Griffs return most of veteran core in preparation for MAAC season with tremendous upside

Now back to normal offseason procedures, Reggie Witherspoon and Canisius look to use abbreviated season last year as building block to MAAC breakout. (Photo by The Buffalo News)

Last year’s pandemic-afflicted season reared its ugly head across the entire college basketball landscape, but hardly any school was as affected as Canisius.

The Golden Griffins were already at a disadvantage from their Buffalo base having to travel across New York and into New Jersey or Connecticut in a normal year, but the curveballs of having to play eight straight contests away from the Koessler Athletic Center to end the season — and being paused from January 2, when the Griffs wrapped up a sweep of Saint Peter’s, to mid-February — as well as having to improvise in practice given the inability to hold workouts on campus — were only a sampling of what occurred on the shores of Lake Erie.

“I’m really proud,” head coach Reggie Witherspoon reflected when citing the trials and tribulations Canisius had to navigate just to get to the opening tip. “I was thinking about that with the guys and what transpired last year for them to persevere and get through that. We had some guys that were in quarantine for over 140 days, we had a 40-plus-day stretch between games, and of the 12 conference games that we played, eight of them were on the road. We played our last home game January 2, so those are just tremendously abnormal conditions with which to work and our guys persevered and had a five-game win streak through all that.”

“At this time last year, we were trying to do workouts outside in the parking lot with baskets that were meant to be in somebody’s backyard. We just dragged them out and tried to do what we could with what we had, but overall, I’ve never had a season that had all of those hurdles — nobody has — so for us, it was really challenging. I’m tremendously proud of the effort our guys put in just to get to playing games and all the travel. They deserve a lot of credit. Hopefully our guys grow from it, from the standpoint that they begin to realize that if you can get through some of those challenges, you can get stronger from them.”

The most encouraging sign for the Griffs is the return of nearly the entire roster from last season, save for Majesty Brandon and Jalanni White. With a supporting cast headlined by Jordan Henderson, Jacco Fritz and Armon Harried to join reigning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Sixth Man of the Year Malek Green, Witherspoon feels the veteran leadership and return to something closer to a normal offseason when compared to last year’s ordeal can only benefit his retooled roster.

“We hope it’s really important and fruitful for us,” he said of the experience gained by the incumbent Griffs. “All of those things, we weren’t able to do last year, so hopefully we’ve grown from having the opportunity to do that and have the guys who went through it, and hopefully the new guys will be able to jump in and help us as well. The good news for us is a lot of those guys were in and out of different roles last year. Most of them were in situations where they had quality minutes, they were in games that were close, and I think you learn from that and how important those details are. It’s our hope that those experiences will allow them to anticipate action a little bit better, and my feeling is that they understand it and they’ll embrace this opportunity that’s in front of them.”

“Malek’s another one that had some challenges,” he added of Green, whose in-season knee surgery was mitigated by Canisius going on pause in the heat of the MAAC schedule. “I don’t know of another player that had knee surgery during the season and didn’t miss any games. That’s how long our layover was, but it was challenging for him, and even then, his surgery was delayed. It wasn’t like he had it January 3 or 4. He did have a lot of challenges, and the hope is that he stays healthy and gets better from it.”

In the backcourt, senior Ahamadou Fofana returns to reprise the point guard duties, while also mentoring a young group of reserves the likes of Akrum Ahemed, Asa Beyah and Siem Uijtendaal, with Scott Hitchon returning for a graduate season. In his first Division I campaign last year, Fofana blossomed as the year went on, becoming one of the MAAC leaders in assists per game on top of being a two-way player thrust into uncharted territory.

“He wants it badly,” said Witherspoon of Fofana’s determination and drive to improve. “He had a lot on him last year just being new, but also not having the time to amp it up prior to the beginning of the season, so he kind of had to do some things and just learn them on the fly. Hopefully he’ll be able to relax and enjoy the intense nature of the competition, and I know that he’s looking forward to the challenge.”

Incoming freshmen Xzavier Long and Tahj Steveskie join the fray this year, with junior college import Delveion Jackson giving Canisius a trio of new pieces that can, if able to adapt during the season, make an immediate impact on a roster that stands on the precipice of a potential breakout.

“As far as the newcomers, Tahj has an injury so we’re kind of in the wilderness with that, but Xzavier and Delveion have been on the floor and getting a lot of reps because we’ve had the usual preseason types of nicks and bruises to some of the other people,” Witherspoon said. “They have a lot to offer in the way of their love for the game and how hard they compete. If we can get them up to speed and keep them healthy, then we’re really looking forward to them having an impact on our program.”

“We have a lot of growing to do. We have guys back, but we just played 13 total games last year, so they’re back from half of a season. I’m excited about the guys that we have, so I’m really looking forward to it. I’m excited for the new guys coming in that they’re excited, and the guys that were here last year feel a little more in tune to the opportunity that’s in front of them.”