Joe Mihalich and Hofstra, despite loss of Justin Wright-Foreman, enter first season without school’s second-leading scorer as favorites to win CAA. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)
By Vincent Simone (@VTSimone)
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Sometimes the little guys make it.
On June 20, Justin Wright-Foreman became just the third Hofstra player in the last 25 years to be selected in the NBA Draft, and the first since Charles Jenkins in 2011. The Queens native saw his dream realized deep into that summer night when NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum called his name on behalf of the Utah Jazz, who drafted Wright-Foreman in the second round, 53rd overall.
“I was by myself at home and I jumped out of my chair,” Hofstra head coach Joe Mihalich recalled of the draft night experience. “I got the chills. It was the most incredible thing, all the emotions and thoughts that run through you. When his dream comes true, our dream comes true, too.”
Wright-Foreman leaves behind in Hempstead a legacy that includes back-to-back Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year honors in each of the past two seasons and a regular-season CAA championship in 2018-19. He also finished among the top five scorers in the nation in his junior (24.4 PPG) and senior (27.0 PPG) seasons. However, his legacy lacked the most coveted jewel of all, a conference championship and subsequent NCAA Tournament berth. Instead, that duty falls upon the 2019-20 iteration of the Pride to try and end the drought, and bring Hofstra to its first NCAA Tournament since 2001, when Jay Wright was at the helm on Long Island.
Despite losing a NBA-caliber talent, this year’s Hofstra team is once again poised to compete for the top spot in the CAA, having been selected first in the league’s preseason poll while seniors Eli Pemberton and Desure Buie were named to the conference’s first and second preseason all-league teams, respectively. Pemberton made his way onto the all-CAA second team last season, averaging 15.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. The Middletown, Connecticut native is expected to transition into the lead role occupied by Wright-Foreman a season ago, but will have plenty of friends around the perimeter.
“It just changes the dynamic of our team,” Pemberton said of losing Wright-Foreman. “Anybody can get 25 on the team.”
Senior Tareq Coburn, incoming transfer Omar Silverio, and junior Jalen Ray are all expected to play major roles in the backcourt alongside Pemberton and Buie, with incoming freshmen Caleb Burgess and Jermaine Miranda providing depth behind the arc.
“I hope we’re more dangerous,” Mihalich said of this year’s team. “We’re definitely more balanced. Justin was an absolutely special scoring talent, and now we’ll have a bunch of guys who can score. On any given night, any one of the guys can be the leading scorer.”
Buie may be the most integral piece of all. As a fifth-year point guard, no one on the floor understands Hofstra’s system as thoroughly as he does, experience that proves invaluable for an offensive-minded coach such as Mihalich.
“Desure just empowers you,” he added. “He’s a coach on the floor, he finishes the sentence for you. He’s exceptional, he really is.”
The one question Mihalich must answer early in the season is how the frontcourt will shape up. Graduate transfers Jacquil Taylor and Dan Dwyer held down the paint with aplomb last season, but a new duo must emerge if the Pride hopes to make a run at a conference title. Redshirt sophomore Isaac Kante is expected to shoulder the load from the start. The 6-foot-7 Brooklyn product played in just ten games at Georgia during the 2017-18 season before sitting out all of last year due to transfer rules. Redshirt freshman Hal Hughes, redshirt sophomore Kevin Schutte, and senior wing Stafford Trueheart will also factor into the rotation.
The Pride has been no stranger to high-profile games in recent years, and this season will be no different. After taking on national powerhouses the likes of Kentucky and Villanova in the past, Hofstra will travel to California for the first time in nearly two decades for a road trip starting with a game at UCLA, the first time in which Hofstra will face the Bruins since the 2001 NCAA Tournament, the Pride’s last appearance in the then-64-team event.
Just as Wright-Foreman realized his dream, the 2019-20 Hofstra squad has the pieces in place to realize its own dream of dancing in March.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.