2018-19 LIU Brooklyn season preview

By Nelson Castillo (@NelCastNY)

Special To Daly Dose Of Hoops

Not many expected to witness LIU Brooklyn men’s basketball to lift the Northeast Conference championship trophy last March but yet that is exactly what happened. The LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds went into the 2017-18 season with new head coach Derek Kellogg and a sense of the unknown. Many panned the head coaching change last offseason considering LIU had won twenty games in 2016-17 under former head Jack Perri but the change was made and to the credit of Kellogg, he did what he is known to do best, recruit.

Guys who had began making plans to leave LIU Brooklyn returned. Other guys who had a relationship with Kellogg from his previous coaching job at UMass came along with him. The rest had to learn to buy in.

Although it was a slow go at first as LIU went 5-8 in non-conference play, the Blackbirds began finding their groove in NEC play but they were still a .500 team entering the final weekend of the regular season.

That is when things finally really began to click. Two wins that final weekend got them a four-seed and a quarterfinal home game. Another NEC quarterfinal win and a pair of upsets got them another home game for the NEC semifinals. After sweating out a one-point win against Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU and their 17-16 record had to go on the road to face the NEC regular season champs Wagner, who hadn’t lost at home all season, for the NEC championship. The odds seemed against them.

Yet, LIU defied the odds with a Joel Hernandez performance that will live forever in Blackbirds’ history along with one of the better defensive team performances of the season. They celebrated their fourth championship in seven seasons on Wagner’s home floor and capped a season few really saw coming with an NCAA tournament appearance. Kellogg and his supporters all got the last laugh.

“It was rewarding because I thought the kids through everything that kind of went on with me taking over as the coach had great attitudes.” said Kellogg, now in his second year at the helm, at the annual NEC Basketball Media Day. “I thought in the locker room they had a good culture and they worked really hard and bought into kind of my philosophy and also the vision we had for the season which was to ultimately to win the conference championship and go to the NCAA tournament.”

Derek Kellogg and his LIU Brooklyn team comes into year two as the defending champs but similar to last season, are considered a contender but not the team to beat in the NEC. That distinction belongs to Saint Francis U., who once again similar to last season, is looked as the favorite to hoist the NEC championship trophy come early March.

That works fine for LIU as it takes the target off their back and lets them focus on trying to repeat the formula that eventually got them to a championship last season. A formula that will certainly need to be adjusted with one key departure and a couple of new additions.

The obvious question for LIU entering the 2018-19 season, who replaces Joel Hernandez, LIU’s top scorer last season and an All-NEC first team selection. Well, the short answer is no one player can. It is always hard when a team’s best player is no longer around but that now opens the door for new guys to step in and try and become that main guy.

The first LIU player that comes to mind is 6’6” senior guard/forward Raiquan Clark (17.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 55.6% FG, 75.0% FT). Clark was named third team All-NEC last season after finishing second behind Hernandez on the team in scoring and leading LIU in rebounding. Clark is the ultimate high-motor guy. He never seems to stop working on the basketball floor. That high-motor worked for and against him as he was able to draw nearly seven fouls per game which helped get him to the free throw line 244 times, tied for 14th in the nation but he also turned the ball over 143 times, second-most in the nation only behind Oklahoma point guard Trae Young.

“He brings good energy and he can really play.” said Kellogg of his star returnee. “I love the edge that he has. I think he can become a monster defensive player and a monster rebounder. I’m not shy if he has aspiration of playing at the next level someday. He has to guard four positions and do it well. I don’t mind if he brings the ball up as a kind of a point forward, I think he can continue working on his shooting. But all in all, I think it is his edge is what makes him so good.”

Clark’s slashing ability along with his work ethic on the glass as well as being able to make shots out on the perimeter makes him one of the harder players to guard on this Blackbirds’ team. If Clark can cut down on his turnovers this season, he will be a lock for All-NEC first team and could put himself in the conversation for NEC Player of the Year.

Two more guys who could see their production spike upwards are the starting backcourt of 5’11” junior guards Jashaun Agosto (11.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 4.2 apg) and Julian Batts (10.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.3 apg). The two have combined to appear in 132 games and make 113 starts in their first two seasons at LIU.

Agosto improved on both his rebounding and assist numbers from his freshman while keeping his scoring average nearly the same. His shooting percentages took a slight dip especially from three where he shot just 32.7 percent last season. Agosto though rarely took a rest as he played over 36 minutes per game and in six games last season he played at least 38 minutes in a game including three of 40 or more. He is lightning quick and Kellogg’s faster paced offense really fit his style of play. He is also comfortable having the ball in big moments of the game such as in the final seconds vs FDU in the NEC tournament semifinals in which he drew the foul and made two clutch free throws which sent LIU to the NEC finals.

Batts plays the game as if he is a fifth-year senior. He is always poised but also plays the game with a certain toughness and doesn’t back down from anybody. Batts is an underrated shooter. He shot 41 percent from three last season in 161 attempts. He also had a nearly 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio while splitting his time at the point guard and shooting guard spots. Both Agosto and Batts combined to grab over 8.5 rebounds per game which is pretty remarkable for two guards under six feet tall. With the departure of Hernandez, these two might be the biggest beneficiaries in terms of getting more shot opportunities and seeing their overall scoring numbers increase.

One player who really couldn’t get it going for most of the season last year was 6’8” redshirt junior forward Julius van Sauers. The biggest reason for lack of consistent production last season was he couldn’t keep himself on the floor. He seemed like he was always in foul trouble. He was called for 7.7 fouls per 40 minutes. He played in all 35 games last season and started in the final 22 games but averaged only 11.2 minutes per game. Last season was not a reflection of what we’ve seen from him in the seasons prior. He has shown that he has good ball handling and good shooting touch from the perimeter. Even last season he was 9 for 21 from three and prior to last season he was 38 for 41 from the free throw line in his college career. It won’t not be a surprise if he starts out as LIU’s starter at the five spot but whether or not he can hold on to that spot will be what we will have to wait and see. There is a little more depth in the front line for Kellogg this season so if van Sauers can’t stay out of foul trouble or be more productive, he could see himself reverting back to a bench role.

The reason van Sauers could be looking over his shoulder is because of two frontline additions to this season’s roster in 6’9” redshirt sophomore Tyrn Flowers and 7’0” true freshman Ousmane Ndim. Flowers transferred to LIU Brooklyn last season after spending his freshman season with Derek Kellogg at UMass. He only started in six of 33 games his freshman season but had some productive outings including a 20-point game, 9-rebound against Pacific as well as three other double-digit scoring games. Right now, he is likely penciled in as the starter at the four position which would move Clark over to the three spot. Flowers shot just 36.7 percent from the field and slightly above 30 percent from three his freshman year playing in the Atlantic 10, it will be interesting to see if he improve those numbers with a year of sitting out and playing in the NEC. Ndim is a three-star recruit from Senegal by ways of ASPIRE Academy in Louisville, Kentucky. Kellogg out-recruited schools like Hofstra, Arizona State, LSU, TCU, Virginia, South Florida, Memphis, Houston and Oklahoma for Ndim’s commitment. Ndim is a true seven-footer and is the first seven-footer I can recall in the LIU Brooklyn program in all my years of following and covering the program. His likely impact early will be on the glass and on the defensive end altering and blocking shots. If Ndim could eventually become a low-post presence on the offensive end, LIU could have themselves a dominate center for the next few years. Time will tell. He’ll likely come along slowly and start out as a backup center behind van Sauers.

Another frontline guy will should see an increase in playing time this season is 6’7” sophomore forward Eral Penn. Penn appeared in 32 games as a freshman last season getting just under 10 minutes per game. Even though he got limited playing time last season, he showed some impressive flashes. He is athletic and has long arms and quickness which he showed on the glass and defensively. He blocked 24 shots which was second-most on the team. Penn was also highly efficient shooting the ball making 27 of 35 shot attempts. He will likely see most of his minutes at the 4 but he could play at the 3 and 5 positions as well.

The final big man on the roster is 6’9” senior center/forward Ganlandou Cisse who did not appear in a game last season. Mostly a deep reserve on LIU’s bench during his college career, he has appeared in 15 games in his three seasons with the Blackbirds. His claim to fame is that he made his first eight field goal attempts in his career until finally missing the last attempt he took in a game back in February of 2017.

Switching the focus back to the guards, one guard in particular who is looking to finish off his LIU Brooklyn career on a high note is 6’1” senior guard Raul Frias. The Miami native who has played just 10 minutes per game in his college career should see some more playing time this season as the reserve shooting guard. Frias is a bit of an enigma. He has a beautiful shooting motion and when he is on, he looks like he can’t miss. Yet, he is just a 33 percent career shooter from the field and a 30 percent career shooter from three. Last season was his best shooting season from beyond the arc and he only hit on 32.5 percent of this threes. He has had just one double-digit scoring game in his LIU career which spans 84 games. It is his time as a senior so it is final opportunity to play to his full potential and if that happens, look out for LIU to be dangerous from three.

Another guard who likes to shoot the ball from deep is 6’4” junior guard Ashtyn Bradley. He only saw action in nine games last season, mostly getting in at the end of games after appearing in 21 games as a freshman. Out of his 68 shot attempts in his career, 63 of them has come from behind the three-point line. He should finally see some legit playing time this season as instant offense guy coming off the bench at either the 2 or mainly the 3 position as the second shooting guard in a three-guard lineup. If Bradley can consistently connect on his shot this season and can grab some rebounds and play a little defense, he can legitimately get himself between 10 and 15 minutes of playing time per game this season and be a solid contributor.

One player that I would like to have seen a little more of last season was 6’1’’ sophomore point guard Shyheim Hicks. He only played in seven games last season and played in just three games in NEC play for a total of six minutes. In the two games in which he did see some extended playing time last season, at Brown and against Saint Peter’s in which he saw 19 minutes in both games, he played pretty well. He made freshman mistakes as you would expect but he didn’t like he was totally overwhelmed. Now, the thing is with Agosto and Batts ahead of him on the depth chart, it was hard for him to get much playing time. This season, if Kellogg decides to keep Batts more off the ball and give Hicks a shot at the backup point guard, he could see a bigger role but if Kellogg decides to keep the rotation to eight or nine guys, it will likely be more of the same for Hicks this season.

Craig Owens Jr. and Akron transfer Virshon Cotton round out the LIU roster. Owens Jr. was a walk-on who became eligible after the fall semester last season but did not appear in a game. He is now on scholarship. Cotton will sit out this season per NCAA transfer rules. He played in 29 games as a freshman last season, getting six starts and playing over 20 minutes per game. He averaged 7.3 points and made over 37 percent of his threes last season.

LIU Brooklyn finished first in the NEC last season in scoring at 76.2 points per game and fourth in offensive efficiency at 1.023 points per possession. They were 37th in the nation in tempo, getting over 71 possessions per game, best in the NEC. Look for more of the same for the Blackbirds this season. Derek Kellogg wants his team to play fast and get up and down the floor and put pressure on the opposing defense. They eclipsed the 80-point scoring mark thirteen times a season ago, more than doubling the times it occurred in the season prior.

Defensively, LIU finished in the middle of the pack in the NEC, in a conference that only had two teams finish in the top 200 in adjusted defensive efficiency last season so the league as a whole wasn’t terribly strong on the defensive end. LIU did have their strengths. They were one of the best teams in the NEC a season ago in defensive three-point shooting percentage and were in the top half in the nation (129th) in defensive effective field goal percentage. As it seems like always, there is room to improve on that end of the floor.

In many preseason previews, LIU Brooklyn is predicted to finish third in the NEC behind NEC favorite Saint Francis U. and Fairleigh Dickinson. Coincidently, the same two teams were picked one-two in the NEC men’s basketball preseason poll last season while LIU were picked sixth and ended up finishing in fourth.

The Blackbirds start their season on Tuesday, November 6th at the Steinberg Wellness Center against The College of New Rochelle, a Division III team. They will play a 12-game non-conference schedule which includes four home games. They will take a trip out to Belfast, Northern Ireland for two games in the Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic, against Albany and either Marist or Dartmouth on November 29th and 30th. LIU begins NEC play on January 3rd on the road against Sacred Heart and will play two conference games every week for nine weeks until the regular season finale at home on March 2nd versus Bryant. They will also return to the Barclays Center for a pair of yet to be announced home games for the seventh consecutive season.  

No team in the Northeast Conference has defended their NEC championship since LIU won the crown three straight seasons from 2011 to 2013. Since 2008, the only four schools to win NEC championships in that span are LIU (4), Robert Morris (3), Mount St. Mary’s (3), Fairleigh Dickinson (1).

“I’m telling these guys, let’s just enjoy this process.” said Kellogg on the prospect of trying to repeat. “It is one of the things you get to do once in your lifetime, so you might as well have fun doing it. Working hard, coming to practice everyday, and if we keep a good attitude like we’ve had this year and even through last year, I think we put ourselves in the opportunity to be in a similar position this year, hopefully playing in the NEC tournament and have a chance to win three games in three days.”

If LIU were to capture the NEC title again in 2019, they would be the first NEC team ever to win five NEC titles in a nine year span, besting the mark set by Robert Morris who won five of the first eleven NEC championships from 1982 to 1992.