Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Witherspoon brings sleeper Canisius team into life without Malik Johnson

Reggie Witherspoon must replace Malik Johnson and Corey Brown this season at Canisius, but Golden Griffins are poised to take next step with incumbent core. (Photo by Vincent Simone/NYC Buckets)

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the country, very few programs have felt its wrath as much as Canisius has in the past seven months since basketball was brought to a screeching halt on March 12.

Like many others within the state of New York, the Golden Griffins were in a holding pattern as the virus held a vise-like grip over almost all operations within the Empire State, forcing governor Andrew Cuomo to gradually reopen over the summer. As it stands now, the Griffs are back in the gym, but still recalibrating to a world that will have a distinctly different look and feel to it as the country continues to recover.

“All of our preparation has changed,” head coach Reggie Witherspoon reflected. “First of all, the opportunity to get in the gym (consistently) hasn’t been there, specifically in the summer. It puts you so far behind and it’s so different, even with the guys you already have in the program. With the newcomers, it’s insanely different. In some ways, the preparation’s not just limited, it’s cut off.”

“It’s so different on so many different campuses that it’s just so strange. We’ll have to see how we adjust. The main thing, though, is staying healthy. That’s what we have to do. We’re never going to make up for the lost time to prepare, but it’s an issue just trying to stay healthy and get as much preparation as we can.”

Canisius, and to an equal extent, the Griffs’ local rival, Niagara, are in an even tighter spot as far as travel in relation to the other nine schools within the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, a factor of major concern to Witherspoon as he and his team prepare to embark on a season that begins in November without four-year point guard Malik Johnson and fellow senior Corey Brown.

“That’s a good question,” he said. “Our travel and Niagara’s travel is so different because of the distance. It’ll be difficult for us to come in the day of the game, unless we’re playing Niagara. The other trips, with winter travel, would be extremely difficult to execute that without putting your team at risk or at a disadvantage.”

Without Johnson, whom Witherspoon praised for his hardwood exploits being just a fraction of what he brought to the program; and Brown, who grew as the season went on as a graduate transfer, Canisius will rely heavily upon Majesty Brandon, but also on a supporting cast that should take a significant leap forward. With the likes of Jordan Henderson, Jalanni White, Scott Hitchon, Armon Harried and Jacco Fritz, Witherspoon likes what he sees in his group, a unit that also welcomes back Akrum Ahemed from injury and introduces 6-foot-7 Malek Green, who sat out last year after transferring from Morehead State.

“The biggest thing is Majesty’s adjusting to the structure of the game, the approach and the details,” Witherspoon said of Brandon, who led the Griffs in scoring last year despite coming off the bench, and who will likely threaten for a MAAC scoring title this season. “He has grown throughout. Early on, he was just trying to do what he does best as often as he could, which is a good approach, but I think as the season went on, he began to realize the preparation that opponents put into him, and his understanding of what our approach is. He was able to learn some things, and I’m confident that he knows the basics of what we do, and our approach to doing it.”

“That experience is tremendously helpful in terms of their understanding,” Witherspoon said with regard to Henderson, White and Hitchon as upperclassmen. “They all had some setbacks in terms of injuries last year — Jordan was trying to fight through — and I think right now, they as feel as though they’re healthy and they’re encouraged by the minutes and opportunities they have, and now being able to put those into play. You always need a nucleus of guys who don’t feel overwhelmed by the details of the game and the season, and those guys don’t feel that way right now.”

In Ahemed, Fritz and Harried, Canisius has a trio of sophomores who may appear young on paper, but are poised to impact the team and the game beyond their years on a burgeoning roster which may take many in the MAAC by surprise.

“Akrum, although he wasn't in a lot of games, got a chance to feel it a little bit, and I think that should help him. Armon and Jacco were thrown in there a lot for freshmen, so I think they at least feel good that they understand the questions. They may not have all the answers, but they understand the questions and they feel as though some of those questions, they have answers for. That’s always a good thing when you’re trying to build a nucleus. Malek sat out a whole year, but he understands our approach to the game and he’s been on the practice floor. We’re looking forward to getting him healthy and getting him on the court.”

The Griffs also bring in junior college imports George Maslennikov of Ukraine and Ahamadou Fofana from the Bronx, the latter having played literally down the street — in Witherspoon’s own words — from Canisius while at Erie Community College, and attended several practices and games, as well as freshmen Siem Uijtendaal and Asa Beyah. All told, Witherspoon is looking for progress and relishing the opportunity to bring a group that flies under the radar into battle.

“I think our guys will play hard,” he said. “For us, sometimes it’s difficult to tell since we haven’t been in the gym with them a lot. I think they’ll play hard, they’ll play together. We’re learning each other and it’ll certainly be a challenge to see how well we play together, and I think we’ll have some versatility. Depending on how the new guys develop, there’s a chance we could have some depth as well.”

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