Siena’s infusion of transfer experience to join Shoats, Doty and Coyle projects for promising season

Five returning players and an experienced transfer class have Gerry McNamara hopeful that year two at Siena will be more fruitful than his first season. (Photo by the Albany Times Union)

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The hire of Gerry McNamara as the head coach at Siena last offseason ushered an infusion of fresh blood into a proven winner in the Capital Region.

McNamara worked quickly to bring Siena closer to the top half of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference after Carmen Maciariello, who guided the Saints to two regular season championships and two more Top 5 finishes in five years at the helm of his alma mater, was surprisingly fired after a 4-28 campaign two years ago. Under the former Syracuse legend, Siena won 14 games despite a ninth-place finish in the 13-team MAAC, losing a heartbreaker to Rider in the opening round of the conference tournament.

McNamara brings back an experienced core for his second go-round in Loudonville, with all-conference point guard Justice Shoats leading the way, alongside sophomore Gavin Doty and veteran Brendan Coyle, a holdover from Maciariello’s last Saints squad. The trio, plus a returning Reid Ducharme and Marcus Jackson, headline one of the deeper rosters in the MAAC, a unit picked second behind only reigning regular season champion Quinnipiac in the league’s preseason poll.

“When you go into the offseason with 68 percent of your offense coming back, with Justice, Gavin Doty and Brendan Coyle, obviously you you have certain expectations,” McNamara revealed. “Can you piece together the roster from there on out, branch it off and hit on every aspect? And I think, for the most part, we’ve got the right group. I wanted to address some physicality in the transfer portal, and I think we’ve done that. We retained three other guys, and then the addition of four really talented freshmen.”

“This time of year, everybody’s really optimistic about their group, and I think people are high on us because they saw the caliber of players that we brought back. I think anybody that’s watched our program knows how hard they work, so I’m very excited about what we’re potentially capable of doing this year.”

Siena has long been known for its point guard play,  with a Who’s Who of MAAC legends the likes of Ronald Moore, Marquis Wright and Jalen Pickett manning the position in recent years. Shoats, a Division II transfer last year from Lock Haven, could be the next product of that lineage with another year like last season, where he turned heads with his physicality and speed.

“I expected a lot of him,” McNamara said of Shoats. “I was really lucky that I saw him in high school, so I knew how good he was. What he ended up being exceeded everybody’s expectation in terms of how truly physical he is. It’s pretty obvious how quick he is, but he’s really physical and he’s a terrific on-ball defender. Having that piece back, first team all-league guy back at the point guard position, is such a luxury. The thing that I’m really just blessed and lucky is he’s just my hardest worker. Him and Gavin Doty are my best players and my best workers. He’s missed one practice in the two years he’s been with me, and that’s only because I held him out. It just makes my job a lot easier when I’ve got a guy that just lays it on the line every day.”

McNamara did not tip his hand entirely as to the full strength of his roster, but was effusive in his praise for the versatility and skill set of his wings, a contingent in which Doty and Coyle will lead the charge for a Saints team that will be, if all goes well, more adept at making plays and exploiting every corner of the floor for an advantage.

“When you talk about Gavin, he’s gonna extend his 3-point range,” McNamara said. “When you talk about Coyle, you talk about putting it on the deck a little bit more. Reid was playing terrific basketball until he hurt his ankle toward the end of the year. They’re just the foundational corner pieces of what we’re trying to do, all guys that can put it on the floor and shoot it. When you talk about that two through three wing group, we’ve got a lot of versatility in that group and I can put two of our freshmen in that group. Bringing back that firepower, I feel really lucky that I’ve got multiple options and versatility in terms of what I can choose from.”

The return of Jackson, a Capital Region native who missed most of last year’s MAAC season due to injury, has prompted more excitement from his coach. Jackson has adjusted the manner in which he sees the game, says McNamara, bringing more of a veteran perspective to the lineup.

“I think spending some time on the bench and seeing it at more of a different speed, he’s starting to think more like a coach,” McNamara said of Jackson. “He’s always thought up his approach as more of a coach. He comes all the way back, he’s fully healthy and starts a summer practice and then breaks his thumb. So he had to have surgery on his thumb this summer, but he’s back again. He missed August for us, but he’s back again healthy, looking terrific in practice. I talk about his emotional piece and what he brings to the table emotionally for our group, he’s a leader in that aspect and he could defend one through five. He’s physical enough, he just lays it on the line. You never question where his mindset is. He’s gonna do everything he can to impact the outcome of a game.”

In addition to the five aforementioned incumbents, Siena welcomes seven newcomers to the fold this season, an incoming crop comprised of three transfers and four freshmen that McNamara feels will each have an opportunity to be an integral piece to the puzzle.

“Riley Mulvey transferred in from Iowa,” McNamara began. “I feel lucky that Fran (McCaffery) coached him for four years, now he gets the chance to come back home and showcase himself a little bit more, a seven-footer who’s really talented and intelligent in terms of DHOs and ball screen action. Tasman Goodrick from Gannon, a Division II (school), I love. I think he’s gonna be a terrific player, an incredible athlete. He’s extended his offensive range in terms of shooting the ball, but he can get up and down the court as quick as any big in the league. Antonio Chandler is just a physical specimen, a guy you don’t really need to call plays for. You can post him up, but he’s just going to impact the game with his effort and his ability to slash.”

“Then you add four freshmen. Christian Jones is as talented as any freshman guard in our league, one of the best high school recruits we’ve had in the program at that position. Owen Schlager’s an elite-level combo guard, Isaiah Henderson shot 50 percent from three on the EYBL circuit, and Francis Folefac is a physical specimen. With freshmen, it’s about how quickly you can catch up, and my guys caught up after week two in the summertime.”

Siena had a chance to be even better than it was last season, but was unable to put games away at points. The maturity and development of the returning players, plus addressing deficiencies through the portal in the offseason, has McNamara convinced that his group will be able to define the moment more often rather than having it define them unjustly the way it did at times a year ago.

“What I can say is we’re going to be in the fight,” he said. “Can we be on the other end of this outcome? Are we a little bit better defensively? Can we get to the free throw line and not miss 38 free throws in a four-game stretch where you lose by a total of five points? The margin for error is so small. That’s what our message has been all offseason. I don’t want the feeling like we had last year, where we felt like we left a lot on the table. We’re hungry because we know we’re capable.”