Merrimack’s consistency may be tested, but don’t count Warriors out this season

Despite returning only two players, Joe Gallo (center) believes his Merrimack team can pick up where it left off last season. (Photo by Merrimack College Athletics)

Like most mid-major programs, Merrimack was no stranger to the transfer portal over the offseason.

The Warriors return only two players from last season’s roster, the first unit to compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference after emigrating from the NEC. However, the program’s two best returning players are not among that duo, as point guard Budd Clark transferred to Seton Hall, while forward Bryan Etumnu — the MAAC’s Defensive Player of the Year last season — opted for greener pastures at Wright State. The exodus leaves a New England-sized hole in the roster from a productivity standpoint, but an influx of depth has head coach Joe Gallo quietly confident in his team’s ability to overcome adversity.

“This is kind of old hat for us now,” he said of the musical chairs nature of the offseason. “We lost Jordan Minor to Virginia, and then the next year, we lost Jordan Derkack to Rutgers, two (NEC) players of the year. Then we lost Budd, who arguably could have been player of the year, so this is three years in a row now.”

“I think it’ll be by committee,” he continued, stressing the need to replace Clark’s scoring and Etumnu’s two-way play. “You’re not gonna do it with one guy. I think we’ll be a lot deeper than we were, we’ll probably play nine guys, especially early on. But everyone’s gonna have to pick up the pieces.”

A pair of veterans in Malik Edmead — no stranger to Merrimack and its unique 2-3 zone defense — and Stonehill transfer Todd Brogna, the latter of whom will fill the big man roles vacated by the graduated Devon Savage and Sean Trumper, will be the first pieces of the puzzle for the Warriors. Sophomore Tye Dorset, whose praises Gallo sang effusively leading into last season, will also be stronger with a year of competition under his belt. Edmead, a sixth-year senior, has been critical in being a vocal leader on and off the floor, a vital benefit for a younger and relatively newer squad.

“Malik Edmead’s been around so long that on an unofficial visit, he watched us play Adelphi,” Gallo quipped. “Malik knows us in and out. Obviously, the defensive system is unique and Malik’s been as good of a defensive player as we’ve ever had, so he’s been huge in helping the new guys learn the system. And then Brogna — I also have a former assistant, Jimmy Langhurst, who’s at Stonehill, who recruited Todd, so there’s a good familiarity there. Anytime you can get proven stats — some of this portal is unknown, right? — Todd was a 12-13 (point) and seven (rebound) guy at a similar level, so to have that on the books is big.”

“When Armandas Plintauskas went down, they were kind of splitting the eighth and ninth spots, and it was huge for Tye,” Gallo added of Dorset. “He started playing 15-plus minutes the last 10 games of the year. So just going through it, getting a year older, getting another summer and preseason under his belt, he’ll be a guy, I think, that surprises a lot of people in the league this year. He’s got a different confidence about him. Last year, like most freshmen, it’s gravy. Now, we need for him to be a little more of that main course.”

As for Clark’s replacement in the backcourt, look no further than Kevair Kennedy. Like Clark, Kennedy brings Philadelphia toughness and a winning pedigree from the vaunted Philly Catholic League, with some extra height at the point guard spot by virtue of his 6-foot-2 frame.

“He’s a Merrimack guard,” Gallo said of his highly touted freshman. “He’s a pit bull, he’s great defensively. He’s a lot like a kid we had in our early Division I days, Juvaris Hayes, just a stat-stuffer. You look at some practice stats and he’s got 12 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, triple-double kind of guy. He’s just a winner. He comes from Father Judge in Philadelphia, where they won a Catholic League championship, so he’s got a lot of winning DNA to him.”

In other words, Kennedy appears to be tailor-made to Merrimack and its proven winner reputation. Picked seventh in the MAAC this season, the Warriors appear to be flying somewhat under the radar entering the season, but Gallo is intent on letting his program’s success and resume speak for itself, and hopefully doing so quicker and louder than in recent years.

“We’re trying to play a little bit faster than we have in the past,” he revealed. “I don’t think we’ll ever have high-possession games just because the defense takes so long to shoot against, but guys like Ernie Shelton, who came from Gannon in an uptempo system, 6-foot-5, lengthy athletic wing; and Ali Cisse, 6-foot-7 from Bridgeport, they played in an uptempo style. Malik and Kevair want to get the ball and go, so I think people will be a little bit surprised by some of the pace we’re playing with offensively this year.”

“Hopefully we can get off to the start we did (last year). Those early December games, we went out to Buffalo and we started 2-0, and I think that’s huge. Like most leagues, but the MAAC in particular, you gotta be ready to play every night. We lost, even that tough stretch in January, it was three one-possession games over a week and a half. So we need to just be ready to close out games.”