become active on the recruiting trail throughout the late spring.

“I’ve never in the month of May spent more nights at 3 a.m. watching film,” he said. “That’s a December/ January activity on an annual basis, but not May.” Ford believes that the pandemic played in Stony Brook’s favor when it came to filling roster spots this late in the year, as recruits would have normally visited schools and decided on their destination before May. The inability to do so this year provided a larger pool of available prospects than usual, but also supplied its own challenges in terms of player evaluation.

“What you missed out on was body language,” Ford said about recruiting virtually. “Being a good kid doesn’t guarantee success, but being a challenge to deal with and being self-absorbed is a guaranteed formula for failure; so I think that those parts of the recruiting were probably the most difficult.”

The newcomers are a balanced mixture of junior college transfers and Division I players, but all of them were brought to Stony Brook with the intent of being immediate contributors. The latter group consists of former Akron senior forward Jaden Sayles, former Manhattan junior guard Tykei Greene and former

BY ETHAN TAM

Mount St. Mary’s senior guard Omar Habwe. Juniors guard Juwan White, forward Leighton Elliott-Sewell, guard Juan Felix Rodriguez and forward Mohamed Diallo comprise the former.

It will not be easy replacing the production of the departed. Olaniyi, Foreman and Garcia alone combined for 1,461 of Stony Brook’s 2,283 points scored last season. Add in the loss of Latimer, Otchere and Anthony Ochefu, and that total jumps to 1,819 – nearly 80% of the Seawolves’ total offensive production gone. Less than two weeks before the team’s season opener at Marist on Nov. 25, Ford does not have a concrete starting lineup in place.

He admits that it will take time for individual players to separate themselves and prove who is deserving of the most minutes, which is made more challenging as Stony Brook’s non-conference slate this year is shorter than usual. The top scorer returning is senior forward Mouhamadou Gueye, who averaged 7.0 points per game while making eight starts in 33 appearances. Gueye, best known for his defensive prowess which earned him numerous spots on SportsCenter’s Top 10, also averaged 1.9 blocks per game.

“I’ve spent a lot of time just working on my jump shot,” Gueye said in an interview with The Statesman.

“That was an obvious weak point for me. I’m pretty athletic, I’m able to get to the bucket and finish plays — but I feel like I struggled outside. So I worked on that this summer to expand my game.”

Sophomore guard Tyler Stephenson-Moore started the final 11 games of the season, bolstering the offense with a string of four straight double-digit scoring efforts when Olaniyi was sidelined with an ankle injury.

“I would say I learned, definitely, that patience is key, that certain things are going to unfold that don’t go your way,” Stephenson-Moore, who dealt with an injury of his own last year, said in an interview with The Statesman. The big wild card is redshirtsophomore forward Frankie Policelli, who sat out all of last season. The 6-foot-7 Dayton transfer believes that he has improved in every aspect of the game since he last played, whether it be defense, speed, physical shape, dribbling skills or shooting. He was penciled in to play a large role before last year’s starters transferred, and his success is even more important to the team now.

“I don’t really feel too much pressure,” Policelli said in an interview with The Statesman. “It’s really going to be my first year playing in a while, so I’m just going to go out there happy to be on the court, to be honest, and just lead through experience because I’ve been around college basketball for a while and just try to teach the new guys from JUCO [junior college] how to be effective at this level.”

“It’s kind of hard to believe — especially for people who aren’t present in the gym, because we have so many new players, but realistically, I think the chemistry has been really good.”

- Mouhamadou Gueye Senior Forward Among the junior college transfers, Ford singled out Diallo’s performance. The forward impressed in preseason before suffering a hand injury which could keep him out for the opener, but not conference play.

Stony Brook’s head coach remarked on the flaws of last year’s squad, which — despite the talent — did not play well together.

“Our best two scorers were isolation post-up drive guys,” Ford said. “Sometimes, really talented and good players don’t make each other better, or not enough better that you overcome and win at the level you’d want to.”

In contrast, he noted how the new roster was better at passing the ball. With a need to make up for the drop-off in driving and post-up plays, building team chemistry is vital and can only come from actual gameday experience.

“It’s kind of hard to believe — especially for people who aren’t present in the gym, because we have so many new players, but realistically, I think the chemistry has been really good,” Gueye said. “We have a good group of guys and everyone’s pretty cool.

We have the same kind of mentality where we all consider ourselves underdogs.”

Stony Brook was picked to finish fifth in the America East when the conference released its annual preseason poll. Winning 20 games and landing in the top two of the America East has become the standard expectation for the Seawolves, who have done so eight and nine times respectively in the last 11 seasons.

Ford’s second year at the helm of the program comes with its set of challenges, from massive roster turnover to COVID-19.

When the Seawolves take the court for the first time since March, they will do so with much to prove.

MEN’S BASKETBALL ROSTER

FORD PREPARES FOR A DIFFERENT LOOK IN YEAR TWO AS HEAD COACH

BY RYAN PAVICH

Adaptation is key in college basketball, and head coach Geno Ford is well aware of it. The Stony Brook men’s basketball team has had to work around one of its star players transferring out in each of the past two seasons, with forward Akwasi Yeboah heading to Rutgers two seasons ago and guard Elijah Olaniyi going south to Miami after last season.

Despite the loss of Yeboah before the 2019-20 season, the Seawolves were still able to put together a competitive season.

The team finished with a 20-13 record — four wins below where it finished in the 2018-19 season, but still good enough to claim the No. 2 seed in the America East heading into postseason play. This time the team did not falter in the first round, narrowly defeating No. 7 Albany before falling to No. 3 Hartford in the semifinals.

“I thought we had a really good year,” Ford said in an interview with The Statesman. “I mean, it’s always disappointing when you don’t cut the nets down and win a championship, but from a transition year where we lost a first-team all-league player, Yeboah left with a year to play [which] was a blow to our roster. I thought guys really stepped up. I thought we got better.”

If last season was a transition year for Ford, this season looks to be a complete re-tooling. Stony Brook not only saw Olaniyi transfer out, but three other starters walked out alongside him — as well as some key bench players.

In response, the program has brought in a court full of new transfer players — many of whom can challenge for starting minutes right out of the gate.

“We have a learning curve ahead of us.

We have seven first year players, that’s a lot,” Ford said. “We’ve got first year players that are in severe competition for starting roles that have never scored a point at this level.

They’re going to have to figure it out on the fly, but our individual talent is good, and it’s plenty good enough for us to have a very good year and compete for a championship which is what our goal is.”

Part of that learning curve will be figuring out how the ball will flow between a new core of players, and early indications are that it will be more spread out than in previous years.

Ford mentioned that last season the team effectively ran two sets on offense — one designed around former center Jeff Otchere and one around senior forward Mouhamadou Gueye.

Gueye is the lone starter returning to the team, but he believes that they have an opportunity to become more efficient because of this.

“Honestly, I feel like this year would be even better,” Gueye said. “Last year we had a lot of talent, but this year we have a lot of talent and we have the right pieces in the right places. I feel like we’re more of a rounded team this year instead of last year. We had a couple of talented guys that were where the ball would just stick in those places and we had to feed off of those players.”

Gueye went on to say that he expects the team to have a deep rotation and rely on the hot hand for particular nights.

The roster, in his opinion, now features multiple players that are capable of making a lot of different plays for the team.

Ford sees the roster as one that certainly has depth to it, but also sees some difficulties ahead with a small amount of time before conference play begins.

“We’re going to have to go deep early in the year to give guys some opportunities,” Ford said. “Which presents some challenges also, because you go in and you don’t play a lot of minutes and you need to, you feel some pressure to perform, and ‘I need to play well or I’m not going to get back in,’ or ‘I go in and make a mistake, they yank me out I don’t go back in for 10 minutes.’ And quite frankly, that’s the position that a handful of guys are in right now, and they’re just gonna have to play their way out of it.”

This balancing act is one of several things that Ford is going to have to manage, due to the lack of preseason games and a shortened non-conference schedule.

This trial by fire mentality is one of many outcomes that the ongoing pandemic has forced the program to adopt, but it does guarantee one thing — this team should look a lot different by the end of the season than they will at the beginning.

Whether that leads them to success is a question that the players will have to answer when they finally take the court again.

A NEW WAVE OF PLAYERS LEADS THE CHARGE AT STONY BROOK

BY JEREMY PORTNOY

The phrase “roster turnover” has perhaps never applied more to the Seawolves than it does this season. After the departure of nearly all of its starters, the Stony Brook men’s basketball team is entering this winter full of uncertainty.

Last season’s top four scorers, who combined for 3,925 total minutes, are all gone, and the production they gave the team is going to have to come from somewhere else. But with the team’s opening game against Marist on Nov. 25 fast approaching, second-year head coach Geno Ford is still not ready to announce a starting five.

Fortunately for the team, there is no shortage of talent for these new-look Seawolves to replace their old starters with. The team signed seven transfer students during the offseason: junior guards Juwan White, Tykei Greene and Juan Felix Rodriguez, senior guard Omar Habwe, junior forwards Leighton Elliott-Sewell and Mohamed Diallo and senior forward Jaden Sayles. On top of that, the players that remain from last season appear ready to take the next step as cornerstones of the roster.

Senior forward Mouhamadou Gueye, who is one of just three current seniors who played for Stony Brook last season and the only consistent starter still with the team, is emerging as a locker room leader.

“I’ve always considered myself a leader by example. I’m not that big of a talker,” Gueye said. Last year, that example included some

incredible defensive performances. Gueye finished the season with 1.94 blocks per game — fourth all-time among Stony Brook players.

But this year, his coaches have made it clear that as a veteran, Gueye needs to become more vocal in his leadership. Gueye said that the transition has not been difficult for him.

“My team has really helped make it easy for me,” he said.

Redshirt-sophomore forward Frankie Policelli, who had to sit out last season due to an NCAA ruling following his transfer to the team from Dayton, is also poised to help make up for lost production. During his time on the bench, Policelli learned a lot about leadership by watching how his former teammates carried themselves.

“The guys that left were extremely vocal,” Policelli said. “I learned that to be a leader, you just have to speak up and speak to your teammates … and use your voice because that’s what they listen to.”

Policelli is looking to bring his positive mentality to the whole team.

“I’m like a kid in a candy shop,” Policelli said. “My goal is to probably just get the win, have fun and just enjoy the moment.”

Sophomore guard Tyler Stephenson-Moore also expects to play a big role this season.

Stephenson-Moore became a starting guard late last season, and that experience will serve him well.

“I did work on my handle a lot, so I’m more confident with that,” Stephenson-Moore said.

“Being able to be more than just a shooter, being able to create my own shot.”

The success of last year’s roster looms large.

The 2019-20 Seawolves reached the semifinals of the America East Tournament on the back of an offense that broke the team record for threepoint shots. But these current Seawolves are not feeling pressure to live up to that mark. Gueye remarked that while last year the Seawolves had some talented players, they were forced to play around them more. This year, he believes that they are more of a rounded offense, something that Ford noted as well.

“I don’t think this year’s team will shoot as many threes as last year’s team,” Ford said.

“I’m more concerned with percentage than attempt numbers.”

Ford does not seem worried about the inexperience of his roster. Despite the lack of cohesion going into the season, he sees the potential for this group to reach the expectations that years of contention have set into the program.

“You can’t expect guys to come in and day one, light the world on fire,” Ford said. “There’s going to be some ups and downs, especially with guys that haven’t played a lot. But you know, the ability when they’re really playing well is awfully high, and [they’re] great kids and work really hard.”

FOLLOWING A HISTORIC SEASON, WOMEN’S BASKETBALL REFUSES TO BACK DOWN

BY RYAN MAGILL

It was a season like no other for the Stony Brook women’s basketball team. The season, marked by owning the longest win streak of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) season and a total domination of the America East, had the team setting its sights on the ultimate achievement: the team’s first ever NCAA tournament bid. The Seawolves had home court advantage in the America East tournament, and they were ready to make history.

But as with so many things in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic turned everything upside down. The NCAA Tournament was canceled, leaving one of the best teams that the women’s basketball program has ever put together without their shot at a title. But now, with coronavirus safety measures and a season in place, the 2020-21 Stony Brook women’s basketball team is ready to pick up right where it left off.

In the face of such adversity, veteran experience and leadership is necessary for success. And with senior forwards India Pagan (the team’s leading scorer last season), Hailey Zeise and McKenzie Bushee, as well as guards Victoria Johnson and Jonae Cox returning to the court, head coach Caroline McCombs will be able to rely on them to guide a relatively young team through a tumultuous season.

“The biggest thing is just taking it from our new players, just helping them understand the program because of the things that we’re

not able to do with them or the limitations that we have,” McCombs said in a virtual press conference with The Statesman. “Just transitioning from new players into our program, them having to be able to just fully see it and understand it.”

The new reality will set in quickly when the season begins on Nov. 25. To reduce the risks of the pandemic, this season will feature back-to-back games and consecutive road games. While this is helpful for the pandemic, it remains to be seen what type of impact the rules will have on the outcome of the season.

“I think it's going to be different for all of us because we've never had to be in that situation where we've had to play one like one team back to back like that,” Bushee said. “So I think it'll just be different for us, because we're not used to having a schedule like that and having games back to back, but I don't think it should stop us in any way. I think it can almost give us more of an advantage because we get to play them twice and see their highs and their lows and stuff like that.”

Any advantage that the Seawolves can find may be crucial to their success, as the league expects a tight race for the crown of America East champions.

Despite last year’s dominance, the Seawolves were edged out of the top ranking spot in the preseason poll by the Maine Black Bears by just two votes. No matter the ranking, the Seawolves are doing their best to prepare for the road ahead.

“I think it’s just adjusting to that new normal and remembering to do all the things that you’re supposed to do,” Zeise said, regarding the team’s adjustment. “We’re about to start getting tested three times a week, and it’s just like ramping that up ... it’s adding on to another thing that we have to do and just trying to be as safe as possible.”

While the team does not feel any pressure to repeat last year’s success, Zeise summed it up best when she spoke about the most important part of this season for the team: returning to the court.

“Like I said, the chip on our shoulder is pretty big this year, after the way things ended,” Zeise said. “I think we’re coming in with an edge, or sense of urgency. But on top of that, we’re just grateful to be able to play together, because I know not every athlete is in the position that we’re in and also, when it comes to health and well being and stuff, I think we’re all super blessed to be healthy and to be able to do the thing that we love every day.”

McCombs is excited for what the team will accomplish next.

“There’s not a ton of separation in some of our players,” McCombs said. “It’s really going to be about chemistry and who’s performing best on that day depending on what we need.

Last year we were very deep, this year I believe we’re very deep, and I’m excited about that for us.”

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ROSTER

AFTER HEARTBREAK, THE SEAWOLVES ARE LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

BY VINCENT GIACALONE

On Feb. 19, when the Stony Brook women’s basketball team beat the Vermont Catamounts 72-68, it was on top of the world. Stony Brook had extended their winning streak to an NCAA-best 22 games, they had clinched their first conference title and they had claimed the No. 1 seed for the playoffs.

It was the climax of a historic season as the Seawolves looked forward to battling their way to March Madness with their fans and school at their side.

Almost a month later, after beating the Albany Great Danes in overtime in the quarterfinal and handily beating the Binghamton Bearcats in the semifinal, the rollercoaster ride came crashing down. Instead of playing the Maine Black Bears in the conference final and possibly making it to the NCAA Tournament, the Seawolves’ season was over. Nothing could have prepared them for that news.

“Yeah, I think everyone was crushed, heartbroken,” head coach Caroline McCombs said in an interview with The Statesman. “Just knowing how much [work] had gone into everything and just not being able to finish it off.”

Senior forward India Pagan, who played a big part in the Seawolves’ success, described the difficulty of what happened: “Our athletic director, he came into the gym and he gave us the news and the entire team just broke down crying.”

Even though the Seawolves were still crowned as the America East Champions for their first-place finish during the regular season, not playing against Maine meant that this championship was not exactly the same.

“We obviously wanted to play Maine,” Pagan said. “We had practiced so much prior to that game just for it to be canceled like that — it was really heartbreaking.”

But this disappointment is simultaneously met with optimism and hope. Different players have taken their own lessons from the last season’s ending and from the pandemic itself, using them as they move on to a new and hopefully better season.

“We learned that anything can really happen,” senior forward Hailey Zeise said. “Tomorrow isn’t promised [and] the next practice isn’t promised.”

COVID-19 has created a myriad of uncertainties. From the 2020 NCAA Tournament being canceled, to the delayed start to this season, to the recent increase in cases throughout the U.S. — nothing can be taken for granted.

To combat this, the players are trying their best to stay focused and motivated while shutting out the many future doubts and the memories of that March despair. Some are driven by faith.

“What really motivates me is God giving us this opportunity to be able to play again,” senior guard Victoria Johnson said. “He’s able to give us another opportunity, another chance to compete at the sport we all love.”

For the seniors especially, it is last season’s unsatisfying finish that motivates them.

Even though Zeise had planned to leave Stony Brook after last season, she decided to stay and help the Seawolves make another run.

“That was for a reason,” Zeise said. “I just felt like I had unfinished business and I came back to finish what we started.”

Others are driven by their teammates, who have become like family in the absence of their loved ones back home.

This is what drives senior forward McKenzie Bushee.

“Our teammates and our coaches are really just our big motivators,” Bushee said. “I think it’s really important that we have each other right now because it’s like that’s all we have with this pandemic going on.”

No matter what they’re driven by, the goal for all these players is the same: winning. Having played so well last season, the pressure is sure to be on this team from both fans and coaches to replicate those great results. But for Zeise, there is no pressure.

“I wouldn’t say that there’s pressure,” Zeise said. “I think that the expectation is that we just do our best and that we compete at the level that we’re capable of competing at.”

The Seawolves’ first chance to defend their championship and challenge themselves to meet expectations is on Wednesday, Nov. 25 at Island Federal Arena against Fordham. The Rams finished last season 21-11 as they lost in their conference final to Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).

NEXT IN LINE, SEAWOLVES BASKETBALL PREPARES TO TAKE ON THE PANDEMIC After disrupting the fall sports season, COVID-19 is still a threat to Stony Brook Athletics. Despite the rising number of cases and hospitalizations in many states, both Men’s and Women’s Basketball are preparing for their respective seasons that are set to begin on Nov. 25.

When the America East conference postponed fall sports back in mid-July, both basketball programs had not received any news about their seasons yet. It was not until two long months later that they finally had some clarity.

On Sept. 17, the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) published a press release setting Nov. 25 as the starting date for both the men’s and the women’s programs.

Along with a new starting date and a slightly-adjusted schedule, players and coaches from both teams have had to deal with plenty of other obstacles to get to where they are now. With just a little more than a week until the regular season begins, they have to deal with not only these challenges but also others that may arise once they start playing.

For athletes, summers are usually full of practices, training and preparation for the upcoming season.

However, the COVID-induced quarantine that started in spring and lasted until the summer forced the team to go digital.

As it has been with academics, Zoom was crucial in this process.

“We all kept in touch with Zoom,” senior guard Victoria Johnson said.

“With the workouts, our strength and conditioning coach had a plan set up for everyone.”

Not having the gym at their disposal was not easy, but sophomore guard Tyler Stephenson-Moore was able to make do with what he had.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have a basketball hoop in my driveway,” Stephenson-Moore said. “My dad’s a big guy on running, so I would run with him like six, seven miles usually every other two days.”

This summer was just as different for the coaches as it was for the athletes.

Recruitment was turned upside-down as coaches had to recruit at a different time in less than perfect conditions.

Right after the basketball seasons were canceled in March, the NCAA created a “mandatory recruiting dead period” that was repeatedly extended until it included the entirety of 2020.

This meant that all recruitment had to be done via phone calls and Zoom.

But now that the athletes have reunited with each other and their coaches, the focus has shifted from individual training to group training.

Because of the pandemic, practices and procedures have had to be adjusted to meet with safety standards.

Junior guard Anastasia Warren said that the most difficult part of the new normal is “wearing masks and getting

BY VINCENT GIACALONE

tested every week — I know they said they’re going to up that to like three times a week.”

Shortly after the announcement was made on the start of the new basketball season, the NCAA released health guidelines for all basketball programs. Among the guidelines is the suggestion that athletes and officials be tested three times a week. Even though the teams are playing and practicing together now, there are still things that have changed.

“Now more than ever, things are pretty virtual,” senior forward Hailey Zeise said. “It’s hard for us to meet as a full team, even still.”

For Zeise, one of the most difficult parts of the transition has been “trying to stay connected and build that team chemistry, even despite the fact that everything has been pretty virtual.”

While the regular season has not started just yet, both teams are already looking ahead to what obstacles could come up in the future. One of these hurdles is fan attendance. Like many other sports and leagues around the world have been doing, games will be played without fans in the bleachers — only some media personnel will be allowed.

“I’m excited about some things that we can potentially do with cutouts and making our own energy and noise,” Women’s Basketball head coach Caroline McCombs said. “I think our team does an outstanding job of cheering each other on, and sometimes you want to be in the game, but our team is very selfless in the fact that they are cheering on their teammates when they’re successful on the court. That, to me, is really going to continue to help make an impact and help us through these times.”

Home-field advantage is key for athletes, especially for crucial moments and playoff games. It can also, however, be a pressure-cooker for the players.

“It’s going to be tough because, especially in college basketball, you know that we really do feed off the crowd,” senior forward Mouhamadou Gueye said. “It is, at the same time, kind of like a weight is lifted off my shoulders. We don’t have that in the back of our heads that there are people watching … so I feel like it helps people, especially players who struggle with playing in front of crowds.”

Unfortunately, with cases steadily rising and colder months coming, neither the lack of fans nor other COVID-19 precautions will change anytime soon. The season has not even started yet and there are already things to be concerned about. Across athletic programs, players and coaches are doing what they can to stay motivated and tune out the noise of the pandemic.

“Always be ready and keep that same focus no matter what because things could change at any second,”

redshirt-sophomore forward Frankie Policelli said regarding the advice he has received from the coaching staff.

Sometimes, though, this focus is not entirely possible.

“You can say I’ve been good sometimes and then recently, kind of like everything is starting to get to me a little bit,” Stephenson-Moore said.

“It’s kind of like affecting my play a little bit.”

Team unity, albeit slightly different than usual, remains just as important as always.

“I would definitely say what’s keeping me motivated is my coaches and teammates,” Johnson said. “They help us with anything we have a problem with.”

It’s natural for basketball to not be the only thing on the players’ minds right now. The COVID-19 pandemic is a volatile situation with no easy or quick ending in sight and these athletes have had to adjust to the new normal.

“... keep that same focus no matter what because things could change at any second.”

- Frankie Policelli Redshirt Sophomore Forward “Every day, somebody is probably going through something different,” McCombs said. “So just be mindful of the place that people can be in every day as it can get wearing on you.”

Basketball is the first sport to attempt to come back to Stony Brook, and the preparation has been a lengthy process. However, players have prepared themselves both mentally and physically to embrace whatever will come in the upcoming season.

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