As UConn chases history, Huskies aren’t facing added pressure, just a renewed commitment to process

Dan Hurley and UConn are chasing history, but Huskies’ head coach has unique perspective of not shying away from third straight national championship while also focusing on player development more than another trophy. (Photo by UConn Athletics)

Some coaches and players tend to downplay high expectations and opportunities to reach unprecedented heights in sports.

Yet again, Dan Hurley is not just some coach. His UConn players are not your token YMCA rec leaguers getting shots up after work.

Hurley, along with his new-look roster, has tackled the burning question head-on since the Huskies defended their national championship with a second consecutive crown last April. Where some of his contemporaries may sidestep the issue to avoid placing further pressure on their own units, the 51-year-old continues to show his different wiring, revealing that the quest to join UCLA as the only other program to win three straight national titles has only made him more aggressive in some ways.

“I’ve talked about the historical nature of our season pretty consistently,” Hurley revealed as he returned to Madison Square Garden, a venue UConn won all seven of its games in last season, for Big East media day. “It’s the elephant in the room. It’s there, and you can’t hide from this opportunity. That’s why I’ve coached this team so hard. I’ve coached this team harder than I’ve coached any other team that I’ve had because I know the challenge that lies ahead and the level that people have studied us, how we play and how people are preparing to beat us, and the target, just how relentlessly you have to strive to improve to defend what we have right now.”

“The season that we’re gonna embark on is going to be rare in terms of what we could accomplish, to literally join those UCLA teams, historical opportunity and how you can’t give everything that you absolutely have to reach that level of sport.”

The three-peat opportunity, which if completed, would represent the first in college basketball since John Wooden’s Bruins won the last of their seven straight championships in 1973, was one of the deciding factors in UConn’s lone returning starter coming back to Storrs in an attempt to add to his legacy.

“That’s one of the main reasons why I did come back,” redshirt junior forward Alex Karaban declared. “I believe we have a great chance at chasing a three-peat and adding myself to history. If I could be one of the winningest college players of all time, that’s something I never thought would happen going through the recruiting process in high school. I just can’t wait, and I gotta make sure I get myself and the guys on the team to realize that this moment’s once in a lifetime. We have an opportunity in front of us that we may never see again in college basketball.”

Karaban echoed Hurley’s candor when addressing the historic context of UConn’s 122nd all-time season—which tips off a week from Wednesday against Sacred Heart—but also admitted that the primary focus has not necessarily been so much on cutting down the nets in San Antonio next April.

“We’re not really talking about that right now,” Karaban said. “We’re more so talking about how we could become a better team heading into tomorrow, and making sure the guys take steps every single day to reach the level that we can ultimately be at. (Hurley) reminds us that we’re chasing historic things and it’s always a privilege to wear the UConn jersey. He reminds us about that every single day, but it’s more just seeing folks every day, getting better.”

Center Samson Johnson, who is one of three players—Karaban and Hassan Diarra are the other two—on both national champion outfits the past two seasons, was also cognizant of the need to improve even as the Huskies were the near-unanimous pick to win the Big East for a second consecutive year. UConn was also ranked third in the Associated Press’ preseason Top 25 poll, but the significance of the number pales in comparison to the growth that the big man has not only made on his own, but observed closely from his teammates.

“It means a lot, but at the same time, we don’t feel entitled to it,” Johnson said of the preseason plaudits. “We know we have a lot of work ahead of us if we want to win the Big East this year. This league is really tough and we’re gonna have to put the work in.”

As for the labor since returning from Arizona with a trophy in tow, the fruits of UConn’s labor may not be fully present, as Karaban admits his group is far from a finished product, but the upside and attention to detail is already in midseason form.

“It’s tough to tell right now,” said Karaban when asked if this year’s iteration of the Huskies could eclipse what the program did in each of its past two endeavors. “Last year’s team was the greatest team in college basketball. We’ve still got a long way to go to chase that, but we’ve got a lot of young guys that are excited to prove themselves and just get on the court. It’s a new energy surrounding the team.”

“You could see it from day one,” Johnson added, citing the ubiquitous desire and hustle in summer practice sessions. “Guys are all over the court making plays on offense and defense. It’s a great thing to have in a team, where you know you could put nine, ten guys on the floor that can impact winning. That’s a great thing for us. For a team like this, we need that kind of competition to get better every single day, so when we go against another team, we know we have guys that are ready to compete.”

UConn is not only chasing history in a physical sense, it is doing so with a set of circumstances no other college program has ever attempted to overcome. After Stephon Castle, Donovan Clingan, Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer all became NBA draft picks, Hurley reloaded by adding a trio of freshmen in Isaiah Abraham, Ahmad Nowell and Liam McNeeley—the latter having been voted the Big East’s preseason freshman of the year—to the ranks of seven returning players. To fill the void left by Clingan and Castle, he reached into the transfer portal to pluck Tarris Reed from Michigan to shore up the frontcourt, while adding Aidan Mahaney—who the Huskies played against in 2023 when he was a freshman at Saint Mary’s—to a lethal and deceptively strong guard stable.

What makes the additions even more intriguing is that neither of the two incoming transfers started in UConn’s exhibition against Rhode Island two weeks ago, and could very well be in reserve roles for most of the season, something Hurley addressed as a byproduct of his team’s depth but also unusual for how a top program has experienced a higher player turnover rate than most.

“I guess you could look at it two ways, right?” Hurley reflected. “You could say we must be really good if a guy that’s a really, really good player like Aidan did not start the exhibition game, where the quality around him is good enough for him to be in an off-the-bench role. But you could also be saying to yourself, ‘we really needed this guy to come in and play like Tristen, play like Cam.’ So you could look at that in one of two ways.”

“It’s such a unique position to be in. Ours is so different because we’re returning basically no one. It’s crazy to see the amount of players we’ve cycled through, and then you have players in our league that played against Josh Carlton (who transferred from UConn in 2021) and they’re still in the league. We’re so many players removed from just two years ago, so it’s so unique, the position we’re in.”

What is also unique is the way in which Hurley operates as a coach, how he operates as a manager. His perfectionism and innate desire to win without cutting any corners has spread throughout his staff as well, which is why he denied any added stakes from a personal sense going into this season. His explanation, however, further defines the maniacal sickoism—by all means a compliment to his ability to raise the bar—that makes him so very well suited to the blue-collar program he oversees.

“No pressure,” he deadpanned. “In one way, I guess you look at it and you say to yourself, in a weird way, if we don’t win three in a row, what are people gonna say? You suck as a coach? You could only win two in a row? You spend so much time obsessing over where your team’s at, and in my mind, every year—no matter what you’ve accomplished before—if you’re the coach at UConn and you have the resources that are poured into your program that I have poured into mine, and the way the school has invested in me in terms of my contract, that I owe it to the people that invest in me and invest in these players to literally drive the people around you to places that you don’t think they can get to, in such a pathological, sick, obsessive way that you’re just pursuing the championships so friggin hard. You’re not even thinking about the three-peat pressure because you’re so obsessed with the process.”

St. John’s locks down Towson in last exhibition tuneup before opener

Rick Pitino calls out directives as St. John’s limited Towson to 46 points Saturday in exhibition at Carnesecca Arena. (Photo by Vincent Dusovic/St. John’s Athletics)

NEW YORK — Rick Pitino wanted to see what he had from his second unit Saturday, so the Hall of Fame coach submitted an unconventional starting lineup Saturday afternoon as his St. John’s team hosted Towson in its second exhibition contest before its opener against Fordham on November 4.

By the time the final buzzer sounded, it didn’t matter who contested the opening tip, as the Red Storm dominated in a defensive masterclass against a Towson team picked as the preseason favorite in the Coastal Athletic Association. St. John’s took control in the opening minutes of the first half, tightened the screws as the afternoon ensued, and held the Tigers to 28 percent shooting from the floor in a 64-46 domination at Carnesecca Arena.

“I wanted to play guys I haven’t seen in games to see what they can do getting ready for Fordham,” Pitino said of his starting lineup, which consisted of freshman Jaiden Glover, sophomore Brady Dunlap, and transfers Vince Iwuchukwu, Aaron Scott and Deivon Smith. “I didn’t care about playing the starters too much, because I know what they can do.”

“Our mindset coming into this game was we needed to work on our defense,” added Scott, whose 11 points matched RJ Luis for the team lead. “We gave up a lot of points against (Rutgers) and we knew this team was a very experienced team, they had a lot of starters coming back. So we had to lock in on the defensive end, and as you can see, we only gave up 46. We locked in on defense and we got the stops we needed.”

In last week’s first of two tuneups before opening night, St. John’s won an uncharacteristic shootout against Rutgers, scoring 91 points to the Scarlet Knights’ 85. Pitino, by design, wanted to prepare his team for a strong defensive opposition so that his own group could come away the better unit on that end of the floor, and was ultimately satisfied with what he saw as the Johnnies forced 25 turnovers and ran Towson off the 3-point line for the majority of the day.

“This was a much better performance,” he reflected, comparing Towson’s defensive pressure to what the Red Storm would eventually see from Seton Hall during Big East play. “We wanted to be the better defensive team against an outstanding defensive team, and we certainly did a lot of great things defensively. We rotated well, we stopped the ball, we challenged shots. We just didn’t block out.”

The other positive takeaway was the continued development of the bench. Pitino was vocal about needing to cultivate his backup forwards and centers last week, even as Zuby Ejiofor carved Rutgers up for 27 points and 13 rebounds, 10 of which came on the offensive glass. Iwuchukwu and freshman Ruben Prey each logged more than 15 minutes of game action, with fellow rookies Glover and Lefteris Liotopoulos — the latter of whom made his debut Saturday — also played double-figure minutes as the Red Storm was able to showcase its immense depth throughout the afternoon.

“Ruben’s the better five man on the perimeter, and (Vince) is better inside,” Pitino said. “Ruben’s a very good European player, knows how to pass, knows how to move, and (Vince) is a different type of player. So I have confidence in both of them now, and I found that out today. I wanted to see them, because they were so impressive in practice the last two days.”

“We’ve got a lot of depth,” Scott said of the 12-man rotation. “As you can see, we subbed five in, five out, and we still played. We still kept the intensity up with the subs, and we have a lot of depth. The freshmen, it’s their first year and they gotta get used to the game speed and everything, but today was really a good showing for them, to build trust for Coach so that they could play.”

Pitino hinted at facing different styles over the course of the season, the other reason why he wanted to test his team against a gritty Towson side. While last year’s iteration of the Red Storm was marked by a longer cohesion period before the team hit its best stride, this year’s outfit seems more organized defensively, a concern that popped up in losses to Michigan, Dayton and Boston College last season. The main objective on this day was to simply be the better defense while also using the day to find out more about what the coach had at his disposal. Mission accomplished.

“That’s what we wanted to get out of this game,” Pitino further elaborated, likening Saturday’s game to his national champion Louisville’s matchup with Wichita State in the 2013 Final Four. “We’ve been working about 75 percent of our practices just with man defense, and one of the reasons we weren’t ready at the beginning of last year was we weren’t good defensively. We learned a valuable lesson (and we) came away with an outstanding defensive performance. Towson is a very well-coached team, very good defensively, very physical, and we got a lot out of playing against them. It was really, really good for us today.”

What Quinnipiac hopes to get from Miami University transfer Ryan Mabrey

Ryan Mabrey was Quinnipiac’s sole transfer portal pickup this offseason. The Miami University expatriate will be Bobcats’ primary replacement for Matt Balanc at shooting guard position. (Photo by Miami University Athletics)

By Ethan Hurwitz (@HurwitzSports)

HAMDEN, Conn. — On April 29, the defending MAAC regular season champion Quinnipiac Bobcats hosted their lone transfer for a visit they wanted to keep quiet. Eight days later, junior guard Ryan Mabrey announced his commitment after spending two seasons with the Miami University Redhawks. 

So what made Mabrey so special that head coach Tom Pecora decided to make him the only dip into the portal this offseason?

“An experienced, crafty basketball player,” Pecora said. “He can really shoot the ball.”

Mabrey slots into the starting lineup, ideally with graduate student guard Savion Lewis backcourt. Joining forces with the nation’s second-leading assist man should bode well for Mabrey, who grew up just a few hours from campus in New Jersey. 

“Savion Lewis, when I first got here, came up to me immediately and started talking to me,” Mabrey said. “He just kind of brought some energy towards me that I really, really liked. I really felt at home, I’m close to home here. I’m loving it so far.”

In his first two seasons in the Mid-American Conference, the six-foot-five-inch guard averaged 24.1 minutes per game and 7.7 points per game, en route to a spot on the 2022-23 MAC All-Freshman team. His coming out party was a 11-game stretch where he dropped double-digit performances in nine of those games.

“He’s honestly the best coach I’ve ever played for, and I’m not just saying that,” Mabrey said about his initial interactions with Pecora. “He’s a great guy, he knows exactly what to say and when to say it. He coaches us hard, but it’s out of love, like you can tell it’s not just him yelling at us. He teaches us.”

It won’t be easy trying to replace Matt Balanc as the team’s shooting guard. In his six seasons in Hamden, Balanc — who is now playing in Denmark — racked up 1,721 points, good for second in program history. He also became the second Bobcat to take home the MAAC Player of the Year Award after leading Quinnipiac to their first MAAC regular season title, following Cameron Young in 2019.

“He's doing well, he's enjoying it,” Pecora said of Balanc. “Look, Matt's a worker. You're a pro, man, you eat what you kill. So you’ve gotta go out every day and Matt's got that in his DNA. So I think he could have great success (overseas).”

But the Bobcats’ coaching staff feels comfortable with Mabrey sliding into the rotation. It has felt like a smooth transition for both parties, one they hope can translate into success on the floor.

“They find me a lot. I could shoot the ball and I could do a lot of other things,” Mabrey said. “They really look for me, especially if I start getting going. Savion is great at distributing and finding other players, and I love playing with Lex (Alexis Reyes), Mari (Amarri Monroe), Paul (Otieno), Doug (Young). They're all great players. We got guys coming off the bench. So far, I've meshed really well, I'm surprised.”

And if the New Jersey native is anything like his backcourt predecessor, Quinnipiac will likely be right back where it was last year — 24 total wins, with 15 of them coming within the conference.

“They had four returners back who all played serious college minutes,” Mabrey said. “When you have that, you’ve got a real chance to win. So I really want to be a part of that.”

Quinnipiac gearing up for second season with Pecora, and first with overwhelming expectations

Tom Pecora addresses his team’s prospects at Quinnipiac media day. Bobcats were picked as favorite to win MAAC. (Photo by Quinnipiac Athletics)

By Ethan Hurwitz (@HurwitzSports)

HAMDEN, Conn. — It was an offseason of golf and Italian boat rides for Tom Pecora.

The Quinnipiac men’s basketball head coach — and reigning MAAC Coach of the Year — took a few weeks and finally made the trip to Florence with his wife after having to cancel the first two times.

“We think buildings are old here, and then you’re inside structures over there that are five, six, seven hundred, 1,000 years old,” Pecora said during Wednesday's media day. “It was cool, and it was good to go somewhere without a team.”

Once the summer rolled around, it was time to get back to work — and back to his team.

“We’re excited for the season to start, I think the guys have been so locked in,” Pecora said. “We have shirts that say, ‘FINISH,’ and we gave them out the first day of practice. They've had a great work ethic about them.”

One quick look around the Bobcats’ starting lineup appears to be the same as last season’s regular season champions. Other than Matt Balanc — the MAAC Player of the Year who went overseas post-graduation — the rest of the starting lineup all remains intact. 

Graduate student guard Savion Lewis, graduate student forward Paul Otieno, senior forward Alexis Reyes and junior forward Amarri Monroe all return for another season in Hamden. It’s rare in today’s era of college athletics to retain so many key players, and Pecora’s staff was able to keep the core of the rotation that will now serve as the squad’s four captains. 

“We know what our culture is, we stay true to each other and I think every day, we come in knowing that we have to get better,” Reyes said. “We just, every day, come in and get better.”

But how much better can these Bobcats truly get? Quinnipiac went 15-5 in MAAC play a year ago and fell one defensive rebound shy of playing in the conference championship game. What more does this team really need to do?

“Defense wins,” senior guard Doug Young said about the mentality of this team. “That’s what wins championships.”

“At the end of the day, we didn’t win anything,” Monroe, the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year, said. “We’re just gonna embrace it. We’re not gonna take no days off, everybody’s going to be prepared and perform every day.”

Defensively, Monroe — who underwent a name change this offseason from Amarri Tice — and Young are two of the grittiest guys on the floor when it comes to causing chaos for opponents. It’s also the immense depth that this squad brought in to replace Balanc. 

In the starting five, junior guard Ryan Mabrey is likely slotting in as the team’s shooting guard. The transfer from Miami University gives the team a crafty shooter along the perimeter and was so highly coveted by this coaching staff, they didn’t even want it known that he was on campus for a visit. 

“He’s an exceptional passer,” Pecora said. “He’s got a great feel for the game. That was the one spot, you know, with Matt Balanc moving on at that two guard spot, we wanted to make sure we could bring in a veteran.”

“A lot of people have definitely stood out to me,” Mabrey added on who caught his eye this summer. “They’re all great athletes. (Freshman guard Jaden Zimmerman) has definitely stood out. He’s really athletic, has got a nose for the ball, just plays hard.”

That has been one of the biggest endorsements that the coaching staff gave its freshman class yesterday. Zimmerman, guard Samson Reilly, and forwards Grant Randall, Braylan Ritvo and Spence Wewe have all opened eyes. They may not acquire significant playing time, but a solid rotation of the young players will help alleviate some of the pressures the starting five may face. 

“They can play multiple positions, which is something I love,” Pecora said. “They’re going to continue to just grow and grow, and hopefully not too fast, because I’d like them to stay a couple years.”

Rounding out the roster includes more depth pieces, including graduate student forward Richie Springs, who grabbed some key minutes down the stretch a year prior. 

“You compete for minutes,” Pecora said. “Is Paul a better player if he’s only gotta play 28 minutes? Can we get 12 minutes to share? And Richie obviously can play the four and the five. There’s a lot of different options out there.”

Up first on the docket for the Bobcats is a November 4 date with crosstown rival Yale, who came off a resounding upset against Auburn in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament. While Pecora mentioned his team is fully healthy, minus a few of the common bumps and bruises, it is expected to be a solid start for the campaign.

Some players are looking forward to Yale, others have their calendars circles for St. John’s (November 9) and Saint Peter’s (January 3 and February 28). At the end of the day, the one game this team is really preaching about is the one that would catapult it into its first March Madness appearance. 

“The main goal is to win a MAAC championship,” Lewis said. “The personal goals will come, the accolades will come. I believe that if I focus on giving my all to this team and being able to win, then everything good is going to come from that. It’s us, that’s all we can focus on.”

And once their goal is achieved, Pecora will get back onto the golf course more in the offseason. 

“I’m getting old, man, and I don’t work at it enough to have a great short game,” Pecora said. “I have to find more time to do that. If we have another winning season, next year I will.”

Big East Media Day Photo Gallery

Photos from Big East media day at Madison Square Garden on October 23, 2024:

(All photos by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

Sha Sounds Off: Big East media day

On Seton Hall being picked 10th in the Big East:

“I’m intrigued by them. The reason why I’m intrigued by them is that we know where I want to be right now, but I think this team’s got a really good ceiling. I mean, what do you want me to say? It is what it is, brother. I don’t know. People have time to sit around and pick other people’s teams, but I’m not worried about nobody else. I don’t do it, I let my assistant coaches do it, to tell you the truth. It doesn’t matter either way for me. You know me, I don’t really care if we’re first, we’re last, I don’t care.”

On the opportunity to develop his team:

“I mean, I’ll be honest with you, I don’t really care about the rankings or stuff like that. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s preseason. I just care about my team, but if you know me, you know my teams, we get better as the year goes on. So right now, I’m happy where we are, but I think we’re gonna be really good.”

On facing Kadary Richmond for the first time:

“I’m like, who? No, no, he’s known as Kooks to me, I call him Kooks. I never called him by his last name, ever. It’s what it is, right? It’s kind of part of what it is right now. He gave Seton Hall some good years and now he’s on to a different place, and I wish him the best. It is what it is right now, you can’t get disappointed by anything. I’m gonna tell you what I tell my wife all the time. She got really attached to Dre Davis and his baby’s mother, the mother of his child. She was kind of like a mentor to her, and I told her moving forward, don’t get attached to people. Just get attached to the school and the name on the front of the jersey, not the back, because every year is gonna be like that. I just gotta adjust, everybody’s gotta adjust to it. It is what it is.”

On Seton Hall’s point guards:

“I think right now, we’ve got a couple good ones. Like I told you at media day the other day, I think we’ve got four guys that can handle the basketball way more than we had in the past. I wanted it that way because in the past, when Kooks went down, we were in trouble. Right now, I’ve got three or four guys that can handle the basketball, so I’m content right now with it.”

On similarities between Richmond and Garwey Dual:

“I don’t think it’s fair to either one to compare. I think Garwey’s a young player that’s gonna have a chance to keep getting better, Kadary’s a veteran guard that was very good and he did good with us.”

On losing Richmond and Dre Davis:

“I mean, it’s amazing you guys ask me those questions. What do you want me to say? I ain’t getting in the middle of that stuff. It’s college basketball right now, it’s part of it, it’s gonna be like that moving forward so I think everybody should get used to it.”

On NIL issues making his job harder:

“Yeah, absolutely! I see where you’re going with this, Zach! You know what? We got what we got, I do my job with what I have. I don’t complain, who’s gonna listen if I complain? I just go out there with the people that are in front of me. The resources I have, I’ll use them and we’ll go from there.”

On Dual and Scotty Middleton:

“I think everybody’s important to my team, to tell you the truth. I brought in ten new guys, I think all ten guys are very, very important. I think Scotty and G — Garwey, I call him G, sorry — have something to prove, right? To themselves and to everybody else. For me, they got a fresh start, a new start, and I’m curious to see how they’re gonna take advantage of it.”

On Seton Hall having something to prove:

“Listen, man, it’s like I told you before. At the end of the day, I’m gonna be very clear with this: I don’t really care about the ranking. I think that people sitting around ranking teams that have never seen a team is kind of nuts to me. They should write about their own team!”

On having four point guards:

“Peace of mind. It gives me the ability to play different styles. Like I said, in the past, when our main guy went down, we kind of struggled. Hopefully we won’t struggle if one of the guys goes down. That’s what it gives us.”

On Yacine Toumi:

“Yeah, you know what? He’s coming off a thumb injury, but he’s different. He’s 6-foot-10, he could dribble the basketball, he could post up, he could shoot, he could play some point forward positions for us. I’m happy to have him, he’s getting used to the physicality of the Big East, and just like everybody else, it’s a process.”

Yale moves on from Cinderella season, but should still be a factor in Ivy behind Jones, seniors and stout defense

Yale celebrates following NCAA Tournament upset of Auburn last March. Bulldogs lose three starters from last year’s team, but will still be among Ivy League favorites. (Photo by Yale Men’s Basketball)

As college basketball continues to shed its traditional archetype on and off the floor, one particular Ivy League program is going against the grain by remaining true to its identity.

Positionless basketball has become more common across the country, as has the desire to play at a faster pace and score more points, but for Yale, the focus remains trying to prevent the ball from going through the net. The Bulldogs rode a suffocating defense through yet another successful March, winning the Ivy League tournament for a third time since 2019, then neutralizing a potent Auburn attack to earn the program’s second NCAA Tournament victory.

Trailing Brown by six points in the final half-minute of regulation, Yale’s Cinderella slipper looked and felt shattered before a frantic comeback authored the latest mid-major fairytale in New Haven. And even though the story ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the adversity served as a stark reminder to control what the team could control, but also to appreciate the long-term growth that resulted.

“It just reminded us that we have to tighten up our ship every single day,” senior guard John Poulakidas reflected. “We were down by six points with 27 seconds left. Quite frankly, we should have lost that game, and to come out and win against Brown under those circumstances, it shows how much we had grown over the season as a team. We’re taking those lessons into this season as far as keeping our heads high, trying to be the best leaders that we can and not folding under such circumstances.”

But while Yale’s cosmetic look will be different this year with Danny Wolf and Ivy Madness hero Matt Knowling having transferred to Michigan and USC, respectively; and veteran guard August Mahoney graduating this past May, the philosophy will remain unchanged. If it isn’t broken, why bother fixing it?

“It all starts on the defensive end,” head coach James Jones, now in his 26th season at the helm of the Elis, recounted. “We were fortunate to be the best defensive team in the league by virtue of KenPom, and that’s where we like to hang our hat, on defending, rebounding and sharing the ball. If we can do those three things, the production will be what the production is by the guys that are going to be on the floor.”

While Yale did lose three-fifths of its starting lineup last season, the two returning starters were arguably the most integral pieces of the puzzle last season. Bez Mbeng, described by Jones as special following last March’s Ivy League championship win, sets the tone with his staunch defense and unparalleled passing ability, and Poulakidas’ knack for making clutch shots in big moments was an attribute the Bulldogs would not have advanced as far without. Jack Molloy, Yassine Gharram and Teo Rice join those two to form a five-tiered senior class that Jones will look to for guidance among his unit as the latest example of four-year veterans waiting patiently and learning from those in front of them to eventually put their own stamp on a storied program.

“That’s kind of how our program works,” said Jones. “When they were freshmen, they had Azar Swain, Jalen Gabbidon and Eze Dike as their leaders, guys that brought them along and tried to help them figure out what to do when they made mistakes. So now it’s their job. We got on the bus to go to Stonehill last week, and I went in the back of the bus and John said to me, ‘Coach, can you believe it’s been four years already?’ It’s been that quickly and that’s how time flies. We certainly want to take advantage of every moment we have going forward.”

“There are some new faces in the program, which has been really good. We don’t have as many bodies as we normally have, so we’ve got some guys playing out of position a little bit and we’re trying to learn that way. I’m dependent on this group here, with our seniors in Bez and John, and Jack, Yassine and Teo in the mirror to lead our group, and they’re doing a spectacular job of that.”

For Poulakidas, the narrative of being a second-half shot maker, particularly against Brown in the Ivy League championship and later Auburn in the NCAA Tournament, did not come to him overnight. Although it seemed automatic almost every time the Illinois native touched the ball down the stretch, it was merely a combination of honing his craft and capitalizing on a collective of trust, he says.

John Poulakidas (4) became known for his clutch shots, and will be counted on to make more of them in his senior season. (Photo by CT Insider)

“I think that just goes back to the work I put in on my game every single day,” Poulakidas said. “I go into those games with a great deal of confidence because I know I put the work in to back it up, and on the other hand, it also goes to show how much my teammates trust me to be able to take and make those shots. It’s a full team effort, their trust in me combined with my hard work.”

“I think Coach Jones alluded to this point, but we play basketball. It’s not tennis where it’s a one-man sport, so I’ve got four guys next to me that I can trust and depend on every game. Even though we lost three great players, it’s not like we’re expecting people to fill those exact shoes, but we’re expecting those who were waiting for their opportunity to fully capitalize on it. There’s been a lot of great guys stepping up this year, and I’m excited for you guys to see who’s stepping it up.”

Among those primed for greater roles this year include Casey Simmons, the Northwestern transfer entering his junior season, a 6-foot-6 wing who will be counted on to stretch the floor and replace some of the production vacated by Knowling, who had a similar position on last year’s team. Nick Townsend will be a more important piece on what looks to be a more physical Yale front line this year, along with 6-foot-10 Samson Aletan.

“Casey has really changed his habits in terms of trying to be the best player he can possibly be,” Jones said of Simmons. “He didn’t spend a lot of time in the gym outside of practice last year, and now he’s in the gym all the time making sure he gets up shots and working on his game, just to give him confidence. Casey’s come along quite well here, and I’m expecting a great deal out of him. He’s long, he’s athletic and he’s tough, and he has a feeling that he has an opportunity to play. He’s somebody else I think is going to help us win a championship as well.”

In the case of Aletan, once the highest-ranked recruit to choose Yale, his defense defines him, something Jones and his staff are obviously enamored with. However, they have implored the Dallas product to be more of a finisher, something that becomes more of a priority without Wolf under the rim to clean up second chances.

“He’s played with a lot of talented guys and he’s been our defensive stopper in a lot of ways,” Jones said of Aletan. “He’s starting to really come into his own. This last week, I’ve seen Samson take a step in the right direction. He’s blocking more shots in practice, he’s a very unselfish player, he’ll look to get an offensive rebound and his first thought is to try to find a teammate. We’re trying to implore him to go up strong and finish one as opposed to always kicking it out. I’ve seen him change his attitude somewhat, block some shots, rebound the ball. He’s come along quite well, and we’ll have a host of guys step in and take some of those minutes. Hopefully they’ll be able to do the job and help us win another championship.”

Yale, much like fellow Ivy power Princeton, has been unafraid of scheduling high-major opponents in non-conference play, a tactic Jones says is by design so that the Bulldogs are unfazed and unintimidated by what they may see when league play starts in January. Included in this season’s slate are reigning NCAA Tournament runner-up Purdue, a second Big Ten opponent in Minnesota, and home games against mid-major favorites Quinnipiac and Vermont, each projected as the preseason choices to win their respective conferences.

“Our guys come to Yale for experiences such as that,” Jones said. “And for me last year, when we played at Gonzaga and at Kansas, it gave me the benefit of understanding who our team really was. The fact that we played both teams so well in my mind that I knew if we had an opportunity to win a championship and get to the NCAA Tournament, we’d have a great chance of at least winning a game. It turns out that I was right about that, and we were able to fortunately go out and beat a great Auburn team, probably one of the best No. 4 seeds in the history of the NCAA Tournament. But playing those games and being in this environments, once you play at Duke and once you play at Kansas, the atmosphere is such that anything in our league is going to dwindle in comparison. So when we go on the road and play in our league, we’ve already seen this. We already know what this is like, so our guys can just get ready and play basketball. Just like you want your practices to be harder than games, you want the environment in the non-conference to be better than what it is in our league.”

Speaking on the subject of challenges, Mbeng finds a different rush during the season, that of stopping the best player on the other side of the floor. Jones has remarked in the past that he would not want to be guarded by his senior guard, who is ready to do the same thing this year against the likes of Braden Smith, Savion Lewis and Shamir Bogues, among others.

Senior guard Bez Mbeng (2) embodies Yale’s defense-oriented approach, and looks forward to shutting down his opponents. (Photo by Yale Athletics)

“I thrive tremendously off of that,” Mbeng proclaimed. “That’s what sparks energy for me and my team, so my ability to defend helps our team. I don’t know how else to answer, but it’s what I do. Like John said, we’ve put so much work into our game where I feel like it’s that time for it to show. I can’t wait for this opportunity, and I’m excited for it. I just can’t wait, honestly.”

“Bez and John are both very special,” Jones echoed. “They have no idea how special they are to me and our basketball program in what they do. They’ve been soldiers here for four years. I remember telling John when he was a freshman, ‘hey John, you’re gonna lead us in scoring one day. That’s gonna happen. You’re that guy, you’re that good.’ Again, I’m fortunate to have them, I’m blessed to be part of this university and go to practice every day and coach guys like this. I’m looking forward to it, I know they’re chomping at the bit.”

Prognosticators note the challenge of replacing a player as unique to the Ivy game as Wolf was, and someone like Knowling who was in the right place at the right time on multiple occasions. But for the Bulldogs, the commitment to a time-tested system has brought with it a level of faith not usually seen at this level, and the man who created the tenets the program prides itself upon is confident in a similar revival that will keep Yale forwardly placed among the Ancient Eight.

“What we like to think is that there’s always somebody waiting in the wings,” Jones countered. “We feel like there are guys that didn’t play a lot last year that are waiting for their opportunity, and now it’s their opportunity. Bez was fortunate enough because of his play to start a great deal of his freshman year, and John came along, but both guys were ready to play as freshmen. It just so happened that we had some other guys that were a little bit more experienced. Last year, we had Matt and Danny and August playing, and we had some guys on the bench that are pretty good. Now they have their shot, and now I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do with that shot.”

“A few years back, we won a championship and Azar Swain was our leading scorer and he averaged 20 a game. Jalen Gabbidon was our second-leading scorer and he averaged 11. Nobody else averaged in double figures. Last year, we had five guys average in double figures because that’s what we had. This year, we will be who we are, and we’ll find a way to win with what we have. That’s just all you can do. It’s not one guy for one guy, it’s our team trying to figure out a way to play its best. My team will dictate to me how we’re going to play. Cream always rises, and we’ll find out what we need to do to be successful.”