Rigoni, Marfo team up again to hopefully spark resurgence at Quinnipiac

Jacob Rigoni’s return for fifth season leads a cadre of experienced Quinnipiac returnees into pivotal season for Bobcats. (Photo by the Quinnipiac Chronicle)

After an inconsistent season last year, Quinnipiac was in need of stability.

The Bobcats received it when Jacob Rigoni, a recruit who upheld his commitment between the dismissal of Tom Moore and arrival of head coach Baker Dunleavy, decided to use the extra year granted to him in light of the pandemic to build on a senior campaign in Hamden that saw the Australian become the most prolific 3-point shooter in program history. On top of that, Kevin Marfo — who transferred to Texas A&M after leading the nation in rebounding during the 2018-19 season — saw the grass of the Southeastern Conference was not greener, returning to Quinnipiac to headline a formidable, experienced duo that aims to vault the Bobcats back into the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s upper echelon.

“Having Jacob back is a testament to our program,” Dunleavy said of Rigoni, who collected second team all-MAAC honors last season while leading Quinnipiac in scoring. “We’re really proud that he made the decision to come back. He’s a guy who’s played well enough now for us that he could have gone home to Australia to play pro ball, but we’re excited to have him back. I think having veterans gives everybody confidence.”

Kevin Marfo’s return gives Quinnipiac a rebounding and physicality boost Bobcats missed last season. (Photo by Rob Rasmussen/Quinnipiac University Athletics)

“We immediately become a wiser team, a more mature team, an elite rebounding team,” he added with regard to Marfo, whom he praised effusively as a smart basketball player. “I think that helps us right off the bat, but what gets me excited is us just being able to regain his mentality. He’s just a warrior, a guy that’s going to go into battle every game looking forward to being physical and competing, not only in games, but in practice. His competitive level is going to help our younger group hopefully take that next step.”

The Bobcats have a veteran backcourt trio in senior Tyrese Williams and juniors Matt Balanc and Savion Lewis to rely on, providing the fuel to a versatile and potent arsenal that also includes a pair of sophomores in Tymu Chenery on the wing and Luis Kortright dictating offense from the point guard position, forming one of the MAAC’s deepest guard stables to accentuate the Villanova influence Dunleavy brought with him after serving as Jay Wright’s apprentice for the bulk of the 2010s before skippering his own ship.

“Our backcourt dynamic changed a lot last year,” Dunleavy assessed. “One thing I was really impressed with, especially with Tyrese and Savion, was their ability to defend. We were one of the best defensive field goal percentage teams in the country last year and they were a big part of it, just physical, athletic, hard-playing guards. If we use that as our base this year, we’ve just got to be better offensively, but for us, it starts with the defensive end and I think there’s a lot to build on.”

“I think it’s important that Tymu and Luis not settle. Both of them had terrific freshman years, helped us win some games, and I think the sky’s the limit for both of those guys. I think there’s great opportunities in front of them, but like any other player, what you did last year doesn’t always translate into opportunity for the next year. You’ve got to go back and earn it again, and I think those guys understand that.”

Up front, Brendan McGuire and JJ Riggins return as well to complement Marfo, but the biggest buzz has been generated by Elias King, the 6-foot-9 sophomore whose rookie season was limited to just four games due to complications from contracting COVID-19.

“He was, arguably, our MVP through those four games,” said Dunleavy. “He was coming off the bench and he gave us exactly what we needed. We really missed him the rest of the way, but he’s full go and we’re excited to have him providing incredible frontcourt depth for us.”

Dunleavy admired the fact that each member of his 10-man rotation from top to bottom makes an immediate impact on every game, further lending to a consistency that was lacking last season amid a younger roster that is now hardened and forged by much-needed experience that should serve the Bobcats well in a season much closer to normal than last year’s aberration proved to be.

“It’s everything,” he concurred. “It’s one of those things when you go into a season knowing you’re going to play a couple of freshmen and sophomores in your top six, when you commit to that, you’ve got to have the courage to do it knowing that those guys are going to take their lumps, but are also going to be better for it down the road. When we made the choice to do that as opposed to bringing in a couple of transfers, we made a calculated decision.”

“We took a hard look in the mirror at ourselves and said, ‘Where did we leave some on the table?’ We were going to be youthful, maybe not as savvy in close games, but we were going to throw some of these younger guys to the fire and get them some experience quickly. I feel like we did that, and hopefully we’ll get some of the benefits of that this year.”